The original Oregon Trail.
This source code can be compiled with FreeBASIC. FreeBASIC is a completely free, open-source BASIC compiler that has syntax most similar to MS-QuickBASIC.
The QuickBASIC dialect should be selected to leverage classic features such as line numbers.
Install the compiler, and then the source code may be compiled.
$ fbc -lang qb OREGON.bas
In 1971, Don Rawitsch and Bill Heinemann were participating together in a practice teaching program as students at Careton College, Northfield, Minnesota. Don was teaching a class on the history of the American West and provided the preliminary information which Bill, a math teacher, used to construct the OREGON program. The program was first implemented on the Minneapolis Schools timesharing system. On the completion of the practice teaching program, the program was removed from the Minneapolis system and remained only as a curled up listing until Don joined the MECC staff in 1974 and loaded it onto the MECC system. Don then proceeded to do further research on the Oregon Trail and modified the program for historical accuracy to produce the present version. The program has been implemented on Hewlett-Packard, UNIVAC, and Control Data systems.
Although historical information about the trip to Oregon is not extremely plentiful, primary and secondary sources were used whenever possible to make the simulation authentic. Probability curves for being attacked by riders and for being in the mountains are representative of the geographic features of the land. (Riders attack more frequently on the plains.)
- Ghent, William J., The Road to Oregon, Longmans, Green & Co., New York, 1929.
- Hancock, Samuel, Narrative of Samuel Hancock, George H. Harrap & Co., Ltd., London, 1927.
- Meeker, Ezra, Ox Team Days on the Oregon Trail, E. Meeker, New York, 1907.
- Morgan, Dale L., Overland in 1846, Talisman Press, Georgetown, California, 1963.
- Morgan, insert-back cover, "map of T.H. Jefferson - 1849".
- Hancock, xiv, xv, information based on a map of 1846.
- Meeker, Ox Team Days, pp. 252-53.
- Meeker, Ox Team Days, p. 61 - says travelers averaged 15-25 miles per day, though they didn't travel every day. In the simulation, players make about 175-200 miles every two-week period.
- Ghent, p. 73 - says ox-drawn wagons made 2 miles per hour, or 20 miles on good days and 5-10 miles on bad days.
- Meeker, Ox Team Days, p. 13, says in 1850's sugar cost 18¢/lb., salt cost $3.00/barrel, calico cost 15¢/yd.
- Ghent, p. 99, says a team of oxen cost about $200 (for eight); references a guidebook of the time which recommends the following to be included for each adult: 150 lbs. of flour, 25 lbs. of bacon, 25 lbs. of sugar, 15 lbs. of coffee. In the simulation, the player spends $200-$300 on an oxen team. Based on the Meeker information, if the average commodity cost about 20¢/lb. and the average family of five eats as much as four adults, a good food stock would cost about $175. This is a reasonable amount to start with in the simulation.
- Table 1 shows a frequency anaylsis of events mentioned in the diaries of three people that traveled the entire length of the trail. The probabilities of events occuring in the simulation are based on this analysis.
- Dates and days of the week shown are correct for 1847.
- The average trip in the simulation takes about 12 two-week turns. There were six forts on the trail. In the simulation a player gets the option to stop at a fort every other turn.
- Don Rawitsch Reddit AMA
- Don Rawitsch presentation
- Oregon Trail’s Co-Creator Didn’t Make Much Money. He Should Have Chosen to Be a Banker.
- The Forgotten History of 'The Oregon Trail,' As Told By Its Creators
- The History Behind The Oregon Trail
This project makes no effort to change the original source code shared in Creative Computing May 1978 issue. Dan Rawitsch described his program in-depth in this issue and shared the source code in classic BASIC.