Welcome to our fill-in-the-blank-to-discover-your-own-western-adventure game!
Quick random side note: I went down a fascinating rabbit trail and found ice cream was definitely available on the American frontier. By the late 1800’s, even widely available. Per Google, “Yes, ice cream was widely available in the 1880s American frontier. By 1880, ice cream parlors were popular in remote locations, with towns like Tombstone, Arizona, hosting up to four distinct 'ice cream saloons.'
- Production Methods: Pioneers and cowboys made ice cream using hand-cranked churns (patented in 1843) and ice harvested in winter, stored in insulated ice houses, or transported by rail. In areas without natural ice, such as early Tucson, entrepreneurs used chemical freezing mixtures (e.g., sal ammoniac and water) to manufacture sherbet and ice cream as early as 1875.
- Cultural Presence: Ice cream was a staple social treat; lawman Wyatt Earp was known to visit the Tombstone ice cream parlor daily. Flavors ranged from traditional vanilla and chocolate to eccentric Victorian options like asparagus and Parmigiano.”
So yes, there will be an ice cream question below! 😉
Make sure to leave your story in the comments. I can’t wait to hear about your adventures! :)
Game
- 12 AM-12 PM = mountain man / trapper
- 12 PM-3 PM = banker
- 3 PM-6 PM = wagon master
- 6PM-12AM = scout
2) Enduring many difficulties, dangers, and hardships, you're heading west. Based off the second letter of your middle name, your most memorable episode happens while crossing the...
- A-G = Prairie
- H-N = River
- O-U = Mountains
- V-Z = Desert
3) Where (pick your favorite color below) you end up in a showdown with a...
- Red = Grizzly
- Green = Moose
- Yellow = Buffalo
- Blue = Prairie dog
4) Finally arriving at a boomtown, and based on your last beverage, you decide to try your hand at being a...
- A. Coffee = prospector / miner
- B. Tea = saloon keeper
- C. Lemonade / ginger ale / soda water = barber
- D. Whiskey and branch water (or just plain branch water) = bounty hunter
5) Based off your preferred ice cream flavor, your new career goes…
- Chocolate = very well indeed
- Asparagus = middling
- Parmigiano = could be going a lot better
- Vanilla = spectacularly badly
(If you want to, please feel free to elaborate on WHY things are thus developing! 😉)
6) In the midst of your job endeavors, you encounter your next big challenge when (based on the outside temperature today) you…
- Under 70⁰ = …get caught in a blizzard and have to ride it out sheltered under the overhang of a river bank – bundled up in your thick buffalo coat and surviving on oyster crackers
- 70⁰-80⁰ = …your horses are stolen by outlaws
- 80⁰-90⁰ = …your small stockpile of savings is lost when the bank is accidentally blown up
- Over 90⁰ = …your stagecoach is caught in a buffalo stampede
7) Thankfully, you come upon some kind strangers who share a cheering, hearty meal. Depending on your go-to for summer headwear, the highlight of the spread is...
- No hat = pork and beans
- Cowboy hat = son-of-a-gun stew
- Big sunhat = flapjacks
- Ball cap = cherry pie
8) You’ve picked yourself up, dusted yourself off, and the time has come for yet a new life chapter! When opportunity comes knocking, you jump at the chance. Looking out your window, if you first see a ________ you end up living out your days most happily as a...
- Oak tree = sheriff’s deputy
- Pine tree = rancher
- Maple tree = telegraph operator
- Fir tree = ticket master for the railroad
- Fruit tree = keeper at the livery stable
- Cottonwood / poplar / willow / leafy green tree of any other kind = sharpshooter touring in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show
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Don't forget to leave your story in the comments! :) Here's mine:
My saga begins when I take the job of scouting for a wagon train heading west out of St. Joseph MO. My most memorable adventure happens when crossing the Rocky Mountains where I end up in a tense standoff with a prairie dog. (Ha, this part is all too real -- gophers here, while cute, are an absolute menace, they're everywhere in the garden.) Arriving at a boom town in Wyoming Territory, I end up parting ways with the wagon train and strike out on my own as a bounty hunter. This new endeavor goes spectacularly badly -- in large part because (despite much practice) my quick draw never comes quite up to snuff, and ultimately some outlaws are able to get the drop on me and make off with my horse. Limping along after that, I come upon some kind settlers who share their warm and hearty supper -- including the best cherry pie west of the Mississippi. In the end, I take a job at a livery stable in Jackson, nestled at the base of the Tetons, and live happily ever after (filling in as an extra ranch hand whenever I get the opportunity ;)).
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Have fun!
