Wagons

            A covered wagon is as American as apple pie, and the Historical Association had one in the recent 4^th of July parade. Museum director Connie Overby added driving a tractor to her list of accomplishments and steered the old wagon through the streets.

            The Museum’s covered wagon is not a true Conestoga or Pennsylvania wagon. Those wagons were larger, heavy freight-carrying vehicles of a distinctive type. They were introduced by Mennonite German settlers in the Conestoga region of Pennsylvania around 1725.

A true Conestoga wagon was so deep inside that a man standing on its floor could hardly see over the side. It was long and high and broad, and it was very roomy. The box was boat-shaped— the bottom of the wagon box was curved up at both ends, so that in going up and down hill the goods inside wouldn’t shift and strain the tailgate.

The white hood that covered the wagon was also curved. At first it was made of hempen homespun and later of canvas. It rose up and out at each end, covering the front and rear openings with a poke bonnet effect to keep out sun, rain, and dust. Some of these wagons were drawn by horses and others by oxen. Its wheels were often plated with iron so that they would last longer.

Nineteenth-century diaries and reminiscences show the people riding in the wagons never called their Conestogas or prairie schooners. They generally referred to their vehicles simply as "wagons" or "waggons." It was not until the pioneers began writing their reminiscences during the 1870s and later — long after their migration to the West — that they began calling their own simple wagons "prairie schooners."

Whatever it is called, the Conestoga wagon had a significant place in our country’s history.  It carried people and goods west during in the late 1700s and 1800s. If it had not been for the Conestoga wagons, it would have taken much longer to open up and populate the western regions of the U. S.

We have a variety of wagons and smaller horse-drawn vehicles out at the Humboldt Museum. There is a delivery van and there are buggies. In the Red Barn, there is a yoke for oxen pulling a heavy wagon. Stop in and see the early vehicles that helped our ancestors arrive in Humboldt County.