What Would Your Job Be on the American Frontier?

By: Mariana Sabino
Estimated Completion Time
5 min
What Would Your Job Be on the American Frontier?
Image: Mlenny / E+ / Getty Images

About This Quiz

You had to be an adventurous, industrious, courageous type to venture out into the American Frontier, where great fortunes and a new start in life were sought. Many people weren't cut out for the great perils and challenges they'd encounter on a daily basis, yet if you managed to survive, you showed the kind of grit that defines the word. The promise of a new way of life offered excitement and the gamut of opportunities, luring you into something you couldn't resist. 

Chances are, you had something very specific in mind when you set out West. You also had your own idea of what success means to you. While you had to make some concessions, improvising along the way, there was no turning back. You might've brought some skills along with you, but what you didn't know you'd pick up in one way or another. You'd do what you had to do, and that's that! 

This quiz places you right back into the American Frontier, asking you questions that will reveal the occupation you would've chosen for yourself. While the pioneering spirit may have been common to all, the way you made a living was unique to each person. Your occupation certainly reflected your aspirations, style and values.  So, what are you waiting for? Find out how you helped shape the West! 

You had to make your house out of something, right? What materials did you choose?
Choose? I wouldn't call it a choice. It's made out of sod, mostly, but it has a glass window now.
Logs and stone
When I finally build my own house, it'll be a mighty palace that'll rival the sun!
Where I sleep, you mean? This place is made out of wood.

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What do you use for soap?
Wood Ash
I order it from an apothecary.
Sulfur
Water's enough, no?

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Your sensitive brother sends you a letter saying he wants to come out West to explore possibilites. How do you respond?
You prepare him for the ordeal he'll likely face.
You tell him he needs his head examined first.
You don't respond. He'll get the hint.
You discourage him, saying he's not cut out for it.

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What's your idea of fun?
Husking bees are oodles of fun for everyone.
Resting
Gambling and spending
Watching a righteous showdown

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Someone spits out their tobacco right next to your feet. What do you do?
I'd scold them.
I'd educate the brute on matters of manners.
I'd beat them into a pulp.
I'd give a warning, and show them the spittoon.

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When you get sick, what do you do?
Pray and hope there's a doctor within fifty miles
I diagnose and treat myself.
I drink sulfur.
I drink bourbon, but if it gets really bad I'll ask that doctor who comes in here to take a look.

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What do you like to do in the summer?
Ah, picnics and dances are heavenly.
I read and try to catch up on new advances.
Swim
What summer? It's all the same to me.

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So, you've caught a glimpse of success. What does that mean to you?
Surviving the winter and reaping the rewards of a decent harvest
Saving someone's life with this new technique I came up with on the fly
I set myself up in some swanky lodgings all winter. I lived the life, I tell ya.
I have some savings from customers' tips and gifts.

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What do you dread the most?
A prairie fire!
Another malaria outbreak
Running out of luck
I don't dread anything. Others can do the dreading, and I'll listen.

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When do you wake up?
Before dawn
Whenever I'm called
I set my own hours.
It depends. We sleep in shifts.

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How do you get around?
By foot, horse, cow or covered wagon
On horseback, like everyone else
Stagecoach only ... Um, when I strike it really rich, %0DI mean
I don't leave this place much.

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What are you wearing?
Something I made from my linsey-woolsey
Why? Is it too dirty?
Ask me what I'll be wearing soon. It'll dazzle you!
Some furs my customers brought in to barter

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What lights up your eyes in the spring?
Wild mustard!
Sunshine, of course
All things gold
Romance, wherever you can find it

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When you hear the word "Ginseng," what do you think of?
A tonic
It's too mild to warrant serious consideration.
Huh? Oh, right, the Chinese take it around.
Gin

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What do you enjoy listening to?
"Uncle Sam is rich enough to give us all a farm..."
Mozart on occasion
My own whistling
Silence. If I hear another fiddle player...

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What drove you nuts while you worked today?
Digging a well while fending off those pesky insects
That woman who kept calling me a quack
Being on my hands and knees, but that's the price you got to pay
Explaining the meaning of "loitering" again

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Can you think of a skill you're really proud of?
Turning a barrel into a decent chair
Blood-letting with any tool or leech available
How I shake my pan
Asking troublemakers to take it outside

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What's food during the winter?
Cured meat and pickled vegetables
People offer me all kinds of things in exchange for my services.
On certain days, anything I want. On others, nothing.
Beer is liquid bread, you know.

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What's your most prized possession?
The axe, of course
Everything that fits into my saddlebag
My pan
My wits

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A horse thief is _______.
The worst of criminals
A real nuisance
Where is he? I'll handle it.
Half of last week's customers

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Where's your promised land?
Montana
Wherever I'm needed
California
Give me another shot of bourbon and I'll tell ya.

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You enjoy reading what, exactly?
Serial stories, when they finally arrive in the mail
Journals
Read my lips -- "boring!"
I like it when people read to me.

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What do you value most?
My family
Making new discoveries
Power and money
Generosity

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Do you enjoy manual labor?
Is there any other kind of work? Really, what an absurd question!
Not really, even though my work tends to be hands-on.
Of course not! One of these days I'll sit back and have servants do it all for me.
Yawn... What?

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Do you like meeting new people?
If we have common goals, yes
I suppose, especially when they're healthy specimens.
To each their own, got me?
Do I have a choice?

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Care for a game of Faro?
Of course not. Don't insult me.
Um, okay, but don't tell anyone.
Now we're talking!
Again?

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Any children?
Seven -- no, I mean eight.
What an indiscreet question!
I got a dog.
No, but maybe someday

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Who is your ally?
Another family
Whomever I manage to help
My dog
Everyone and no one

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How would your friends describe you?
Steadfast and diligent
Ingenious and fearless
Impulsive and passionate
Level-headed and mysterious

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What did you dream about last night?
You mean the stuff falling down? That was the sod roof.
Going down in the annals of history!
Marrying a large gold nugget, which was a little strange
Enough about dreams! Let's just seize the day!

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You Got: