Historical Trails
The bed, undercarriage, and cover were the three main components of a prairie wagon. The bed was a rectangular wooden box, usually 4 feet wide by 10 feet long, with a canvas or cotton cover supported by a frame of hickory bows.
Who invented the Conestoga wagon?
Around 1750, Pennsylvania Germans near the Conestoga River began making Conestoga wagons to haul freight, and by the 1810s, improved roads to Pittsburgh and Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia) had boosted trade between Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Ohio River settlers.