Building and Equiping the Wagon Was No Easy Task

Building a wagon and provisioning it for the trip were major undertakings.  The overland wagon had to be built of seasoned hardwood to withstand extremes of temperatures, as ordinary farm wagons were not strong enough to stand up to two thousand miles of hard traveling.  The classic prairie schooner was not the big-wheeled, boat curved Conestoga wagon but a smaller, lighter wagon with straight lines top and bottom.  Typically emigrants used a farm wagon with a flat bed about 10 feet wide with side 2 feet high.  The Bonney family recalls that "Father worked for months to build a wagon sturdy enough to withstand river crossings and mountain travel."

A wagon meant for an overland journey could be loaded with up to 2500 pounds and required 4-6 yoke of oxen to pull it.  The wagon and animals might cost $400, the largest single expense of the journey.  The wagon was built to be amphibious.  A tar bucket hung from the side of each wagon, and the slats were caulked for river crossings.  The covering of the wagon was a double thickness of canvas as rainproof as oiled linen, or muslin, or sailcloth could be made to be.  Wagon tongues, spokes, axles, and wheels were liable to break, and most pioneers traveled with spare parts slung under the wagon beds.  Grease buckets, water barrels and heavy rope were essential equipment.  As wagons deteriorated from overloading or breakage, repairs had to be made.

Foodstuffs were assembled at the start of the journey.  The Emigrant Guide in 1845 recommended that each emigrant supply himself with :
200 pounds of flour
150 pounds of bacon
10 pounds of coffee
20 pounds of sugar
10 pounds of salt. 
Additional supplies included chipped beef, rice, tea, dried beans, dried fruit, saleratus (Baking soda), vinegar, pickles, mustard, and tallow.  The basic kitchenware was a kettle, fry pan, coffee pot, tin plates, cups, knives, and forks.

The cost for all of those provisions was from $300-$600 depending on how much the family brought from home.  Each family also needed a supply of powder, lead and shot.  Rifles for around $60 or $70.  Total cost for basic supplies could easily reach $1000.  On top of that the journey to the "jumping off spots" where a train of wagons met and left from, cash for things like repair, the cost of the ferryman at river crossings, oxen replacement and food for the first winter made the initial cost of the trip anything but a good buy!

Financing the journey required liquidating property and household goods and farms.  It took one family, John and Cornelia Sharp and their 7 children,  4 years to save enough money to outfit the journey and even then John had to borrow $500 from his brother-in-law.  When you realize that a weeks wage was around $3.00 you know that we can compare moving to Hawaii or Australia today to making that journey.

Next time...2400 miles Overland to Paradise?

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Today in Pioneer History:  On June 8, 1874, Chief Cochise, one of the great leaders of the Apache Indians in their battles with the Anglo-Americans, dies on the Chiricahua reservation in southeastern Arizona.