How were the animals usefull in the pioneers lives?

Answer 1

For pioneers, animals would have provided elements essential to their survival. Being, for the most part, alone in a harsh and unsettled environment would mean that almost every source of food or tools would have to come from whatever the pioneers could make for themselves. Animals would have provided meat and fat, which is essential to survival on a meager diet (unless the pioneers had stopped to plant crops or found fruit, there would not have been a lot to eat besides animals). Also, the extreme cold in different places would mean animal pelts and furs could provide crucial sources of insulation for the pioneers when they had no blankets and nowhere to buy any. Later on, when there were more settlements in the West, animal pelts and furs became extremely valuable to trappers and settlers who would trade the animal skins for materials they could not get anywhere else such as metal tools or guns.