In Covered Wagons
Many people at the Gold Rush time, who lived more centrally in the United States, took covered wagons to California. Most people at first took Conestoga wagons because Conestoga wagons were big and strong.
But soon people found out that Conestoga wagons were very harmful to the animals pulling the wagon.
Because of the Conestoga wagons’ size, they tipped over easily. So the Studebaker brothers made the Prairie Schooner. The Prairie Schooner was half the size of the Conestoga wagon. The Prairie Schooner was
4 feet wide and were usually 10 to 12 feet long. With the bonnet, a Prairie Schooner stood about 10 feet tall. The Prairie Schooner weighed about 1,300 pounds and did not tip over as easily as the Conestoga wagon. So people started using the Prairie Schooner more.
See these scenes of Crossing the Plains.
By Allon, Mason