Cleveland High School - Beacon Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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e st g Y 5 .. .s-iii le i THE CONESTOGA WAGON HE Conestoga wagon, a truly American product, was a per- fect vehicle of transportation in the early stages of our devel- nk! opment. Although the day of its usefulness has passed and ,Him few ancient specimens exist, the derivative word, stogey, meaning hard, or tough is a legacy. g ff. J This wagon was first developed in Pennsylvania by the topographical conditions, by the soft soil, by trade requirements and by native wit. lt is the highest type of commodious freight carrier of horse- power that this country or any other country has ever knowng the name Conestoga was given to this kind of wagon from the vicinity in which it was first in common use. A boat shaped body with a curved canoe-shaped bottom which fitted them especially for mountain use, was arched over with six or seven bows of which the middle ones were the lowest. These were covered with a strong, pure-white hempen cover, corded down strongly at the sides and ends. Each wagon could be loaded to the top and carried from four to six tons. Powerful horses of Conestoga breed were used by the teamsters. These horses, usually from four to seven in number, were often carefully matched, all dapple-gray or bay. Their broad, heavy harnesses were costly, made of the best leather and trimmed with brass plates. The number of these wagons was vast. There were Regulars, who with their fully equipped Conestoga wagons made freighting their only busi- ness. During the dull season-the winter-farmers who made occasional trips were called lVlilitia. At one time there were over three thousand wagons going from Philadelphia to other Pennsylvania towns. Sometimes a group of one hundred would follow in a row, the leaders of one wagon with their noses in the trough of the wagon ahead. The Conestoga wagon was in constant use in the time of war as well as in the time of peace. They were not only furnished to Braddock's army in 1775 but to the Continental army in the Revolutionary war. Dur- ing the War of 1812 they were used for the transportation of arms, ammuni- tion, and supplies to the army on the frontier. Nineteen