If you’re in a specific age group, you spent your childhood using outdated computers at home and at school to play “The Oregon Trail.” If you’re even older, you probably grew up with Old West television series. One thing, nevertheless, remained the same throughout all generations: covered wagons! Americans have been fascinated by the 19th-century westward migration that propelled the country for decades. The exciting aspects of that century of Manifest Destiny include gold rushes, outlaws, and cowboys. There are covered wagons as well.Until the Transcontinental Railroad was finished in 1869, the only means of transportation to the west were covered wagons. Without the Panama Canal, it took an eternity for ships to circumnavigate the southernmost point of South America, and there were no airplanes to fly over “flyover country.” Therefore, you had to saddle up the horses, yoke up the oxen, and get ready for a long, grueling trek through the middle of the country if you wanted to migrate west to California or other closer destinations.Ten unexpected facts about what it was actually like to travel in a covered wagon are examined in this list. Physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, and in terms of the time commitment required to traverse across hostile territory, the trips were difficult in every way. Prepare yourself for an incredible look at how difficult it was to travel across the Wild West!

10. Horrible Months

Wagons with covers went very, very slowly. In the Old West, a covered wagon could travel anywhere from 8 to 20 miles (13 to 32 kilometers) each day on average. In ideal circumstances and on level ground, those 20-mile days may significantly accelerate the pace. However, in areas with more elevation, during hazardous conditions, or during inclement weather, the typical covered wagon’s speed would literally come to a stop.Suppose your goal was to get to San Francisco. A pretty standard place to start was the frontier town of St. Louis, Missouri, at the time. And from St. Louis to San Francisco, as the crow flies, it’s around 1,750 miles (2,81 kilometers). Here, let’s perform a little fast math. and we possess it! You would need about ninety days to travel 1,750 miles in a covered wagon at 20 miles per day in order to get to San Francisco. Naturally, there would be many days on which the wagon would not even come close to reaching the 20-mile objective. In addition, the actual path to San Francisco was not a straight line, which added a significant number of miles to the trip.
All all, after travelers set out in covered wagons, it may take them up to six months of their lives to reach places along the west coast. As would be expected, several trekkers suffered illnesses, injuries, and many passed away. Having sacrificed months for one of the hardest things they had ever done, those that made it were extremely fortunate and had a lot to catch up on when they arrived at their destination.[1]

9. Select Your Toxin

Pioneers essentially had two options for wagons when it came time to trek across the nation. We all recognize the prairie schooner as the iconic design, in part because of the Oregon Trail video game. Large, circular hoops that extended the whole length of the wagon were covering it. Families would erect a canvas covering the hoops to provide interior shade. Then they left everything they owned on Earth and headed west through that shaded tunnel.It resembled the minivan of that era in that regard. The reason these wagons were named prairie schooners was that, from a distance, viewers observing them push across the Great Plains thought they were schooner ships due to the shape of their canvas tops. Families could bump and stumble their way all the way to the coast (if they made it that far, of course).The well-known Conestoga wagon was the second choice. A team of up to six horses could pull these at once. They were also not suitable for cross-country travel because to their increased size, weight, and unwieldiness. They were more frequently utilized for short-distance trips. For instance, the Conestoga wagon was extremely successful for pioneers who left towns like St. Louis and traveled to the Kansas and Oklahoma Territories.All of the wagons were challenging to maneuver, though. Back then, there were no paved roads on the vast plains. Furthermore, the inclement weather frequently made the paths pioneers had to travel even more challenging. It was usual for wagon wheels to break, for oxen and horses to faint or worse, and for wagon trains to splinter, break down, or become mired in the mud at tough spots on the journey.[2]

8. Rest beneath the stars

You may assume that, when it was time for bedtimes every night, pioneer families hunkered down within their wagons. It would be ideal to sleep in, wouldn’t it, as the canvas shell protected the prairie schooners? Not precisely. You see, pioneer families had to cram themselves and their possessions onto those schooners. And the luggage hold, covered with canvas, was really very little. Prairie schooners typically measured only 4 feet (1.2 meters) in width and 9–10 feet (2.7–3 meters) in length. If that combination were a bunk by itself, it wouldn’t fit many people; additionally, because it was so full of items, it wouldn’t fit anyone.Families were compelled to spend their nights outside beneath the sky as a result. Depending on where they spent the night, they may erect tent poles, but they were exposed to the weather and in the open. In the event of severe weather, they were forced to sleep on the hard ground beneath the wagon or to gather under their homemade tent. Our backs tremble with fear at the mere thought of that sleeping scenario![3]

7. Slow-Food Fast Food

Families still needed food while traveling west, even though they (often) did so in a Conestoga wagon or a prairie schooner. Furthermore, there was no easily available food in those two primary types of wagons to draw out and have dinner every night. When the time came for them to finally settle in their new land, everything that had been crammed into the journeying wagon was essentially wrapped up, placed on top of one another, and stuck within. Families had to carry a second, smaller wagon along the trail so they could eat.Get in the chuck wagon. Although they were constructed considerably differently, the typical chuck wagon was roughly the same size as a prairie schooner for the majority of American pioneers traveling west. It had a barrel of water fastened to the outside, and a lot of chuck wagons had some kind of coffee grinder on them so that when the going got tough, they could grind up some beans and make themselves a cup of coffee.Furthermore, the chuck wagon had what was referred to as the “possum belly” in the middle. Firewood and cow chips were stored in this belly, which was suspended beneath the wagon. Subsequently, every night when it was time to camp, the settlers gathered around the chuck wagon, creating food, eating, and drinking.[4]

6. Culture Without Horses

Horse culture predominated—at least, that’s how we currently recall it. After the horse was originally brought to the continent, many Native American tribes produced young soldiers who excelled at roping, riding, and fighting the majestic creatures. On the tremendous Plains, too, American explorers and troops used horses to tremendous effect. However, settlers were one group of people who were truly without access to horses.Horses were expensive back then, as they are now, to buy in the first place and to keep healthy with the right diet and care. The majority of western settlers lacked the necessary finances for that. Additionally, the little money they did have was spent gathering everything they would need to embark on the voyage that would change their lives. Thus, rather of hoarding money for a horse, the pioneers crossed the plains without one.Rather, they traveled with either mules or oxen. Compared to horses, both were more affordable, healthier, more robust, and more practical. The wagon was physically pulled across the mountains and across the grasslands by oxen and mules. The settlers used the oxen and mules as farm animals when they arrived at their place. Simply put, horses had no place in that calculation.[5]

5. Rain, Rain, Please Go

Bad weather posed a serious threat to western trails. The prairie schooners that strolled along these roads had canvas tops, as we have already known. However, the top itself wasn’t weatherproof for bad weather like rain and snow, so before settlers started traveling, they had to labor hard to make them roadworthy. Originally, the canvas weighed ten ounces and was composed of cotton duck cloth. After that, settlers would apply linseed oil to their canvas. The canvas became (largely) waterproof as a result. The family’s belongings were then secured and kept dry by being draped over the wagon and roped down.But when the weather turned really nasty, that was insufficient. Naturally, rain does not fall in a straight line. Settler families were frequently obliged to contend with the consequences of the unceasing winds on the prairies. During strong storms, rain would pour sideways, and on clear days, the wind would frequently scatter sand and mud everywhere. Therefore, settlers would meticulously drawstring the ends of the wagon’s canvas before setting off down the trail. That made it possible for them to securely seal it in the event of severe weather—basically, it functions similarly to a large hoodie that we wear nowadays.[6]

4. Pack With Care!

Not only were the trails clearly unpaved toward the west, but the wagons that made the journey had no suspension at all. Families could travel on exceedingly tumultuous, top-heavy prairie schooners. Wagons bounced for hours, days, and even weeks at a time because to wooden wheels and axles. Worse still, regardless of how they were filled, these schooners were top-heavy because they were so tall and thin. Before piling lighter items on top of the heavy items, settlers would attempt to fill the wagon bed with as much of their belongings as possible. Even still, the voyage wasn’t always simple even with the best-laid preparations.The top-heavy prairie schooners were surprisingly easier to maneuver than Conestoga wagons. Because of their enormity, which included increased width, length, and bulk, the latter were significantly more likely to topple over and stray from the path. The majority of the trails in the west were too narrow in many places for Conestoga wagon wheels to fit comfortably into the path’s grooves, which meant that passengers would constantly be bumping into nearly excruciating turbulence.Naturally, there was an easy way to avoid all that: a lot of family members opted to walk beside the wagon. However, walking required traveling thousands or even hundreds of miles on foot in order to avoid the unsteady wagon ride. It wasn’t exactly optimal to walk that many kilometers for weeks at a time either.[7]

3. Have Supplies in Case of Emergency

Back then, not only was the route unpaved, but there were no roadside mechanics available to help when things got tight. There were no tow vehicles and no AAA available if a covered wagon broke down. The settlers had to use whatever tools they could find to restore their own wagons. This required them to carry the necessary tools for their trade, or to search for wood in the middle of the forest that could be pried and manipulated into usefulness for the remainder of the voyage.Wooden wheels, which were prone to splitting and snapping under hazardous conditions, were among the many parts of wagons that frequently broke off. Axles and other metal components that wore out or fell off after a tough ride also broke off. However, the true issue was not the breaking down but rather the mending. Settler families were forced to prepare ahead of time and pack a variety of tools and spare parts on their journey, knowing that they might encounter difficulties along the road.Families were forced to stop traveling and begin laborious repairs—sometimes in dangerous territory—when objects broke and cracked. The worst aspect, though, is that in order to do most repairs underneath their covered wagons, the settlers would typically need to take everything out of the back and turn the wagon over on its side. That in itself was a laborious and tedious task.[8]

2. Uneven River Runs

The settlers will eventually come to a river or stream on their trek. Sadly, river crossings were a necessary part of the journey wherever they went, even though the west was significantly drier than many places in the east and south. They were extremely harsh on the family themselves, their teams of mules and oxen, and the wagons they were pulling along the route, which is why we use the words “sadly” and “inevitable.”There were frequently ferries at major rivers that would transport covered wagons across for a price, of course. However, most of the rivers these refugees came over were inaccessible by ferry. It was then a matter of navigating the situation as best they could on their own. In smaller rivers, the settlers had to construct their own improvised ferries using spare pieces they had picked up along the way. Trees would hopefully line the river, allowing them to cut wood and put together a homemade floating ferry. Selecting the appropriate crossing location was the difficult part. They needed to determine the location of the narrowest river and the calmest sections of the watercourse.Once they realized it, they would apply wax to their wagon beds and caulk any gaps that they could find. When built correctly, the wagon bed resembled a boat all by itself, balanced dangerously on the water’s edge while the oxen teams pushed on into the stream. Everyone made it to the other side if everything went as planned. If it didn’t, calamity might strike very soon.[9]

1. And Still They Persisted

The fact that the settlers persisted in the face of many difficulties is evidence of their tenacity and resolve. For many, the prospect of being able to homestead and start over with a better life than they had before seemed real. Families with small children, elderly grandparents, and everything in between make plans to start again and take fresh chances. They carried the nation west with them, ushering in a brand-new, radically distinct era for the US. As those covered wagons plowed across the plains, a way of life came to an end for Native Americans, who were driven into a whole new—and frequently very tragic—new normal.What the Americans eventually came to refer to as “manifest destiny” arrived with it. Eventually, the west was opened up to the Pacific Ocean and California. Before long, advancements in technology and industry allowed for the creation of projects like the Transcontinental Railroad. Americans could finally travel easily from coast to coast by the later part of the 19th century. Though their journeys were very difficult and frequently fatal, the settlers who traveled across in covered wagons quite literally paved the way.[10]

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