In , the year of the New Five cool facts about our new Philadelphia-style fire engine. When a new object goes on display, we get excited. Intern Hannah Ostroff gives a behind the scenes look at the installation of our 19th Subscribe to our feed Subscribe by e-mail. Categories American Agriculture. America Participates. Back to Our Roots. Business History. Director's Notes. Disability History. Donor Spotlight. Freedom Summer. From the Collections.
Intern Perspectives. Jazz Appreciation. Julia Child Recipe of the Week. Kids in Museums. Object Project. Public Programs. Race to the Museum. Religion in America. We enjoy a coast-to-coast drive within a few days, with our RVs temperature controlled.
The covered wagon made 8 to 20 miles per day depending upon weather, roadway conditions and the health of the travelers. It could take up to six months or longer to reach their destination. Nowadays, we travel hundreds of miles in a day concerned only with reaching the campground before dark so that electric and water can be hooked up during daylight.
Armed with digital cameras and laptops to download photographs, RVers enjoy and capture the scenery of their travels. In reading many of the pioneer's memoirs and diaries it is apparent that along with all their hardships, they also had an appreciation of scenic terrain and good weather.
A pioneer wrote in his diary in the early s, ". Entered a beautiful valley. The pioneers' transportation problems were mostly caused by weather.
Wet weather created mud and quicksand, and winds caused fallen trees and other calamities that slowed travel and the "race" to be settled before winter. Unfortunately, avoiding snow was not always possible. But by the s and the start of the French and Indian War, around the time the Conestoga wagon was invented, the colonists had pushed into the Eastern Appalachian foothills, but not much further. After that war, treaties with the defeated Indians allowed the colonists to push through the mountains and begin to settle on the other side.
Learn More: Emancipation and the Civil War. The first federally funded road, known as the National Road, was constructed between and This lured settlers into the Ohio River Valley, and the Conestoga wagon helped them get there. Good roads became essential; upgraded byways linked Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and Baltimore to Wheeling. Much of it still exists today as US Route During the s through the s, the Conestoga wagon was a reliable way to transport a large number of products—around 12, pounds—between stores and settlements.
The construction of the wagon was very sturdy, protecting goods from damage as the wagon traveled along bumpy roads and through water. The wagon was eventually phased out by trains.
A prairie schooner, or covered wagon, was smaller and more lightweight than a Conestoga wagon , needing only two to four horses to pull it as opposed to six or eight. The Conestoga wagon was more useful for moving goods in bulk, while the prairie schooner was more practical for general travel.
Movies about the Oregon Trail often show Conestoga wagons being used, though in reality, pioneers used covered wagons. The Conestoga wagons were too cumbersome to travel such long distances. The construction of the covered wagons resulted in an uncomfortable traveling experience, where one could feel every bump in the road, and thus most pioneers preferred to travel by horse or foot, walking beside their wagons.
It is unusually large, 18 feet long, and almost 8 feet wide, indicating its intended use, hauling large, heavy consignments of freight.
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