I'm reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder "little house" series again with my second daughter. We're right at the point where they loaded up the truck and they moved to Beverly, Hills that is. No, I mean South Dakota, and it's a wagon, not a truck. Anyway, it's along the lines of this thread. No one toeld them they could only bring 20 items, but they only brought what fit in the covered wagon. They didn't bring nails, for instance, because Pa could make "nails" from wood. But they must have had a shovel with them because one of the first things they do at a new homesite is dig a well (bet he dug a potty too, but Laura is too genteel to mention that).
This book is the really tragic one where the white settlers move in and the local natives spend days debating whether to kill them or move.
Meanwhile, did I miss the answer to my question -- do the dog and cat count as family members?
-pkpk