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The Conestoga wagon is a specific design of heavy covered wagon that was used extensively during the late eighteenth century, and the nineteenth century, in the eastern United States and Canada. It was large enough to transport loads up to 6 tons (5.4 metric tons), and was drawn by horses, mules, or oxen.
Keeping this in consideration, why was the Conestoga wagon important?
The Conestoga wagon is credited with transport of goods for nearly a century before railroads made their appearance in the mid-1850s. The wagons were much too heavy and awkward to have been able to travel those great distances. The settlers typically used ordinary covered farm wagons for travel over great distances.
People also ask, what was the covered wagon used for?
The covered wagon was long the dominant form of transport in pre-industrial America. With roots in the heavy Conestoga wagon developed for the rough, undeveloped roads and paths of the colonial East, the covered wagon spread west with American migration.
The Conestoga wagon originated near the Conestoga River in southeastern Pennsylvania. The wagon body's unique curved shape jostled items together and prevented cargo from tumbling like tenpins on slopes. Huge, broad wheels glided over rough patches.