[General] Help me get the meaning of this sentence.

[trugdope905]

Hello everyone! I have found many ways to get the meaning of this sentence but I can't seem to understand it. Please help me.
In the early 1800s, to reach the jump-off point for the West, a family from the east of the United States could either buy steamboat passage to Missouri for themselves, their wagons, and their livestock or-as happened more often-simply pile everything into a wagon, hitch up a team, and begin their overland trek right in their front yard.

I don't know what or-as as well as often-simply mean, neither this line: their wagons, and their livestock or-as happened more often-simply pile everything into a wagon, hitch up a team, and begin their overland trek right in their front yard.

Thank you very much. Your answers are highly appreciated.
Thanks a lot. ^^

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello everyone! I have found many ways to get the meaning of this sentence but I can't seem to understand it. Please help me.

In the early 1800s, to reach the jump-off point for the West, a family from the east of the United States could either buy steamboat passage to Missouri for themselves, their wagons, and their livestock or, as happened more often, simply pile everything into a wagon, hitch up a team, and begin their overland trek right in their front yard.

I don't know what or-as as well as often-simply mean, neither this line: their wagons, and their livestock or-as happened more often-simply pile everything into a wagon, hitch up a team, and begin their overland trek right in their front yard.

Thank you very much. Your answers are highly appreciated.
Thanks a lot. ^^

Those hyphens are incorrect. They should be commas. I have changed them above. Look at it now and see if it makes more sense. If not, you can imagine the words "as happened more often" in brackets. They give additional information.

I imagine the writer meant to put dashes with a space either side but forgot the spaces. Dashes would have worked but I prefer commas.

 

[MikeNewYork]

When the US was settled, it was settled first on the east coast. After that, people started to move west for more land and more opportunity. At a certain point, there were two ways to get to the west: take a steamboat trip to Missouri and then move west by wagon, or load a wagon at home and make one's way from there (right in their front yard).