Early Transportation West

by Marcia Lee Jones

Title

Early Transportation West

Artist

Marcia Lee Jones

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

The first known mention of a "Conestoga wagon" was by James Logan on December 31, 1717 in his accounting log after purchasing it from James Hendricks. It was named after the "Conestoga River" or "Conestoga Township" in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and thought to have been introduced by Mennonite German settlers. The Brethren of Lancaster County, an off-shoot sect of the Mennonites, said that there was a local Native American tribe called the Conestoga.
In colonial times the Conestoga wagon was popular for migration southward through the Great Appalachian Valley along the Great Wagon Road. After the American Revolution it was used to open up commerce to Pittsburgh and Ohio. In 1820 rates charged were roughly one dollar per 100 pounds per 100 miles, with speeds about 15 mi (24 km) per day. The Conestoga, often in long wagon trains, was the primary overland cargo vehicle over the Appalachian Mountains until the development of the railroad. The wagon was pulled by a team of up to eight horses or up to a dozen oxen. For this purpose, the Conestoga horse, a special breed of medium to heavy draft horses, was developed.[citation needed]
In Canada, the Conestoga wagons were used by Pennsylvania German migrants who left the United States for Southern Ontario, settling various communities in Niagara Region, Kitchener-Waterloo area and York Region (mostly in Markham, Ontario and Stouffville, Ontario).

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April 1st, 2014

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