One thing to keep in mind about sourdoughs; they are very territorial. A San Francisco strain of sourdough (a combination of both the yeast and the lactobaccillus strains native to that region) will not remain pure in a different region once it is exposed to the air. Eventually it will be colonized by the local yeast and bacteria and will take on the character of that native strain combination as it become dominant. Even commercial yeast starters don't remain pure in perpetuity. Some native sourdough strains do not produce a good sourdough bread. I was never able to get a decent native sourdough loaf in eastern Washington, and had to start new store bought San Francisco starters regularly to get the desired yield. Some sourdough strains are fragile, such as the San Francisco strain, which doesn't like temperature extremes or tap water one whit, others, like some of the Russian rye strains, really don't mind if the temp drops, and can tolerate a more saline environment than other varieties.

Yeasted bread need not be that difficult. Many old miners and cow camp cooks from the mid-late 1800s did quite well making and keeping their sourdough starters and breads without much fuss. Once it gets started, a good native starter is usually fairly durable. As with most things, practice is what makes the difference.

It's like making sausage. The first few atttempts might be a real pain, and the outcome may not be that good, but with practice you learn what to look for, and you get familiar with a process. A hundred years ago folks had a lot less convenience than is available to us nowadays, and they managed to do quite well with what they had. The difference was knowledge; they knew from lots of experience what they were doing.