Mental Floss

6 Misconceptions About the Oregon Trail

Believe it or not, the computer game didn’t teach you everything you should know about the historic route.

ByBethel Afful|
Have you really died of dysentery?
Have you really died of dysentery? | Dr. Juergen Bochynek via Shutterstock

If you spent hours playing The Oregon Trail on the computer back in the day, there’s probably one sentence you’ve seen a lot: “You have died of dysentery.”

People usually contracted dysentery when they drank bad water on the Oregon Trail. That said, real Oregon Trail travelers were much better at staying alive—with an estimated 4 to10 percent death rate—than a 20th-century 10-year-old playing a simulation.

The Oregon Trail was used by Americans who wanted to travel west to the “New Country.” They’d acquire a wagon, load up on supplies, and bring their families on the months-long journey. It was so well-traveled that to this day, you can see wagon ruts in all the states it went through. But what are the things we get wrong about the famous route?

In this episode of Misconceptions, host Justin Dodd debunks myths about the Oregon Trail. So grab your food, ammunition, and spare wagon parts, and subscribe to Mental Floss on YouTube for new videos every week.

Discover More Misconceptions:

Home/MISCONCEPTIONS