First Up! The Why's and the How's!

2008-08-29T06:34:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for stopping by. First posts on blogs are always tough. I want a good post, but also the post needs to be what I call the why's and the how's....basically what the blog is about.

I've got two other blogs.

Writing Adventures and Exploration of History (no longer updated)

Adventures in History(current)

However, the Adventures in History blog, I see it more as modern history, say from the early 1900's to the present. But being involved in earlier periods, I thought it would be neat to separate out and have a blog specializing on earlier periods, say the late 1800's and back.

So here I am!

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Let's face it....transportation today is a piece of cake. With automobiles, jets, and various modes of getting here to there, the world is a lot smaller than it used to be. However, voyaging back quite a ways, we find out that options are smaller and the world a lot larger.

(1)

Wagons, horse-drawn wagons, being one of the main overland methods of transportation for early America, varied quite a bit with differing manufacturers. For example, there's the familiar Conestoga wagon, used by innumerable numbers of pioneers:

(2)

We also have the more common wagons, such as this one used by the Army:

(3)

How can we also forget how sturdy these vehicles were as well. Said one source:

"A well-made wheel will endure common wear from ten to twenty-five years..." (4)

American Heritage, listed in the links below, has a great story and quote on this:

"...The wagon consisted of three parts—body, lop, and running gear. The body, or bed, was a wooden box—often, indeed, so-called—nine or ten feet long and about four feet wide. Generally the sides and ends, about two feet high, went up perpendicularly, but on wagons of the so-called Murphy type they flared outward, as if imitating the Conestoga in miniature. Many emigrants built a false floor twelve or fifteen inches from the bottom of the bed. The lower space was divided into compartments and used for storing reserve supplies. With this clutter out of the way, the false floor was used for ordinary living...." (5)

In any event, this makes our morning commute somewhat easier to bear....at least we don't have to worry about the tar bucket or wondering if we will actually make it! Don't forget to check the links below for more information!

Have a great weekend!

Links:

American Heritage. "The Prairie Schooner Got Them There."

Wikipedia: Conestoga Wagon

Wagons and Stagecoaches

Making of America (Cornell)

Sources:

(1) American Memory Project

(2)Nara

(3) American Memory Project

(4)The Manufacturer and Builder, pg. 227 (Cornell)

(5) American Heritage. "The Prairie Schooner Got Them There."

Returning To The Past

First Up! The Why's and the How's!