Conestoga wagon

“ Styles in farm equipment change slowly, and it is probable that the farm-type Conestoga wagon of about 1850 shown in figure 7 is similar in many respects to the Pennsylvania wagons used by Braddock a century earlier. The prairie schooner, too, bore many of the characteristics of these early farm wagons. ”

“ We are prone to pride ourselves in America on many things which we had no part in producing, on some which are in no way distinctive, and on a few which are not in the highest sense to our credit. Of the Conestoga wagon as a perfect vehicle of transportation and as an important historical factor we can honorably and rightfully be proud. ”

“ In each instance improved methods of locomotion came into violent contact with the old. And, as in the case of the struggle between angry packhorse-men and wagon- and coach-drivers, the new method was a labor-saving invention. No string of ponies could bear what a great Conestoga wagon would carry. It took less "hands" to transport a given amount of freight on wagons than by the old packsaddle system. The difference in the case of barge and flat-boat and steamboat was much more marked and the struggle so much more bitter. ”

“ Strung along the highway at widely spaced intervals are several small cities and numerous towns, often little more than a cluster of dwellings around a service station, a grain elevator or two, and a general store and post office combined. Some of these are ghosts of settlements that 60 years ago echoed with the crack of stagecoach whips and the creak of wheels, as heavily loaded wagon trains moved at a turtle's pace toward the mines. From these towns, too, rattled the Conestoga wagons of settlers headed for the lands north of the Snake River. ”

“ At one time over three thousand ran constantly back and forward between Philadelphia and other Pennsylvania towns. Sometimes a hundred would follow in close row; “the leaders of one wagon with their noses in the trough of the wagon ahead.” These “Regulars” with fully equipped Conestoga wagons made freighting their constant and only business. Farmers and teamsters who made occasional trips, chiefly during the farmers’ dull season—the winter—were called “Militia.” ”

“ These indicate a wheel diameter of 64 inches and a tire 2 inches wide. [14] The 2-inch tires are undoubtedly relics of a farmer's wagon, since the various military vehicles had tires no less than 3 inches and often on the heavier types 4 inches wide. The use of strakes also indicates that these early wagons had no brakes such as the large Conestogas of a later era had. [15] From all indications it would appear that these early farm wagons differed from the larger freighters of the 1790's and were probably similar to the lighter, farm-type Conestogas of the 19th century. ”

“ Judging from some early English wagons still in existence, it would appear that some of these lines were followed. Even today some farmers, and those who have been close to the wagon and its use, frequently refer to the Conestoga type as "English wagons."
[13] Strakes are sections of wagon tire, equal in number to the felloes of a wheel. On early vehicles the tires were put on in sections and spiked in place. Later, one endless tire was "sweated" on, by being heated, fitted on the wheel, and cooled in place. ”

“ Blake beckoned to several of us to accompany him, and we ascended the hill, which was crowned with oak-trees.
"See, there they are," said Barton, pointing into the valley beyond, "and I think those wagons carry [Pg 63] enough food to tempt the starving rebels to almost any desperate deed."
About thirty large Conestoga wagons, each drawn by four stout bullocks, were moving along slowly and in single file. From where we stood we could hear the creaking of the wagon wheels and the cracking whips of the drivers. ”

“ This drawing and those of figures 9 and 10 are from specifications, sketches, and photographs, now in the files of the division of transportation, U.S. National Museum, taken in 1925 by Paul E. Garber from a wagon then the property of Amos Gingrich, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This wagon is illustrated in John Omwake's Conestoga six-horse bell teams, 1750-1850, Cincinnati, 1930, pp. 57, 63, 87.
a: Bed and running gear, right side: 1, Bows for supporting cover. 2, Ridgepole, or stringer. 3, Top rail, with bow staples and side-board staples. 4, Side-boards, removable. ”

“ The immense Conestoga or Pittsburg or Pennsylvania wagons were often six feet deep and seventeen feet long, flaring out from the bottom to the round covered top. They cost from a thousand to fifteen hundred dollars apiece; the mules, which had to be of the best, ranged from $500 to $1,000 a pair. Thus a ten-mule team was sometimes worth $7,000 per wagon, without including provisions, salaries and minor items. At one time, the single firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell had in service 6,250 of these huge wagons, and 75,000 oxen, more than were operating in all the rest of the United States. ”

“ The army freight moved in huge Conestoga wagons drawn by 6 to 8 teams of oxen. A new profession arose known as “bullwhacker” and we can well imagine the bedlam that accompanied the passage of a “bulltrain” or the process of yoking up the bellowing animals in the morning after the nightly encampment in the wagon compound. The experience of taking a bulltrain through Mitchell Pass is vividly described by T. S. Kenderdine in 1858:
Passing over a dreary country, which barely furnished enough of grass for our famished animals, we arrived at Scott’s Bluffs on the afternoon of the 25th. ”

“ Contemporary letters and newspaper advertisements attest to the fact that farm wagons were the type used by Braddock. For example, Franklin's advertisement in the Pennsylvania Gazette on May 22, 1755, noted that "several Neighbors may conveniently join in fitting out a Waggon, as was lately done in the Back Counties." Had these wagon owners been other than farmers of poor means, such a notation would have been unnecessary. ”

“ The train was smaller than most of those which crossed the plains during those years when the lure of gold still drew men and their families from every quarter of the globe. The outfit consisted of six Conestoga wagons, each with six span of oxen, no mules, eight horses and twelve men, two-thirds of them with wives and from one to five children. In addition to the men, two youths, not quite grown, rode with them. One was Alden Payne and the other his African servant, Jethro Mix. ”

“ Often a prosperous teamster would own several Conestoga wagons, and driving the leading and handsomest team himself would start off his proud procession. From twenty to a hundred would follow in close row. Large numbers were constantly passing. At one time ten thousand ran from Philadelphia to other towns. ”

“ This mention of the Switzers’ wagons reminds me of the great Conestoga wagons, which, before the construction of railroads, conveyed the produce of the interior to Philadelphia. With their long bodies roofed with white canvas, they went along almost, I might say, like moving houses. They were drawn by six powerful horses, at times furnished with trappings and bells; and the wagoner’s trade was one of importance.
[33] A test-oath, or oath of abjuration, seems to have been in force at one time in Pennsylvania, concerning the Roman Catholics. (See Rupp’s History of Berks and Lebanon.) ”

“ Starting from Natchitoches some twenty days ago, it has reached the Colorado river, crossed it, and is now wending its way towards the San Saba, a tributary of the former stream.
It is one of the largest caravans that has yet passed over the prairies of Texas, counting between twenty and thirty “Conestoga” wagons, with several “carrioles” and vehicles of varied kind. Full fifty horsemen ride in its front, on its flank, and rear; while five times the number of pedestrians, men with black or yellow skins, keep pace with it. ”

“ Conestoga in Pennsylvania, named from an Indian tribe, gave its name to the huge wagons used before the advent of rail- roads and also to the draft horses which drew the conestoga wagons, while a shortened form, stogie, is the name for a kind of cigar. Podunk, a neck or corner of land, has become familiar through its use by burlesque writers.
It is natural that the white men should have retained the Indian names of things peculiar to this country, such as ter- rapin, made famous by Uncle Remus ”

“ Goods from Philadelphia and Baltimore were hauled in great Conestoga wagons drawn by four and six horses across the mountains to Pittsburg. The carrying trade alone in these ways was immense. More than 12,000 wagons came to Pittsburg in a year, bringing goods on which the freight was $1,500,000.
[Illustration: Boats on the Mohawk [1] ]
[Footnote 1: From an old print.] ”

“ With their long legs they get over the ground nearly as fast as a horse, in a walk, and, when required, go off in a fine, easy, and not ungraceful trot. They bring in immense loads, and come a great distance, over mountainous ways. The wagons they draw resemble those known as the Conestoga, on many of which noticed a projection astern something like a poop, serving as a sleeping cabin for the owners and drivers. ”

“ At the height of the season, when travel was heavy and roads dry, the Standard Concord Coach was employed. At other times, a vehicle commonly termed a “mud wagon” was put to use. During this era of horse-drawn vehicles, the trains of pack mules were, of course, replaced by great freight wagons. Today, in driving over the old wagon roads, one is led to wonder how passenger vehicles succeeded in passing the great freight outfits. ”

“ Spring wagons made in Concord, New Hampshire, are used to transport passengers and the mails upon some of the routes across the plains, and they are said, by those who have used them, to be much superior to any others. They are made of the close-grained oak that grows in a high northern latitude, and well seasoned. The pole of the wagon should have a joint where it enters the hounds, to prevent the weight from coming upon it and breaking the hounds in passing short and abrupt holes in the road. ”

“ As many as twenty-four horse coaches have been counted in line at one time on the road, and large, broad-wheeled wagons, covered with white canvass stretched over bows, laden with merchandise and drawn by six Conestoga horses, were visible all the day long at every point, and many times until late in the evening, besides innumerable caravans of horses, mules, cattle, hogs and sheep. ”

“ Skeletons of cattle, bodies not yet skeletons, aroused no more than a casual look. Furniture lay cast aside, even broken wagons, their wheels fallen apart, showing intimate disaster. The actual hardships of the great trek thrust themselves into evidence on every hand, at every hour. Often was passed a little cross, half buried in the sand, or the tail gate of a wagon served as head board for some ragged epitaph of some ragged man.
It was decided to cross the South Fork at the upper ford, so called. Here was pause again for the Wingate train. ”

“ We passed all this at last, only to discover the narrow road congested by long trains of commissary and ammunition wagons, every sort of vehicle one could imagine pressed hastily into service—huge Conestogas, great farm wagons, creaking horribly, light carts, even family carriages loaded to their tops, drawn by straining horses, mules, or oxen, their drivers swearing fiercely. ”

“ During all this time, and despite the disagreeable weather, emigrants keep up the line of march through Stuart, all heading for the Niobrara country, traveling in their "prairie schooners," as the great hoop-covered wagon is called, into which, often are packed their every worldly possession, and have room to pile in a large family on top. Sometimes a sheet-iron stove is carried along at the rear of the wagon, which, when needed, they set up inside and put the pipe through a hole in the covering. ”

“ About half-distance between this prolonged escarpment and the outlying hills six large “Conestoga” waggons, locked tongue and tail together, enclosing a lozenge-shaped or elliptical space—a corral—inside which are fifteen men and five horses.
Only ten of the men are living; the other five are dead, their bodies lying a-stretch between the wheels of the waggons. Three of the horses have succumbed to the same fate.
Outside are many dead mules; several still attached to the protruding poles, that have broken as their bodies fell crashing across them. ”

“ In all his young life he had found no sport so good as riding on the seat beside that father while he drove the express wagon; a shiny green wagon with a seat close to the front and a tilted rest for one's feet, drawn by a grand black horse with a high-flung head, that would make nothing of eating a small boy if it ever had the chance. ”

“ The oxen, from the hands of the taxidermist, look as natural as life, while standing with the yoke on in front of the wagon, as so often seen when just ready for a day's drive.
The wagon, typically a "Prairie Schooner" of "ye olden days" of the pioneers, with its wooden axle, the linch pin and old-fashioned "schooner bed", weather-beaten and scarred, would still be good for another trip without showing wobbling wheels or screeching axle, as when plenty of tar had not been used. ”

“ As the fighting men approached the wagons they saw a group of stern-faced women weeping around something which lay covered by a blanket on the ground. Molly Wingate stooped, drew it back to show them. Even Bridger winced.
An arrow, driven by a buffalo bow, had glanced on the spokes of a wheel, risen in its flight and sped entirely across the inclosure of the corral. It had slipped through the canvas cover of a wagon on the opposite side as so much paper and caught fair a woman who was lying there, a nursing baby in her arms, shielding it, as she thought, with her body. ”