Wagon train

Pioneers Crossing the Plains of Nebraska

1912 Pioneer Day re-enactment of a wagon train in Utah.

A wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. In a military context, a baggage train was the wagon train that followed an army with supplies and amunition.

In the American West, individuals traveling across the plains in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance, as is reflected in numerous films and television programs about the region, such as Audie Murphy's Tumbleweed James Cruze's silent film The Covered Wagon and Ward Bond and John McIntire's Wagon Train series on NBC and later ABC. Although most trains elected a captain and created bylaws, in reality the captain had little authority. His role was largely confined to getting everyone moving in the morning and selecting when and where to camp at night.^[2] One of the most famous wagon train trails was the Oregon Trail which had a span of over 2,000 miles.^[3] Although wagon trains are associated with the Old West, the Trekboers of South Africa also traveled in caravans of covered wagons.

In migration

Organization and movement

Overland emigrants discovered that smaller groups of twenty to forty wagons were more manageable than larger ones. Membership in wagon trains was generally fluid and wagons frequently joined or left trains depending on the needs and wishes of their owners. An accident or illness, for instance, might force someone to fall behind and wait for the next train, or an emigrant might "whip up" to overtake a forward train after a quarrel.

Although "train" suggests a line of wagons, when the terrain permitted the wagons would often fan out and travel abreast to minimize the amount of dust each wagon encountered.

At night, wagon trains were often formed into a circle (a "laager") for shelter from wind or weather and corral the emigrants' animals in the center to prevent them from running away or being stolen by Native Americans. While Native Americans might attempt to raid horses under cover of darkness, they rarely attacked a train; wagons were seldom circled defensively, contrary to popular belief.^[4]

Today, covered wagon trains are used to give an authentic experience for those desiring to explore the West as it was in the days of the pioneers and other groups traveling before modern vehicles were invented.

Indian teams hauling 60 miles to market the 1100 bushels of wheat raised by the school at Seger Colony,^[1] Oklahoma Territory, circa 1900.

Baggage trains

The advent of gunpowder warfare meant that an army could no longer rely solely on foraging in the surrounding countryside, and required a regular supply of munitions.^[5] In the 18th century, organized commissary and quartermaster departments were developed to centralized delivery of supplies.^[5] The delivery took the form of "baggage trains", large groups of wagons that traveled at the rear of the main army.

See also

• Cavalcade
• Conestoga wagon
• Convoy
• Covered wagon
• Laager

Sources

• Stewart, George R. The California Trail: An Epic With Many Heroes. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962.
• Unruh, John D., Jr. The Plains Across: The Overland Emigrants and the Trans-Mississippi West, 1840-60. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993.
• Van der Loeff, A. Rutgers. Children on the Oregon Trail
• "Life and Death on the Oregon Trail, Provisions for births and lethal circumstances, OCTA." Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA) - Oregon Trail History. Oregon-California Trails Association, n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2013. <http://www.octa-trails.org/learn/people_places/articles_life_death.php>.
• Brown, Dee Alexander, and Martin Ferdinand Schmitt. The American West. New York: Scribner, 1994. Print.

References

External links

Media related to Wagon trains at Wikimedia Commons

• Wagon Train at spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk
• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/634001/wagon-train