Conestoga wagon

English

Etymology

Perhaps introduced by settlers from the Conestoga Valley of Pennsylvania in about 1725.

Noun

Conestoga wagon (plural Conestoga wagons)

1. A heavy, freight hauling cart with a canvas cover drawn by mules, oxen or horses. It should not be confused with the lighter prairie schooner that used extensively during the Westward Expansion of the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries Wikipedia.
   • 1860, Author, Annals of Luzerne County: A Record of Interesting Events, Traditions, and Anecdotes, J.B. Lippincott & Co., page 344,

     During the summer and fall the covered broad-wheeled Conestoga wagons, moved by four or six splendid draught-horses, were constantly employed in transporting the productions of the county to market.

See also

• prairie schooner