The pioneers of 19th century United States had all manner of reasons for heading west from the eastern states, and settling in the newly opened lands of the ever-changing American frontier. Some were searching for wealth and riches in the legendary Gold Rushes of the mid 1800s. Others were taking advantage of the so-called Homestead Movement, which granted free land to anyone willing to settle and cultivate it.

Religious and social freedoms were important factors for many groups of pioneers too, who were looking to establish new lives away from persecution and prejudice in the aftermath of the Civil War. But no matter the reason for their movement west, the pioneers often faced extraordinary hardships. 

Crushing poverty, dwindling supplies, natural disasters, bandits, robbers, and potentially fatal run-ins with the native population all potentially made the journey immensely perilous. Tales of parties of pioneers who set out west only to fall into ruin, or never be heard from again (most notably the ill-fated Donner party of 1846) have been the subject of stories for decades, and have long given rise to several myths and popular misconceptions about what life at that time was truly like. 

1. EVERYONE TRAVELED BY WAGON OR HANDCART 
2. FATAL ENCOUNTERS WITH NATIVE AMERICANS WERE COMMON 
3. THE DEATH RATE WAS COLOSSAL 
4. STARVATION WAS THE BIGGEST THREAT TO LIFE 
5. IT WAS A GRUELING, THANKLESS PROCESS 

EVERYONE TRAVELED BY WAGON OR HANDCART 

Although paintings and movies like to show pioneers moving in vast groups of covered wagons, not all the pioneers were able to do so. Some research has shown that perhaps less than two-thirds of pioneers had some manner of vehicle with them, as wagons—or “prairie schooners” as they were known—could be prohibitively expensive for many of the poorest pioneers. They were left instead to either make the journey on horseback if they were able, or simply on foot. 

Even those who did take wagons and livestock with them as they headed west often walked alongside them, rather than on them, as a means of lightening the load and ultimately quickening the journey. 

FATAL ENCOUNTERS WITH NATIVE AMERICANS WERE COMMON 

Despite the number of times that parties of wagon-riding pioneers being brutally attacked by horse-riding Native Americans have been portrayed in film and television over the years, such attacks were remarkably rare. In fact, in the 20-year period from 1840–1860, it has been estimated that barely 350 such deaths were recorded. To put that into perspective, more pioneers were killed by the careless and inexperienced handling of firearms than by encounters with the native people they had brought so much weaponry with them to protect themselves against.

THE DEATH RATE WAS COLOSSAL 

Thanks to tales like that of the Donner party, many people presume that the number of pioneers who perished on their way to their new lives in the frontier territories was inordinately high. Although certain parties and companies did indeed experience terrible average death rates per person (with some parties seeing as many as 1 in 4 of their number dying on route), in truth the actual figures for many journeys were not that much higher than the average death rate for the entire country at the time.

In fact, research in 2014 revealed that Mormon pioneers in particular experienced a mere 3.5% mortality rate, barely half a percentage point higher than the national average. 

STARVATION WAS THE BIGGEST THREAT TO LIFE 

Not only were the mortality rates among pioneers in general perhaps not as terrible as many of us presume, the notion that groups would often run out of food and supplies—and ultimately face starvation, having lost cattle and not found any land or conditions suitable for agriculture—was also something of a misconception.

Although statistically the death rate was relatively low, the biggest cause of death among pioneers was actually disease. Estimates vary (not least due to different groups experiencing different setbacks and hardships), but anything from 40–90% of those on the overland trails fell victim to conditions caused by contaminated food and water, such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery, as well as infections like influenza and measles.

With attacks by native populations statistically unlikely, moreover, other relatively more common causes of death included wagon and firearm accidents, accidents involving livestock, and harsh weather conditions and other natural disasters.

IT WAS A GRUELING, THANKLESS PROCESS 

Life on the road out west was certainly hard, but the resilience of the pioneers themselves meant that life on the overland trails, and the new lives they built when they arrived out west, were not entirely constant suffering. 

Traveling in groups not only make the journey safer, but created makeshift communities that offered moral and emotional support, as well as new friends and companions with whom to have fun, play games, and enjoy leisure time—including after the right place to settle down had been found.

Pioneers would often meet for picnics, dances, and games, and would help one another erect buildings and celebrate afterwards. And even the children who accompanied their pioneer parents out west would make friends and play together, practice sewing and swimming, make their own toys, and do all the usual childhood activities—just without the schoolhouses, schoolyards, and toy stores that they might have been used to in the larger cities back home. 

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