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Page 23 text:
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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
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Page 24 text:
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V +4 , 14, ,:g:2-.J - Ser-S Tb- N Qgflg S its A , R - 1,364.7 2 H ---b 3 - -1 - nr --f ' From the middle colonies the wagons found their way into every colony and settlement. And its life was not ended in the Eastern states and it was not ended by the establishment of the railroad. Until recent times the Cones- toga wagon, renamed the prairie schooner, carried civilization and immigra- tion across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. The remains of these wagons, sometimes still seen in the far West, are as distinct relics of early Western life as the remains of the buffalo. A few wagons still remain in Pennsylvania in Lancaster County. In 1899 one toiled its way slowly and painfully up the green-hill side of Vermont, bringing back several old people who had gone West long ago. An American poet writes of the Conestoga Wagon: - The old road blossoms with romance Of covered vehicles of every grade, From ox-cart of most primitive design To Conestoga wagons with their fine Deep-dusted, six horse teams in heavy gear, High homes, and chiming bells-to childish ears And eye entrancing as the glittering train Of some sun-smitten pageant of old Spain. MARIE STONECIPI-IER WINGS I hear a humming, humming and it comes from over head. I creep up to the window, and look into the sky, And there among the fleecy clouds, an aeroplane 59.2 , . , . . ARLY in the morning, while I m yet in bed 21 v-Tir I 1, J tar' I passes by. When I go a-walking in the early afternoon, And have my thoughts on things that are bound to happen soon, An object large and shiny keeps the sun just out of sight, For painted 'gainst the blue sky is an areoplane in Bight' ROSE PASLAVSKY SAYS THE WISE OLD BIRD I am, remarked the goose today So thankful this Thanksgiving, Because my head escaped the axe And I'm among the living. Now into racing l will go Till I become much thinner And l'll be much too thin, you know, To make a Christmas dinner. RICHARD BOURGEOIS Twcnzy
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