Oregon Trail! We lived for this game, and our teachers knew it. If we finished our multiplication worksheets on time we might get some Oregon Trail time in the computer room.
If you moved your clip up to purple three weeks in a row- 15 minutes of Oregon Trail time!
For those who don't know what this game is, it's a computer game in which you care for a family and help them to cross the United States on the Oregon Trail.
If they were hungry you needed to hunt bison for your family. If they were cold you need to trade some of your supplies or bison meant in for goods.
It was fun but also had its stressful moments...
Oh my gosh. We felt personally responsible when one of the kids got sick. What was an 8 year old supposed to do for Jennifer??
We'd debate on the playground and all suggestions of "take her to the doctor" or "what about getting medicine at Sav-On?" were fruitless. We were stuck in the past and all we could hope was that Jennifer would make it out okay.
Who remembers this moment of panic?
Dysentery.
We didn't even know what it was but I didn't know anyone who had cured their little digital family of it.
But then the screen that brought it all crashing down.
It was traumatizing.
We'd killed a family! What had gone wrong? It tore us up. More than one 4th grader was reduced to tears that fateful year.
Until we learned about the start over button.
Then it was all sunshine and smiles until another fictional family member got sick or we hit a digital blizzard.
What was the point of this game? Why did our teachers have us play this potentially terrible game?
I repeat, I never knew anyone who beat this game. There was a rumor of Tyler H. in Mrs. Nygen's class having beaten the game but it ended up being playground scuttlebutt.
This game was hard. Really hard. And that's only a fraction of what the actual pioneers went through. We were 8 and 9 years old sitting in padded chairs in a computer lab on a safe campus and might be vaguely uncomfortable if the AC was too high. The digital hardships we were being shown in front of us were only pieces of what the people who crossed the American plains went through. Our game didn't include many of the problems that Adult Me is now very aware of.
I am sorry to all the Jennifers and Nicoles and William Jr.s we inadvertently killed in pursuit of winning that game. And I am endlessly grateful to the people who walked the 2000+ miles to build a new home for themselves.
These days we live in an incredible time of paved roads. Even for those who live in small towns and country settings where the roads are dirt, they are also well worn and beaten in.
If I want to trail across states to see family I don't have to cut my own path.
I can use the Maps App on my phone and just go. My only guesswork includes where to stop for food or a restroom and even then my phone has me covered.
I cannot even imagine the courage it took to look out over the open plains, and fields and think "Yep- here we go!"
Thank you fearless pioneers, and thank you to the ones who were afraid and pressed forward anyways.
While I specifically am I thankful to the pioneers who crossed the plains (or the Mid-West) to come to the western portion of the United States it's important that we acknowledge a few things. First, the United States is not the only country to have had pioneers. They might not have all traveled in covered wagons but many countries and cultures owe homage to their pioneers that came before them. A few of these other countries and cultures include: Greece, Rome, England, Australia, South America, and Canada.
Second, even if you do not have lineage of pioneers in your family you are still benefiting from their sacrifices.
I have actual pioneers in my heritage on my father's side. They traveled across the plains and came from the East Coast of the United States to places like Utah and California. As someone who lives in and loves California, thank you twice.
On my mother's side I have pioneers who came across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in Virginia a century before any thoughts of a Revolutionary War were being bounced around. They were truly some of the original settlers of the United States.
Did you know that (yesterday) July 24th is Pioneer Day in the United States? Because it fell on a Sunday maybe places (like Utah and Idaho) are enjoying celebrations today.
Not all of us will walk across the plains or build a home from the supplies around us and a box of nails we brought a thousand miles with us, but in many ways we can still be like the pioneers and honor that pioneering spirit.
An LDS Children's song captures this idea perfectly:
To Be a Pioneer
"You don't have to push a handcart,
Leave your family dear,
Or walk a thousand miles or more
To be a pioneer!
"You do need to have great courage,
Faith to conquer fear,
And work with might for a cause that's right
To be a pioneer!"
Let's take a look at the original definition and etymology of the word and title "pioneer."
My favorite dictionary for word etymology is:
The word "pioneer" comes from Old French is originally "peonier" and meant foot soldier which borrowed ped from Latin meaning foot.
The definition is: One who ventures into unknown or unclaimed territory to settle. An innovator, especially, in research and development.
Essentially a pioneer is someone who creates a new path. This is a person who ventures forward.
That is terrifying.
That is a lot of responsibility, but in many ways aren't we doing exactly that as we search for our ancestors? We are carving out a new path to rediscover the past. These are real people who lived, and loved and who we need to find. Perhaps some of them traversed the open plains across the United States, and others may have upheld the traditions of their family, settling in their homes, and raising families.
Just as we are not isolated humans who live solitary lives neither were our ancestors.
They impacted the people around them.
Today, in particular, I say Thank You Pioneers! Whether they were children, adults, or those who demonstrated quiet courage in helping those around them, we all are in your debt for your courage and strength. They are the people who made the difficult decisions with the future in mind.
May we endeavor to be like them. May we honor them with our own decisions.
Have a wonderful day Hunters!
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