Covered wagon on arvau

Wikipedia / Covered wagon

A covered wagon, also called a prairie wagon, whitetop, or prairie schooner, is a horse-drawn or ox-drawn wagon used for passengers or freight hauling. It has a canvas, tarpaulin, or waterproof sheet which is stretched over removable wooden bows (also called hoops or tilts) and lashed to the body of the wagon. They were a popular style of vehicle for overland migrations.

Conestoga wagon

The Conestoga wagon is a heavy American wagon of English and German type, in use from the late 18th century and into the 19th century. It was used for freight and drawn by teams of horses or oxen depending on load. The covered canvas top is supported on eight to twelve angled bows, rather than upright ones. Capacity is around 4 to 5 tons and it has no springs. Though it is boat-shaped, it does not float. It was used in eastern North America for freight hauling, with some used for southward migration through the Appalachian valleys and along the Great Wagon Road. It was too heavy for use west of the Mississippi River; the westward wagons were lighter, and more angular or square.

America westward migration

From the early 1840s through the 1860s, the United States saw large numbers of emigrant families traveling westward across the prairies and along the overland trails. Most emigrants followed one of several westward expansion trails, departing from Missouri River towns each spring, and faced journeys of around , traveling per day. The Conestoga wagon was too heavy for the long westward migrations, and rarely went west of the Missouri River, though some were used as freighters on the Santa Fe Trail. The primary vehicle for westward migrations were farm wagons with a bed about long, wide, and sides high. They had five or six s, over which was draped a light-colored cover of canvas, twill, or similar fabric. Oxen were the most common animal used for pulling covered wagons, although mules and horses were also used. Authors of guidebooks written for emigrants noted that oxen were more reliable, less expensive, and nearly as fast as other options.

Prairie schooner

Prairie schooner is a metaphorical name for the covered wagon, inspired by the way its white canvas cover resembled the sails of a ship crossing a sea of prairie grass.

South Africa Great Trek

During the Great Trek starting in 1836, Dutch-speaking settlers in South Africa travelled by wagon trains, migrating northward from British-ruled areas in search of their own homeland. Mostly pulled by pairs of oxen, the Boer trek wagon has a long wheel-base with the sides higher at the rear in typical Dutch fashion. The ox-wagon had a felt or canvas top supported by bowed hoops.

Bow-top vardo

Modern excursion wagons

Modern wagons are used for excursions for group outings or camping. The interior of camping wagons are used for sleeping and food preparation, while wagons for group excursions typically have two long bench seats along the sides of the wagon with a long table in the middle. Smaller wagons can often be converted into a wagonette by removing the canvas and framework. In Germany, this type of wagon is called a , and in the Netherlands a .

Freight

Before railroads in early America, ox-teams and wagons were used to haul overland freight, sometimes in great wagon trains of 10 to 60 teams. Each team of 5 to 7 yoked pairs of oxen pulled two wagons—a lead wagon (averaging ), which pulled a trailer wagon ().

Military have used covered wagons for transport of supplies. Called "baggage wagons" during the American Revolutionary War, in one account British commander Henry Clinton had a baggage train of 1,500 wagons that stretched 12 miles long.