What Would Your Pioneer Job Be?

There is absolutely no way that you would have survived as a pioneer. You are nowhere near tough enough. Your party would have left you at the first settlement, far before you even made it to the Mississippi River. If not, you would have died of starvation or cold along the way.

You would have been a teacher, but unlike today's teachers, you wouldn't have had a computer, an overhead projector, or even a blackboard! You would have been in charge of teaching pupils on the go--a log schoolhouse, a drafty church, or even in a covered wagon!

Pioneers didn't have grocery stores, so they relied primarily on their own agricultural endeavors. A farmer was responsible for planting and harvesting a variety of crops as well as looking after livestock, such as chickens, pigs, and cows, and making sure that they stayed healthy. The farmer was without a doubt one of the most important jobs in the pioneer settlement!

Unlike many of your peers, you would have been able to work inside, but that doesn't mean it was easy work! You would have had to know how to make tools, fit horses for horseshoes, and fix or rebuild broken tools or machinery as needed. And to think you would have done it all without electricity!

As a hunter, you would have been responsible for hunting animals (mostly deer) for food. As a thrifty pioneer, you would have had to learn how to prepare meat as well as skin the animal for fur, which would be used to keep the community warm in the cold winters. Unlike today's hunters, you wouldn't have had a high-powered rifle with night vision, just a rudimentary shotgun, a lantern, and a knife or two!

As pioneers began to form settlements, someone had to enforce the law. Many settlements and small pioneer towns only had one or two sheriffs, who were responsible for keeping the entire community safe from bandits, thieves, and other hostile groups. Welcome to the Wild West!