Before the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, traveling west was long and dangerous. Nearly half a million settlers set out along the Overland Trails. One in ten never made it—most from disease or starvation. Now you and your group are one family, heading west in search of a new life.
Every family needs a leader. Decide who is the Head of Household, the wife, and the children. Next, the Head of Household is going to choose an occupation, which will influence your family's starting budget.
Next, the Head of Household is going to choose an occupation, which will influence your family's starting budget.
You’ve spent years in a noisy, crowded factory, saving every coin for a better life. You know hard work, but you’re short on supplies and trail experience. You start with a modest budget of $600. Trail Perk: Mechanical repairs are completed without delay. Drawback: Trade deals cost double time (delay +3 days). Record these in your tracker.
Your Head of Household is a Factory Worker.
You’re a craftsman—skilled with your hands and proud of your creations. Your creativity keeps your family’s spirits high, even on long nights. You begin with a budget of $750. Trail Perk: Can improvise tools or trade handmade goods to recover 1 Food Card during hardship events. Drawback: Limited stamina—travel delays affect you +3 extra days each time you lose time. Record these in your tracker.
Your Head of Household is an Artisan.
Your hands are steady, and your tools are strong. You’ve repaired wagons and shoes for years—nothing breaks on your watch for long. You start with a budget of $750. Trail Perk: Master mechanic — mechanical repairs are completed without delay. Drawback: Loses +1 food card during hardship events. Record these in your tracker.
Your Head of Household is a Blacksmith.
You’ve plowed fields and raised livestock your whole life. Hard work and ingenuity come naturally — perfect traits for the Overland Trail. You start with a budget of $800. Trail Perk: Skilled with wagons and animals — you complete mechanical repairs instantly. Drawback: You eat heartily — every rest event costs +1 extra Food Card. Record these in your tracker.
Your Head of Household is a Farmer.
You’ve tended the sick and weary in crowded towns. On the trail, your knowledge of herbs and hygiene could mean the difference between life and death. You begin with a budget of $1,500. Trail Perk: Prevents one family member’s death during illness events. Drawback: Physical labor events add +1 week delay (e.g., wagon fix, storms). Record these in your tracker.
Your Head of Household is a Doctor.
You’ve practiced law back East and dream of fortune and freedom in the new territories. Your silver tongue earns favors, but your soft hands may not handle wagon wheels well. You begin with a budget of $1,500 — one of the wealthiest travelers on the trail. Trail Perk: Can negotiate during trade deals. Pay normal price at resupply stops when others pay double. Drawback: Physical labor events add +1 week delay (e.g., wagon fix, storms). Record these in your tracker.
Your Head of Household is a Lawyer.
Oregon Trail — 2,000 miles of prairie and mountains toward fertile farmland. Many settlers perished along this route, but success meant a new beginning. California Trail — called “the elephant” for its harshness. Gold fever draws thousands westward—but fortune comes at a price.
Choose your trail.
You're bound for Oregon City. The Oregon Trail was the longest and roughest of all trails. The road runs through prairies, deserts, and snow-capped passes. Disease, accidents, and exhaustion will test your family’s strength. But the promise of fertile farmland keeps you moving.
You’ve chosen the California Trail, chasing the dream of gold. They say those who’ve “seen the elephant” have faced the worst the trail can offer. You’ll need courage—and supplies—to survive the journey to San Francisco.
It's time to buy supplies for your trip. Use your group’s budget to buy what you’ll need for seven months on the trail. Don’t forget food, tools, and protection from the weather. The choices you make here can mean life or death on the trail. Choose wisely!
You've arrived at the General Store.
05:00
Hold your horses, partner! You'll lose all progress if you close this window. Make sure you've used the Download Receipt button to save your receipt. Sure you're ready to leave? CLICK HERE.
Welcome to the Independence General Store! Planning to hit the trail? If so, I've got everything you need to make the trip! Once you start shopping, you will have five minutes to make your selections.
Before setting out, check your wagon and animals. Your choices now affect your journey.
No Wagon Cover? → Add 1-1/2 weeks travel time. The wind and rain will punish your family.
Used Horses or Mules? → Add 1 week travel time. If you picked all oxen, good job! Although slower, they are able to endure conditions on the trail.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
- Hardship
- Travel Delay
- Rest Event
Snow and hunger force you back to Missouri. All of your food spoils. You must buy new food cards before trying again next spring.
Winter arrives before you reach the mountains.
Title
Write a brief description here
Hold your horses, partner! You'll lose all progress if you close this window. Make sure you've used the Download Receipt button to save your receipt. Sure you're ready to leave? CLICK HERE.
Welcome to the Independence General Store! Planning to hit the trail? If so, I've got everything you need to make the trip!
The grass is green, rivers are manageable, and daylight lasts long. Your family’s spirits are high as the wheels begin to turn westward.
Good choice!
After nearly a week of travel, the prairie opens wide and the trail hums beneath the wheels. Your animals are steady but tired. The horizon glows with the promise of rain. You can either press on to cover more ground before the rivers rise or stop to rest and strengthen your team.
You drive through the dark, chasing the glow of the lead wagons. Then, a snap like thunder. The yoke chain breaks and one ox stumbles down an embankment. It takes the rest of the night to free it and three more days to mend the trace and rest the bruised team. By the time you roll again, a week has slipped away and the river ahead is swelling from rain. Add 1 week to your travel time in your tracker.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
- Mechanical Repair
- Travel Delay
Title
Write a brief description here
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
You circle the wagons, bank the fire, have dinner, and let the animals graze fresh shoots. Morning comes clear and steady. With rested shoulders and easy tempers, you roll toward the first big water. Add 1/2 week of travel time. Record this in your tracker. If you have full cooking gear (frying pan, bread pan, knife, tin settings), add no travel time.
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
The prairie stretches endless and bright, wagon ruts already cut deep. The nights are warm and restless, filled with the hum of insects and the creak of wood. Hope still rides high.
ADD FOUR WEEKS FOR TRAVEL
A flooded river blocks the trail. The current churns with branches and debris twisting in the flow. The wagons ahead have stopped, their drivers arguing on the bank.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
You set camp, watching the river drop inch by inch. A few days later, the current loosens its grip. You lash barrels, whisper a prayer, and cross, cold, but safe. Add 1/2 week of travel time. Record this in your tracker.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
You drive into the roar. Midstream, an ox slips. Crates roll, and water rushes through. A child’s cry cuts through the wind, then nothing but the river’s pull. The far bank feels heavier than it should. Lose four food cards and one child.
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
- Artisan
- Blacksmith
- Doctor
- Lawyer
Title
Write a brief description here
You anchor a rope to a cottonwood and thread it through wagon hands. The current tugs but never wins. You emerge on the other side soaked, every barrel intact. No losses.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
Spring floods have passed, but the banks remain soft and treacherous. The smell of wet earth clings to every rope and wheel. Each mile feels slower as the land begins to rise.
ADD FOUR WEEKS FOR TRAVEL
A few days down the trail, the wagon lurches. Wood splinters. A rear axle groans and drops. You've packed too much.
Barrels burst open; flour clouds the air. You leave eight sacks of food behind for the crows. The wagon creaks, lighter but lonelier. Lose eight food cards.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
A few days down the trail, the wagon lurches. Wood splinters. A rear axle groans and drops. You've packed too much.
Your practiced hands find the balance point, wedge a spare spoke, and cinch the brace. The wheel turns true before the coffee cools. No losses.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
- Factory Worker
- Farmer
- Blacksmith
Title
Write a brief description here
Without the right tools and know-how, repairs drag on. Splinters, sweat, and muttered prayers. After three days the wheel holds, but barely. Add 1/2 week travel time. If you have an axe or shovel, add no travel time.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
- Physical Labor
- Travel Delay
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
The tall grass gives way to rolling hills dotted with sage. Herds of buffalo drift like thunderclouds in the distance. Evenings grow cooler, and smoke from a hundred campfires marks the line of the trail.
ADD FOUR WEEKS FOR TRAVEL
Welcome to Independence Rock! This marks the halfway point of your journey. This place is a hive of activity: families stopping to rest, travelers carving their names into the rock to prove they made it this far, and various traders looking to buy and sell items. This is a great opportunity to replenish food and supplies!
After making it this far, you'll be darned if you don't take this opportunity. Use your finger or mouse to carve your family name into the rock. When finished, click
HERE
On your way back down the trail, you notice a speck of brown behind a bush. Upon investigation, you find an old saddlebag. Inside is $50! Add $50 to your budget.
Welcome to the Resupply Stop. Here, travelers trade stories, mend wheels, and haggle over supplies spread out in tents. Eastbound traders sell what they can’t carry home; westbound pioneers spend their last coins on flour, ammo, and hope. For a brief moment, the rock becomes a frontier marketplace before the mountains call everyone onward.
Hold your horses, partner! You'll lose all progress if you close this window. Make sure you've used the Download Receipt button to save your receipt. Sure you're ready to leave? CLICK HERE.
Hold your horses, partner! You'll lose all progress if you close this window. Make sure you've used the Download Receipt button to save your receipt. Sure you're ready to leave? CLICK HERE.
Hold your horses, partner! You'll lose all progress if you close this window. Make sure you've used the Download Receipt button to save your receipt. Sure you're ready to leave? CLICK HERE.
Hold your horses, partner! You'll lose all progress if you close this window. Make sure you've used the Download Receipt button to save your receipt. Sure you're ready to leave? CLICK HERE.
Independence Rock fades into the eastern haze, its carvings left behind with the families who turned back. Ahead lie emptier plains and colder nights. The laughter of the camps grows quieter as the trail begins to climb.
ADD FOUR WEEKS FOR TRAVEL
You hear a noise in a thicket as you pass by. You stop the wagon, get out, and spot several nice specimens of wild game.
You steady yourself, aim, and take a shot. Success! This will be helpful. Add two food cards.
This is good for the deer, but not so good for you and your family. You get back in the wagon and move on.
One night, the wife grows pale, her pulse faint. It's cholera. The family gathers, waiting for your decision.
One night, the wife grows pale, her pulse faint. It's cholera. The family gathers, waiting for your decision.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Clean water and calm hands turn the tide. She awakens, weak but alive. Add 1/2 week travel time. If you have soap, add no travel time.
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
You boil water and take care of her the best you can. After a week the fever breaks — but she is gone. Add one week travel time. If you have soap, add 1/2 week travel time. Lose wife.
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
You know there's nothing you can do. You leave four rations and a folded note on her blanket. The wagon creaks away; silence follows like dust. Lose four food cards. Lose wife.
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
The wind carries dust by day and frost by dawn. The trail feels narrower, the laughter quieter. Each mile west tastes more of risk than adventure.
ADD FOUR WEEKS FOR TRAVEL
A week of rain pins you in place. Boredom turns to hunger as the wagon sinks into the mud.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
You eat and try to stay warm. Supplies vanish fast. When the clouds part, the bags are light. Lose seven food cards. If you have a tent, lose only five food cards. Add 1/2 week travel time. If you have an axe or shovel, add no travel time.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Every crumb is counted. The storm clears after a few days. The smell of dry earth feels like mercy. Lose three food cards. Add 1/2 week travel time. If you have an axe or shovel, add no travel time.
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
One child grows too weak to stand. Malnutrition takes its toll, and they don't make it. You mark the place with stones and keep moving. Lose one child.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
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Title
Write a brief description here
Two roads diverge at the foothills. One climbs the mountain; the other, a “shortcut,” twists through lower canyons.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
The shortcut winds into stone mazes and dead washes. A week later you return to the fork, wiser and hungrier. Add one week travel time. Lose three food cards.
Title
Write a brief description here
Upward you climb—thin air, aching legs, frozen breath. But the pass opens, and the view steals it back. Add two weeks travel time.
The trail claws upward into pine-cloaked hills. Wagon wheels shriek against stone, and every breath comes thin and cold. The mountains stand ahead—silent, immense, and waiting.
ADD FOUR WEEKS FOR TRAVEL
As you push deeper into the mountains, the snow begins falling thick as feathers. The road disappears. The air stings your lungs.
To keep moving, you toss half your food into the drifts. The wagon lurches forward, lighter and hungrier. If you have a wagon cover, lose half your remaining food cards. If you don't have a wagon cover, lose all your remaining food cards. Add 1/2 week travel time. If you have a wool blanket, add no travel time.
Melting snow floods the camp. Fever grips you in the night, and you start feeling the symptoms of dysentery. Your own training takes over. You ration clean water, brew bark tea, and wait it out. After a harrowing week, the fever breaks. Pale and shaking, you rise to hitch the team again. You are alive, but the mountain has taken its toll. Add one week travel time.
Melting snow floods the camp. The head of household coughs, shivers, fades. It's dysentery. One week later you bury him under frost-crusted earth and move on. Add one week travel time. Lose head of household.
Snow lingers in the shaded gullies, and the animals move slow with hunger. Yet downhill, the valleys gleam with promise. The end feels close enough to touch.
ADD FOUR WEEKS FOR TRAVEL
The trail winds down from the last of the snow. Meltwater trickles beside the ruts, and patches of green push through the mud. The air smells wet and alive again. A single rider appears on the ridge ahead, heading east, calling out with a wave, “Where you folks bound?” You answer without thinking. The name rolls off your tongue like a promise you've been chasing for months.
He tips his hat. "Long road, friend. You're almost there." As he rides off toward the east, you make the final push, more determined than ever. Add 1/2 week travel time.
He tips his hat. "Long road, friend. You're almost there." As he rides off toward the east, you make the final push, more determined than ever. Add 1/2 week travel time.
The trail bends, and at last the endless forests open to a broad green valley. Below, a river flashes like glass in the sunlight. Smoke curls from cabins clustered along the bank—Oregon City, the dream you’ve carried since the prairie. You pause on the ridge, every bone aching, every loss heavy—but alive. The wind smells of rain and cedar, and for the first time in months, you hear laughter instead of wind. Your family rolls forward, wheels cutting fresh tracks in a land that feels new.
The mountains fall away, and sunlight spills across golden hills that tumble toward a glittering bay. White sails crowd the harbor, and the noise of hammers, voices, and waves fills the air—San Francisco, the raw edge of a new world. You stop and take it in—the sea wind, the salt, the promise. Behind you lies dust, snow, and sacrifice. Ahead, a city rising from nothing, daring anyone to dream bigger. The trail is over, but the story has just begun.
Time's up!
Be sure to click Finish & Show Receipt and download your receipt before leaving the store!
Genialize That: The Overland Trails
BIBI BHANGAR
Created on November 4, 2025
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Transcript
Before the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, traveling west was long and dangerous. Nearly half a million settlers set out along the Overland Trails. One in ten never made it—most from disease or starvation. Now you and your group are one family, heading west in search of a new life.
Every family needs a leader. Decide who is the Head of Household, the wife, and the children. Next, the Head of Household is going to choose an occupation, which will influence your family's starting budget.
Next, the Head of Household is going to choose an occupation, which will influence your family's starting budget.
You’ve spent years in a noisy, crowded factory, saving every coin for a better life. You know hard work, but you’re short on supplies and trail experience. You start with a modest budget of $600. Trail Perk: Mechanical repairs are completed without delay. Drawback: Trade deals cost double time (delay +3 days). Record these in your tracker.
Your Head of Household is a Factory Worker.
You’re a craftsman—skilled with your hands and proud of your creations. Your creativity keeps your family’s spirits high, even on long nights. You begin with a budget of $750. Trail Perk: Can improvise tools or trade handmade goods to recover 1 Food Card during hardship events. Drawback: Limited stamina—travel delays affect you +3 extra days each time you lose time. Record these in your tracker.
Your Head of Household is an Artisan.
Your hands are steady, and your tools are strong. You’ve repaired wagons and shoes for years—nothing breaks on your watch for long. You start with a budget of $750. Trail Perk: Master mechanic — mechanical repairs are completed without delay. Drawback: Loses +1 food card during hardship events. Record these in your tracker.
Your Head of Household is a Blacksmith.
You’ve plowed fields and raised livestock your whole life. Hard work and ingenuity come naturally — perfect traits for the Overland Trail. You start with a budget of $800. Trail Perk: Skilled with wagons and animals — you complete mechanical repairs instantly. Drawback: You eat heartily — every rest event costs +1 extra Food Card. Record these in your tracker.
Your Head of Household is a Farmer.
You’ve tended the sick and weary in crowded towns. On the trail, your knowledge of herbs and hygiene could mean the difference between life and death. You begin with a budget of $1,500. Trail Perk: Prevents one family member’s death during illness events. Drawback: Physical labor events add +1 week delay (e.g., wagon fix, storms). Record these in your tracker.
Your Head of Household is a Doctor.
You’ve practiced law back East and dream of fortune and freedom in the new territories. Your silver tongue earns favors, but your soft hands may not handle wagon wheels well. You begin with a budget of $1,500 — one of the wealthiest travelers on the trail. Trail Perk: Can negotiate during trade deals. Pay normal price at resupply stops when others pay double. Drawback: Physical labor events add +1 week delay (e.g., wagon fix, storms). Record these in your tracker.
Your Head of Household is a Lawyer.
Oregon Trail — 2,000 miles of prairie and mountains toward fertile farmland. Many settlers perished along this route, but success meant a new beginning. California Trail — called “the elephant” for its harshness. Gold fever draws thousands westward—but fortune comes at a price.
Choose your trail.
You're bound for Oregon City. The Oregon Trail was the longest and roughest of all trails. The road runs through prairies, deserts, and snow-capped passes. Disease, accidents, and exhaustion will test your family’s strength. But the promise of fertile farmland keeps you moving.
You’ve chosen the California Trail, chasing the dream of gold. They say those who’ve “seen the elephant” have faced the worst the trail can offer. You’ll need courage—and supplies—to survive the journey to San Francisco.
It's time to buy supplies for your trip. Use your group’s budget to buy what you’ll need for seven months on the trail. Don’t forget food, tools, and protection from the weather. The choices you make here can mean life or death on the trail. Choose wisely!
You've arrived at the General Store.
05:00
Hold your horses, partner! You'll lose all progress if you close this window. Make sure you've used the Download Receipt button to save your receipt. Sure you're ready to leave? CLICK HERE.
Welcome to the Independence General Store! Planning to hit the trail? If so, I've got everything you need to make the trip! Once you start shopping, you will have five minutes to make your selections.
Before setting out, check your wagon and animals. Your choices now affect your journey.
No Wagon Cover? → Add 1-1/2 weeks travel time. The wind and rain will punish your family.
Used Horses or Mules? → Add 1 week travel time. If you picked all oxen, good job! Although slower, they are able to endure conditions on the trail.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Snow and hunger force you back to Missouri. All of your food spoils. You must buy new food cards before trying again next spring.
Winter arrives before you reach the mountains.
Title
Write a brief description here
Hold your horses, partner! You'll lose all progress if you close this window. Make sure you've used the Download Receipt button to save your receipt. Sure you're ready to leave? CLICK HERE.
Welcome to the Independence General Store! Planning to hit the trail? If so, I've got everything you need to make the trip!
The grass is green, rivers are manageable, and daylight lasts long. Your family’s spirits are high as the wheels begin to turn westward.
Good choice!
After nearly a week of travel, the prairie opens wide and the trail hums beneath the wheels. Your animals are steady but tired. The horizon glows with the promise of rain. You can either press on to cover more ground before the rivers rise or stop to rest and strengthen your team.
You drive through the dark, chasing the glow of the lead wagons. Then, a snap like thunder. The yoke chain breaks and one ox stumbles down an embankment. It takes the rest of the night to free it and three more days to mend the trace and rest the bruised team. By the time you roll again, a week has slipped away and the river ahead is swelling from rain. Add 1 week to your travel time in your tracker.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
You circle the wagons, bank the fire, have dinner, and let the animals graze fresh shoots. Morning comes clear and steady. With rested shoulders and easy tempers, you roll toward the first big water. Add 1/2 week of travel time. Record this in your tracker. If you have full cooking gear (frying pan, bread pan, knife, tin settings), add no travel time.
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
The prairie stretches endless and bright, wagon ruts already cut deep. The nights are warm and restless, filled with the hum of insects and the creak of wood. Hope still rides high.
ADD FOUR WEEKS FOR TRAVEL
A flooded river blocks the trail. The current churns with branches and debris twisting in the flow. The wagons ahead have stopped, their drivers arguing on the bank.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
You set camp, watching the river drop inch by inch. A few days later, the current loosens its grip. You lash barrels, whisper a prayer, and cross, cold, but safe. Add 1/2 week of travel time. Record this in your tracker.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
You drive into the roar. Midstream, an ox slips. Crates roll, and water rushes through. A child’s cry cuts through the wind, then nothing but the river’s pull. The far bank feels heavier than it should. Lose four food cards and one child.
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
You anchor a rope to a cottonwood and thread it through wagon hands. The current tugs but never wins. You emerge on the other side soaked, every barrel intact. No losses.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
Spring floods have passed, but the banks remain soft and treacherous. The smell of wet earth clings to every rope and wheel. Each mile feels slower as the land begins to rise.
ADD FOUR WEEKS FOR TRAVEL
A few days down the trail, the wagon lurches. Wood splinters. A rear axle groans and drops. You've packed too much.
Barrels burst open; flour clouds the air. You leave eight sacks of food behind for the crows. The wagon creaks, lighter but lonelier. Lose eight food cards.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
A few days down the trail, the wagon lurches. Wood splinters. A rear axle groans and drops. You've packed too much.
Your practiced hands find the balance point, wedge a spare spoke, and cinch the brace. The wheel turns true before the coffee cools. No losses.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
Without the right tools and know-how, repairs drag on. Splinters, sweat, and muttered prayers. After three days the wheel holds, but barely. Add 1/2 week travel time. If you have an axe or shovel, add no travel time.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Title
Write a brief description here
The tall grass gives way to rolling hills dotted with sage. Herds of buffalo drift like thunderclouds in the distance. Evenings grow cooler, and smoke from a hundred campfires marks the line of the trail.
ADD FOUR WEEKS FOR TRAVEL
Welcome to Independence Rock! This marks the halfway point of your journey. This place is a hive of activity: families stopping to rest, travelers carving their names into the rock to prove they made it this far, and various traders looking to buy and sell items. This is a great opportunity to replenish food and supplies!
After making it this far, you'll be darned if you don't take this opportunity. Use your finger or mouse to carve your family name into the rock. When finished, click
HERE
On your way back down the trail, you notice a speck of brown behind a bush. Upon investigation, you find an old saddlebag. Inside is $50! Add $50 to your budget.
Welcome to the Resupply Stop. Here, travelers trade stories, mend wheels, and haggle over supplies spread out in tents. Eastbound traders sell what they can’t carry home; westbound pioneers spend their last coins on flour, ammo, and hope. For a brief moment, the rock becomes a frontier marketplace before the mountains call everyone onward.
Hold your horses, partner! You'll lose all progress if you close this window. Make sure you've used the Download Receipt button to save your receipt. Sure you're ready to leave? CLICK HERE.
Hold your horses, partner! You'll lose all progress if you close this window. Make sure you've used the Download Receipt button to save your receipt. Sure you're ready to leave? CLICK HERE.
Hold your horses, partner! You'll lose all progress if you close this window. Make sure you've used the Download Receipt button to save your receipt. Sure you're ready to leave? CLICK HERE.
Hold your horses, partner! You'll lose all progress if you close this window. Make sure you've used the Download Receipt button to save your receipt. Sure you're ready to leave? CLICK HERE.
Independence Rock fades into the eastern haze, its carvings left behind with the families who turned back. Ahead lie emptier plains and colder nights. The laughter of the camps grows quieter as the trail begins to climb.
ADD FOUR WEEKS FOR TRAVEL
You hear a noise in a thicket as you pass by. You stop the wagon, get out, and spot several nice specimens of wild game.
You steady yourself, aim, and take a shot. Success! This will be helpful. Add two food cards.
This is good for the deer, but not so good for you and your family. You get back in the wagon and move on.
One night, the wife grows pale, her pulse faint. It's cholera. The family gathers, waiting for your decision.
One night, the wife grows pale, her pulse faint. It's cholera. The family gathers, waiting for your decision.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Clean water and calm hands turn the tide. She awakens, weak but alive. Add 1/2 week travel time. If you have soap, add no travel time.
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You boil water and take care of her the best you can. After a week the fever breaks — but she is gone. Add one week travel time. If you have soap, add 1/2 week travel time. Lose wife.
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You know there's nothing you can do. You leave four rations and a folded note on her blanket. The wagon creaks away; silence follows like dust. Lose four food cards. Lose wife.
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The wind carries dust by day and frost by dawn. The trail feels narrower, the laughter quieter. Each mile west tastes more of risk than adventure.
ADD FOUR WEEKS FOR TRAVEL
A week of rain pins you in place. Boredom turns to hunger as the wagon sinks into the mud.
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You eat and try to stay warm. Supplies vanish fast. When the clouds part, the bags are light. Lose seven food cards. If you have a tent, lose only five food cards. Add 1/2 week travel time. If you have an axe or shovel, add no travel time.
Event Type
Occupations Impacted
Every crumb is counted. The storm clears after a few days. The smell of dry earth feels like mercy. Lose three food cards. Add 1/2 week travel time. If you have an axe or shovel, add no travel time.
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One child grows too weak to stand. Malnutrition takes its toll, and they don't make it. You mark the place with stones and keep moving. Lose one child.
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Two roads diverge at the foothills. One climbs the mountain; the other, a “shortcut,” twists through lower canyons.
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The shortcut winds into stone mazes and dead washes. A week later you return to the fork, wiser and hungrier. Add one week travel time. Lose three food cards.
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Upward you climb—thin air, aching legs, frozen breath. But the pass opens, and the view steals it back. Add two weeks travel time.
The trail claws upward into pine-cloaked hills. Wagon wheels shriek against stone, and every breath comes thin and cold. The mountains stand ahead—silent, immense, and waiting.
ADD FOUR WEEKS FOR TRAVEL
As you push deeper into the mountains, the snow begins falling thick as feathers. The road disappears. The air stings your lungs.
To keep moving, you toss half your food into the drifts. The wagon lurches forward, lighter and hungrier. If you have a wagon cover, lose half your remaining food cards. If you don't have a wagon cover, lose all your remaining food cards. Add 1/2 week travel time. If you have a wool blanket, add no travel time.
Melting snow floods the camp. Fever grips you in the night, and you start feeling the symptoms of dysentery. Your own training takes over. You ration clean water, brew bark tea, and wait it out. After a harrowing week, the fever breaks. Pale and shaking, you rise to hitch the team again. You are alive, but the mountain has taken its toll. Add one week travel time.
Melting snow floods the camp. The head of household coughs, shivers, fades. It's dysentery. One week later you bury him under frost-crusted earth and move on. Add one week travel time. Lose head of household.
Snow lingers in the shaded gullies, and the animals move slow with hunger. Yet downhill, the valleys gleam with promise. The end feels close enough to touch.
ADD FOUR WEEKS FOR TRAVEL
The trail winds down from the last of the snow. Meltwater trickles beside the ruts, and patches of green push through the mud. The air smells wet and alive again. A single rider appears on the ridge ahead, heading east, calling out with a wave, “Where you folks bound?” You answer without thinking. The name rolls off your tongue like a promise you've been chasing for months.
He tips his hat. "Long road, friend. You're almost there." As he rides off toward the east, you make the final push, more determined than ever. Add 1/2 week travel time.
He tips his hat. "Long road, friend. You're almost there." As he rides off toward the east, you make the final push, more determined than ever. Add 1/2 week travel time.
The trail bends, and at last the endless forests open to a broad green valley. Below, a river flashes like glass in the sunlight. Smoke curls from cabins clustered along the bank—Oregon City, the dream you’ve carried since the prairie. You pause on the ridge, every bone aching, every loss heavy—but alive. The wind smells of rain and cedar, and for the first time in months, you hear laughter instead of wind. Your family rolls forward, wheels cutting fresh tracks in a land that feels new.
The mountains fall away, and sunlight spills across golden hills that tumble toward a glittering bay. White sails crowd the harbor, and the noise of hammers, voices, and waves fills the air—San Francisco, the raw edge of a new world. You stop and take it in—the sea wind, the salt, the promise. Behind you lies dust, snow, and sacrifice. Ahead, a city rising from nothing, daring anyone to dream bigger. The trail is over, but the story has just begun.
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