If I were suddenly transported to the Old West and had to make a go of it, I would be in trouble. I’d probably end up being the first person they ate in a Donner Party situation. I’m terrible at cooking, gardening, and any unmodern type of housekeeping. After rereading Little House on the Prairie, I’m pretty sure I would have starved to death rather quickly. While I don’t oppose hunting, I couldn’t actually kill anything on my own. I’m not sure I could clean the carcass after someone else did either. Maybe if I had grown up in that time, it would be different.
I used to go fishing with my dad until he said I was old enough to bait my own hook and clean my own fish. I couldn’t stab the worm with the hook and I agonized about cleaning the one fish I caught for over an hour. I ended up sticking it in the freezer whole to be thrown to the cats later.
If I had been sent out somewhere as a mail-order bride, I would probably be sent back on the first mail coach.
I can’t sing or dance, so being a saloon girl would be out of the question as well.
On top of that, I’m not sure what I would do without wi-fi. Haha!
Practically, the one skill I have that would be useful in the Old West is sewing. I could make and mend clothing, although having to do all the stitching by hand would be tedious (especially without Netflix to watch while I’m stitching.) However, there would be satisfaction in that the garments would be well-used.
If I could pretend that I could kill my own food, or at least reasonably scavenge for non-poisonous nuts and berries, I would like to be an explorer, documenting the wilderness and writing about it. Traveling through the national parks before they were tourist attractions would be pretty cool. Imagine being the first person to stumble upon Old Faithful or the Grand Canyon.
The simplicity of walking around and just enjoying nature would be a good change of pace. No frantic schedules and running here and there, just walking and wandering.
To actually make it work, I probably would need a team. Someone to help with gathering food and keep me from getting lost. And someone to rescue me after I was kidnapped by Sasquatches.
Would you be able to survive in the Old West?
Angela Schroeder
Patricia Kiyono
Elaine Cantrell
Jeff Salter
Joselyn
Tonette Joyce
Four Foxes, One Hound 
you underestimate yourself — I think you’d have been a wonderful saloon girl. LOL
Love the comments about being the mail order bride sent back home… and becoming the first selectee for Donner party’s banquet.
Yeah, things were primitive back then, but with the resolve and resilence of a marathon runner, you would have prevailed.
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Because everyone looks and sounds better after a lot of cheap whiskey. Lol!
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Like you, I truly doubt that I WOULD survive in the Wild West! I think our minds work more alike than we realized.
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Haha. I love your views on how you’d do in The Old West. The Donner party line cracked me up.
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I can’t imagine sewing everything by hand, either! Especially having to do it by candle light. What would we do without electricity – and wifi?
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While I love reading books and watching movies set in the Old West, I think I would probably have been one who stayed behind in the East (or at least the Midwest!). I can’t imagine traveling by wagon train or stagecoach, but I admire the courage of those who did.
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