Pioneers and Survival Food

From the arrival of the earliest settlers to the closing of the American frontier, pioneers in the wilderness depended on food supplies for their survival. They prepared by bringing staples, seeds, and as much animal stock as they could transport over difficult terrain, and depended on skills and equipment for foraging, hunting, and fishing. The first stage of life on the frontier often lasted a relatively short time, sometimes only two or three years, before the area’s growth could support trade and supplies from the outside. The timing depended largely on available transportation. For example, Ohio River settlements, benefiting from the river’s commerce, grew beyond the frontier stage far more quickly than remote areas of the Smoky Mountains.