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 Dusty Johnson Grothusen, Creator Ride the Outlaw Trail Dusty, always fascinated by the Old West, created the remarkable board game, Ride the Outlaw Trail. Originally from Utah, a chap builder and leather artisan by trade, she was totally possessed by a dream. Literally, possessed by a dream in 1992. In that dream, she traveled around a life size game board crossing the paths of characters from the times of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. She says of the experience, “One night, I had a dream. It was the most profound dream I ever had. It hit me right between the eyes. From that point forward, I have never been able to rest. I would work in the leather shop all day and then after supper, start working on designing the game. Sometimes I couldn’t stop until two or three in the morning.” The dream became an obsession. Driven to create a historically accurate board game based on the life, adventures, activities, and associates of the famous outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch, she put twelve years and thousands of hours into research. Relying on bibliographies, newspaper articles from the 1870s, and personal interviews with Utah locals who shared long-held family memories and secrets, the game is historically accurate. From the Rules of the Game are these comments of Dusty’s, “I have indeed been fortunate to live a good part of my life in Vernal, Utah, fifty miles or so from Brown’s Park. I am honored to have personally met and got to know many descendents and folks who actually knew some of these Outlaws. We are proud of our Outlaw heritage. It’s our special way of hanging on to the past. So you will learn that some of the stories in the Outlaw Fate cards have never been published to the best of my knowledge. There are little facts here and there that I had the pleasure of adding to an already spicy story.” A board game as a teaching tool? According to Dusty, “School teachers are actually using this in their rooms right now to help teach Western history. Ride the Outlaw Trail is not presented in a way that glorifies crime. Cassidy, himself, was not known to have killed anyone. He was insistent on respect to women, children and animals. This is part of what I want people to get from this game.” Teaching history doesn’t just happen in the classroom, Dusty shares, “Some grouchy old grandpas out there may say ‘I’m not going to sit down and play a game board.’ Not only will they sit down and play this one, but they will sit down and teach the younger ones.” Teachable moments of history, math, and reading happen through the tools the game provides including money based on genuine Wyoming bank notes with actual batch numbers. Gold double eagles ($20 pieces) are included as Butch was famous for giving them as payment for small favors. The one hundred and ninety-two Outlaw Fate cards tell the real stories, and the game move associated with that story. There are thirty-two Outlaw Cards, each one a mini biography of the actual folks of the time. Additional lessons are learned as each player advances around the board, stopping squares steeped in historical data. The objective? According to the Rules of the Game, “The objective is to collect items to become an Outlaw, then gather at least two other Outlaws to make a gang. You must acquire a set amount of money, and be the first player to successfully reach the end of the Final Trail.” To win this game a player must take the Final Trail. This is Tom Horn country. You either win the game or lose your life. Players will literally come out of their chairs as fate deals them yet another interesting hand. But the real goal is to gather around the table, the old fashion way, with as many as eight friends and family. Enjoy being together, away from modern technology and interruptions. Let your imagination take a journey back in time. Ride again with the Wild Bunch. Fight land grabbing railroads and money hungry bankers, rustle cattle and horses, engage in horse racing, or rob a bank. Discover the answer to that age old infamous question, “Who are those guys?” Most importantly, have fun! |
