The Origin Story of Oregon Trail

ORECON TRAIL A Visual History * Original Teletype Version: In 1971, three student teachers-Heinemann, Rawitsch, and Dillenberger-wrote and programmed the first Oregon Trail onto a teletype. It was played for the first time in Rawitsch's history class on Dec. 3, 1971. Rawitsch brought Oregon Trail with him to his new job at the Minnesota Education Computing Consortium in 1974. ev HUCH De YEU WAIT TE SPEND e YUR EKEN TEATS0 av HUCH De Yau VANT te SPOND e raaor s00 . Vau vAT oD es HI SCKLAEaUs SUPPLIEST60 AFTER ALL UR PURDIASES, YOU HEV HAVE BOS OLLARS LEFT OREGON TTAL HILEAGE IS O ILLETS CLe THING MISC. SUPA CASH e veu vT EAT C POLY ERATELY DERS ATEA THEY LAE STILE 3 RN ( ATTADE ( ceTINUE (4 CINOLE VAGNS IF Yeu N YeurLL CAIN TINE BUT VEAR DEN TRUR OKEN IF YOU CIRCLE YOUL LE TINE BIE VERE HSTELECHECK ER LOSSES BAD ILLNES5 EDICIN USED TATAL HILEAGE IS IO HISE. U CAS Yeu VAIT e D S AT THE NEXT ST, C HNT, eR ca caTIsUE A - eating caused food supply to be diminished B - shooting correctly drove off riders C - shooting used up bullets D - shooting incorrectly caused unsuccessful hunting In 1978, MECC accepted a bid from Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak for the latest The Oregon Trail La t he microcomputer, the Apple I. By the 80s, nearly 5,000 school districts around the Country received Oregon Trail with permission to make unlimited copies. 18 mecc Next Miles Goina back to 1848... EIh 1991, the state sold MECC to a group of venture capitalists for $5.25 million. The game continued to evolve as technology improved with input from nearly every MECC employee. THE ORECON TRAIL mecc EIh 1995, MECC released a complete redesign of the game called Oregon Trail I, feted at Mall of America at the "Trailheads Jamboree." Rawitsch, Dillenberger, and Heinemann were acknowledged as the original inventors of the game. The same year, Softkey acquired MECC and changed its name to the Learning Company. mecc HISTORY FREE VIDEO The Oregon Trait Itre ul r II 1999: The final version of Üregon Trail to come out of Minnesota-fourth edition-was The Le Caspeny OREGON TRAIL 4 programmed as MECC's Brooklyn Park of fices were being shut down. It featured 3-D panoramic wideo and new hunting games. The Learning Company was acquired by Mattel for $3.5 billion in an ultimately disastrous merger. A final version-Oregon Trail fifth edition-was released ORECON TRAIL THE 5TH ADVENTURES ALONG THE ORECON TRAIL Albunh Smten Soon after with cartoon cut- scenes added. 2008: IPhone app released by Gameloft. Current version: 1.7.4