How was wildlife dangerous to the pioneers?

Animals could panic when wading through deep, swift water, causing wagons to overturn. Animals could cause very serious injury to their owners. People could be crushed by wagons or animals, thrown by horses. According to Peter D.

1. What problems did the pioneers face on the Oregon Trail?
2. What was the biggest threat to pioneers on the wagon trail?
3. What were the dangers of the California Trail?
4. Why was life on the trail for pioneers hard?
5. Why did the pioneers risk everything to move west?
6. What did the pioneers eat for dessert?
7. What were the real enemies of the pioneers on the Oregon Trail?
8. How did pioneers get cholera?
9. What did the pioneers eat?
10. What are some challenges pioneers faced?
11. What was the main cause of death on the trail?
12. What were the two main causes of death along the trail?
13. What did pioneers do for fun?
14. Did wagon trains really exist?
15. How did the pioneers survive?

What problems did the pioneers face on the Oregon Trail?

The hardships of weather, limited diet, and exhaustion made travelers very vulnerable to infectious diseases such as cholera, flu, dysentery, measles, mumps, tuberculosis, and typhoid fever which could spread quickly through an entire wagon camp.

What was the biggest threat to pioneers on the wagon trail?

Emigrants feared death from a variety of causes along the trail: lack of food or water; Indian attacks; accidents, or rattlesnake bites were a few. However, the number one killer, by a wide margin, was disease.

What were the dangers of the California Trail?

Emigrants feared death from a variety of causes along the trail: lack of food or water; Indian attacks; accidents or rattlesnake bites were a few. But the number one killer, by a wide margin, was disease. The most dangerous diseases were those spread by poor sanitary conditions and personal contact.

Why was life on the trail for pioneers hard?

Life on the trail was not easy. Many faced family deaths to sicknesses such as cholera, measles, and smallpox. Starvation, harsh weather conditions, and travel accidents were common and took their toll, no matter which trail pioneers chose to travel or how carefully they prepared.

Why did the pioneers risk everything to move west?

Pioneer settlers were sometimes pushed west because they couldn't find good jobs that paid enough. Others had trouble finding land to farm. ... The biggest factor that pulled pioneers west was the opportunity to buy land. Pioneers could purchase land for a small price compared to what it cost in states to the east.

What did the pioneers eat for dessert?

As for desserts — they were simple, but many and varied. There were apple dump- lings, rice and bread puddings, soft molasses cookies, sugar jumbles, and mincemeat, pumpkin, dried apple, or custard pies. On special occasions we might have lemon pie. It was not necessary to skimp on eggs or milk.

What were the real enemies of the pioneers on the Oregon Trail?

The real enemies of the pioneers were cholera, poor sanitation and--surprisingly--accidental gunshots. The first emigrants to go to Oregon in a covered wagon were Marcus and Narcissa Whitman (and Henry and Eliza Spalding) who made the trip in 1836.

How did pioneers get cholera?

Today cholera is treated by rehydrating the patient with salty solutions, but at that time the cause, means of transmission, and treatment of the disease were unknown. Travelers spread the infection among the unsanitary outfitting towns and carried it west from campground to campground and waterhole to waterhole.

What did the pioneers eat?

The mainstays of a pioneer diet were simple fare like potatoes, beans and rice, hardtack (which is simply flour, water, 1 teaspoon each of salt and sugar, then baked), soda biscuits (flour, milk, one t. each of carbonate of soda and salt), Johnny cakes, cornbread, cornmeal mush, and bread.

What are some challenges pioneers faced?

Along the way, many pioneers faced very real dangers such as disease, drowning, runaway covered wagons on steep hillsides, accidental discharge of weapons, and hostile encounters. For many Native Americans, the western expansion meant risks and changes to their way of life.

What was the main cause of death on the trail?

Death was rampant on the Oregon Trail. ... These deaths were mostly in part to disease or accidents. Diseases ranged from a fever to dysentery, but the most deadly disease was cholera. This disease stole into the shadows and reared its ugly head from the unsanitary conditions on the trail.

What were the two main causes of death along the trail?

Nearly one in ten who set off on the Oregon Trail did not survive. The two biggest causes of death were disease and accidents.

What did pioneers do for fun?

They had races and played games such as Sheep Over the River, Hide and Seek, Pull the Rope, and Steal-Stick Duck-Stones. They also sang and danced. They made dolls from corn cobs and rags and used a bladder balloon for ball games.

Did wagon trains really exist?

Travel by wagon train occurred primarily between the 1840s–1880s, diminishing after completion of the first transcontinental railroad. Some remnants of wagon ruts along the well-travelled trails are still visible today.

How did the pioneers survive?

The pioneers stayed warm by wearing layers. They had campfires on the trail and they had fireplaces in their homes. They usually only had one or two windows and relied on holding the heat in with chinking or mud. Homes in the pioneer days weren't warm at all.