While pioneer trains did circle their wagons at night, it was mostly to keep their draft animals from wandering off, not protect against an ambush. Indians were more likely to be allies and trading partners than adversaries, and many early wagon trains made use of Pawnee and Shoshone trail guides.

Conestoga wagon, horse-drawn freight wagon that originated during the 18th century in the Conestoga Creek region of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, U.S. Ideally suited for hauling freight over bad roads, the Conestoga wagon had a capacity of up to six tons, a floor curved up at each end to prevent the contents from …

Definition of waggon from the Collins English Dictionary. New from Collins. Jun 12, 2021. braaivleis. a picnic at which meat is cooked over an open fire ; a barbecue.

other words for wagon

• caravan.
• carriage.
• buckboard.
• buggy.
• caisson.
• coach.
• dray.
• wain.

Fires had to be made from dried buffalo dung, or “buffalo chips,” as settlers called them. The travelers usually ate a breakfast of sowbelly (bacon) and slam-johns (flapjacks). At seven each morning, Applegate gave the command, “Wagons ho!” Each wagon had to be in its assigned place at that time.

200 wagons

Some pioneers did sleep in their wagons. Some did camp on the ground—either in the open or sheltered under the wagon. But many used canvas tents. Despite the romantic depictions of the covered wagon in movies and on television, it would not have been very comfortable to travel in or sleep in the wagon.

The wagon train was moveable community for four to six months along the trail. Each evening, the wagon encampment typically grouped into a circle, forming a temporary corral. Around the circle, tents and bedrolls provided the shelter for exhausted pioneers.

prairie schooners

Teams of oxen or mules pulled the wagons along the dusty trail. People didn’t ride in the wagons often, because they didn’t want to wear out their animals. The long journey was hard on both people and animals. It was even hard on the wagons, which usually had to be repaired several times during the trip.

Oxen were the most common draft animal for pulling covered wagons, although mules and horses were also used.

Sometimes they show the pioneers using Conestoga wagons pulled by horses, with the pioneers riding. Actually, Conestoga wagons were too big and heavy for the Oregon Trail. Converted farm wagons, called Prairie Schooners, were actually used and pulled generally not by horses, but by oxen. In fact, oxen were led.

PRAIRIE SCHOONERS. The most common wagons used for hauling freight back East were the Conestogas, developed in Pennsylvania by descendants of German colonists.

Put simply, an ox (or oxen if you’re talking about more than one), is any cattle over four years of age that has been trained to do work. Most often they are steers (castrated male cattle). Any breed of cattle can be trained to become an ox, although some breeds are better suited to it than others.

Horses were very expensive so most pioneers used oxen or mules to pull their wagons. Both were strong, steady and able to cross rough terrain. Most families coming to Sutter’s Fort chose oxen because they were cheaper than horses or mules, and they could be eaten if food ran out!

Why did the pioneers use oxen to pull their wagons? Oxen were used because they could pull heavy loads. Oxen could survive on eating the grass along the way. Oxen didn’t cost as much as mules.

18 feet

Oregon Dragoons

As the Oregon Trail evolved, thousands of wagons wore ruts into the ground that acted as an ad-hoc road for the settlers who followed. Many of those ruts still exist today, though some of them are in danger of destruction as municipalities push to stretch bigger and better power supplies across the region.

Topography and climate largely dictated the course of the Oregon Trail. Access to water was of paramount importance, and, for the greater part of its length, the trail followed the region’s three great rivers: the Platte (and its tributary the North Platte), the Snake, and, finally, the Columbia.

He wanted the Trail properly marked, and monuments erected to honor the dead. Meeker came up with a scheme to travel along the Trail again by ox-drawn wagon, raising public awareness for his cause. He believed that public interest would provide enough money both to build markers and maintain himself along the way.

2170 miles

The trail from Independence to Oregon City crossed portions of six present-day states. The first 16 miles were in Missouri, then the trail crossed into Kansas for 165 miles, Nebraska for 424 miles, Wyoming for 491 miles, Idaho for 510 miles and finally Oregon for 524 miles.

Puget Sound, Washington, United States

The trail continued west to Three Island Crossing (near present-day Glenns Ferry, Idaho). Here most emigrants used the divisions of the river caused by three islands to cross the difficult and swift Snake River by ferry or by driving or sometimes floating their wagons and swimming their teams across.

Almost all of these people traveled through northeast Kansas along what became known as the Oregon Trail. The main trail entered the state at Kansas City, but other branches crossed the Missouri River at St. Joseph and later at Atchison and Leavenworth.

five percent

Disease. Emigrants feared death from a variety of causes along the trail: lack of food or water; Indian attacks; accidents, or rattlesnake bites were a few. However, the number one killer, by a wide margin, was disease. The most dangerous diseases were those spread by poor sanitary conditions and personal contact.

50,000 people

The real enemies of the pioneers were cholera, poor sanitation and–surprisingly–accidental gunshots. The first emigrants to go to Oregon in a covered wagon were Marcus and Narcissa Whitman (and Henry and Eliza Spalding) who made the trip in 1836.