Wagons... roll! The romantic way to cross the prairies
Ilove a good old-fashioned cowboy movie. Now, as much as I enjoy all the gunfights and stuff, what has always made me wish I’d lived in those times is the romantic idea of crossing the prairies in a covered wagon.
I’ve always been fascinated by them, so can you tell me a little about them, Queries Man? – R.
The covered wagon or, more accurately, the Conestoga wagon, was a distinctive horse-drawn freight wagon of the mid-to-late 18th Century.
Conestoga wagons, with their curved floors and canvas covers arched over wooden hoops, became a common sight
Long the dominant form of transport in pre-industrial America, and developed for the rough, undeveloped roads and paths of the colonial east, the covered wagon spread west with American migration.
It was widely used by people moving along travel routes such as the Great Wagon Road and the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails, carrying settlers seeking land, gold, and new futures ever further west.
With its ubiquitous exposure in films and TV shows in the 20th Century, the covered wagon grew to become an icon of the American West.
The fanciful nickname Prairie Schooner and romantic depiction in wagon trains served to embellish its legend.
While covered wagons travelling short distances on good roads could be drawn by horses, those crossing the plains were usually pulled by a team of oxen.