When you think about it, the pioneers were a pretty remarkable group of people. They went out into the unknown with limited possessions and limited knowledge of the land surrounding them. They were unafraid to start from scratch, and to work new land that they could call their own, even if that meant working themselves to the bone.

To say the frontier was filled with hardships is a vast understatement. In the early days, the frontier could be downright miserable. Families worked from dawn until dusk, often without enough food to sustain them. They did not have the necessary resources to deal with events like drought or food shortages. For the most part, getting sick meant no access to appropriate medicine or trained professionals.

And yet, they persevered. We could learn some things from these survivors. Here are 12 things we can take away from the pioneers as they braved the unknown wilderness around them.

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