By Nancy Whitaker

ONCE UPON A TIME

Being a lover of history and intrigued with lives of the early settlers, I am almost always looking for information that tells how they really lived. What did they eat? What did they wear? How did they keep clean?

I have always had the desire to be a pioneer and travel out west in a wagon train. It sounds exciting and adventurous, but scary at the same time. The old shows we watch on television are probably not even close to telling what and how our ancestors lived and survived.

Can you imagine saying good-bye to family and friends, loading up a wagon with necessities and heading to parts unknown? I cannot imagine doing that today, but if I would have been a pioneer lady, I probably would have had to, like it or not.