How many wagons were usually in a wagon train?
How many wagons were usually in a wagon train? The wagon train is probably one of those images. What exactly was a wagon train? It was a group of covered wagons, usually around 100 of them. These carried people and their supplies to the West before there was a transcontinental railroad.
How many people were in an average wagon train?
Answer and Explanation: A wagon train could contain any number of wagons, although most averaged between ten and thirty families. There were some larger wagon trains that had up to 200 wagons traveling together. Many of these wagon trains had large numbers of sheep or cattle traveling with them as well.
How did people go to the bathroom on wagon trains?
Travelers used grass or leaves or just plain dirt. Bark was also a paper substitute. It wasn't pretty, but no worse than many other realities pioneers faced on the emigrant trail.
What is a group of wagons called?
A wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together.
How many wagons were in the longest wagon train?
On this day in 1843, some 1,000 men, women, and children climbed aboard their wagons and steered their horses west out of the small town of Elm Grove, Missouri. The train comprised more than 100 wagons with a herd of 5,000 oxen and cattle trailing behind.
What was the largest wagon train ever to go west?
Most wagon trains had at least 25 wagons. Perhaps the largest wagon train to travel on the Oregon Trail left Missouri in 1843 with over 100 wagons, 1,000 men, women and children, and 5,000 head of oxen and cattle. The train was led by a Methodist missionary named Dr. Elijah White.
How did people sleep in covered wagons?
The families either camped in the open under the stars or slept on the ground beneath the wagon. The Prairie Schooners had to be packed carefully with the heaviest items at the bottom. Wagons were prone to tipping over because they had a high center of gravity. Conestoga wagons were the riskiest for tipping.
What city was the jumping off point for most wagon trains?
Independence, Missouri, a frontier village of only a few hundred people poised on the edge of American civilization, was the principle jumping-off point for three of the western trails.
How much did it cost to join a wagon train?
When a family decided to join a wagon train, it often had to save money for three to five years before it could even begin the journey. The wagon cost around $400. The cost of the trip with supplies could be as much as $1,000.
How common were Indian attacks on wagon trains?
Surprisingly, considering how many wagons went West, very few faced attacks by the Indians. A well-led and disciplined train was more likely to get through without problems. The opposite was often true for small trains where discipline was lacking.
How long did it take for a typical wagon train to go west?
The covered wagon made 8 to 20 miles per day depending upon weather, roadway conditions and the health of the travelers. It could take up to six months or longer to reach their destination.