An Oregon Trail Country Store · 1849

Trailhead
Merchant

Sweetwater Crossing · On the Westward Road

You keep the only general store for a hundred miles of wagon ruts. Stock the shelves, set fair prices, make change at the counter, and read the boom-and-bust of the trail. Buy low, sell smart, and don't let your storehouse run dry.

Supply & demand Making change Limited storage Shortages Boom & bust Reinvesting profit

Apprentice

The register shows the change due — you just count it out. Gentle demand, 14 weeks.

Shop Clerk

Compute the change yourself. Real freight delays and a full boom-bust. 18 weeks.

Proprietor

Ring up each order and beat the clock. Tight money, harsh trail. 20 weeks.

Sweetwater Crossing is a fictional outpost, but the wares, prices, and hardships are drawn from real general stores and "sutlers" that supplied emigrants along the Oregon and California Trails between the 1840s and 1860s.