The Great Blue Army Wagon

Welcome back! A bit of a transportation theme threading here on the third of every month. In May, I shared some of the locations in America where private vehicles are not permitted. For this post, instead of discussing cars, trucks, and other fuel driven modes of getting from point A to point B, we travel back to a time with simpler machines.

Early American settlers employed this method to traverse the vast land we now call the United States. The western migration predicated the need for a conveyance for not only people, but also the supplies required for such a grueling journey. According to the National Park Service, it is possible that upwards of 500,000 people utilized this means from 1841 to 1869. These brave adventurers were not the only individuals to use the Pioneer Wagon - also known as Covered Wagon or Prairie Schooner. During the Civil War, armies also needed help moving items and men.


Roger Hanson, a volunteer at the Tabor House Museum in Ellijay, Georgia and owner of an authentic wagon shared tidbits about one such example. Trying something new for these posts with short videos. Listen as Roger explains interesting history and features. (Some of the text below features his words; in case the videos are tad sluggish.)

This is a model 1858 Army Wagon. During the Civil War period the north built 70,000 in factories and the south 40,000 - generally based on the same design.

Mules pulled these wagons. After removing the mules, the rectangular attachment on the front tongue served as the feed trough. The empty section of the tongue held the related harnesses.

Studebaker Company created this model. They built 6,000 units during the war, at their factory in South Bend, Indiana.

Not all the wagons offered brakes. This is the actual chain brake, attached through the back wheels. For going up and down hills, the rear wheels remained locked. Basically, they could drag it up and down to give them some control of the wagon when it was heavily loaded. 

This maroon undercarriage, along with the body and bed of the wagon in sky blue are the proper colors. The Army began employing these colors in 1812. There is no documentation explaining why these choices developed. We can surmise their use because the soldiers' uniforms sported these shades at that time.

This main color existed on The Great Blue Army Wagon until 1907. At that juncture the color switched to green.

This is the tailgate for the wagon. The chains held the feed trough while in motion. This allowed the mules and other following animals to eat during stops in route. This allowed the convoy to remain compact.

Notice the case full of wagon grease under the wagon. The wooden bucket is original. Named the Tar Pot, it served all the wagons.

This canvas is called a wagon cover. The manufacturer - J. Clemens & Co., Manufacturers of Tents, Tarpaulins, & Wagon Covers, in St. Louis, Missouri. Does the name sound familiar? Mark Twain's (Samuel Clemens) uncle was the richest man in St. Louis during the war period and after the war.
The box at the front of the wagon held tools. The driver did not ride on the wagon step. Rather he rode a mule and controlled all six mules from the front.

During the Atlanta Campaign, Sherman arrived in Georgia with 4,000 wagons, including 24,000 mules. The Confederates utilized 3,000 of these wagons. This gives an idea of the logistics efforts involved.

Can you imagine the overwhelming task of transporting troops and all they required with carriages pulled by mules? Contrast that scenario with the options afforded by the Armed Forces of today. Night and day.

Have you ever seen a Prairie Schooner or Army Wagon in person? Did you know the Prairie Schooner garnered that name because it seemed as if the covers were gliding across the country as Schooner sails on the ocean. Nifty! Hope you enjoyed these little pieces of the past. Thank you to Roger Hanson for sharing living history with us.

As a child, Rebecca loved to write. She nurtured this skill as an educator and later as an editor for an online magazine. Rebecca then joined the Cru Ministry - NBS2GO/Neighbor Bible Studies 2GO, at its inception. She serves as the YouVersion Content Creator, with over 130 Plans, in 44 languages on the Bible.com app.

Rebecca lives near the mountains with her husband and a rescued dog named Ranger. She is a proud mom of an American soldier and a college senior. If it were up to Rebecca, she would be traveling - right now. First up, trips to see their two grown sons. As a member of ACFW and FHLCW, she tackles the craft of fiction while learning from a host of generous writers.

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Conestoga Wagons: America's First Trucks

If you watch enough old western movies or TV shows, you’ll likely see covered wagons traveling over prairies and across deserts as Easterners braved the frontier westward. And if you’re like me, you might mistakenly call them a Conestoga Wagon. In actuality, these wagons were updated versions and are referred to as Prairie Schooners as their billowing white covers crossing the prairies resembled the sails on a schooner sailing across the water. 

Prairie Schooner

Conestoga Wagons actually preceded the use of Prairie Schooners and were designed not for transport of humans, but for cargo. In fact, the first known Conestoga wagon was built in 1717, named after the Conestoga Valley in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in which it was built. 

These early “workhorses of the American Road,” as Conestoga expert Ned Hector calls them, ranged in size from 14 to 26 feet and could weigh up to 3,000 pounds, without freight onboard. They were typically pulled by three teams of horses, although sometimes two teams. There were no seats on these wagons as the teamsters either walked alongside or rode the horse on the left, directly in front of the wagon.

Some wagons had a “lazy board” which was pulled out from behind the front wheels and allowed a teamster to sit. I imagine the lazy board was a relief for sore feet on long hauls.

The horses were fitted with arched harnesses that carried bells—five for the lead team, four for the middle, and the right wheel horse (where the driver did not ride) carried three bells. These sound-makers served the purpose of alerting others on the road that a team was approaching on the narrow highway. If the bells were silenced, another wagon on the opposite side would know the oncoming Conestoga had pulled over to allow them passage. 

If a wagon broke down, protocol dictated that anyone who assisted the teamster to get back on the road would be gifted the bells as payment. So the term, “I’ll be there with bells on” originated with wagons who arrived fully bedecked after a successful drive. 

Conestoga wagons were made from seasoned wood, air dried for three to four years. They were equipped with a feed box, a water bucket for the horses, a tool box, and a tar bucket to grease the wheels. Wheel lock chains were used for going down steep hills so the wagon did not run into the horses.

An authentic Conestoga was generally painted blue on the wagon portion and the wheels painted red. Here is an antique Conestoga: 

Wagons filled with freight generally traveled ten to twelve miles per day. They traveled on the right side of the road since the teamster rode the horse on the left. This began the tradition in the United States of driving on the right side of the road. 

For more information on Conestoga Wagons, check out these websites: 

One

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Three

Elaine Marie Cooper has two new E-book releases: War’s Respite (Prequel novella) and Love’s Kindling. Love's Kindling will soon release in paperback. They are the first two books in the Dawn of America Series set in Revolutionary War Connecticut. Cooper is the award-winning author of Fields of the Fatherless and Bethany’s Calendar. Her 2016 release (Saratoga Letters) was finalist in Historical Romance in both the Selah Awards and Next Generation Indie Book Awards. She penned the three-book Deer Run Saga and has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies. You can visit her website/ blog at www.elainemariecooper.com