My A-muse-ing Life

I’m working on a story about the Wild West.  I need to do some research, and I’m listing 20 questions to get me started.

1. How did they travel and why?  (Horse, oxen, wagon,)
2. What did they take with them?
3. What roads did they take, what pathway/states?
4. What hardships did they face?
5. What type of people went?
6. On average, how many people were in a wagon train?
7. Did people travel within a wagon train always, or sometimes alone?
8. Who settled the West?
9. What was the land like before they came?
10. Why did they travel west?
11. What benefits were there?
12. How old were the people traveling?
13. What animals did they take with them?
14. What things did they do without?
15. What was necessary to take?
16. What problems did they face with animals?
17. How did the form communities?
18. How important was religion to them?
19. What clothes did they wear?
20. What foods did they prepare?