s supporting the cloth cover were upright rather than slanting fore
and aft. Also, the prairie schooner had a seat where the driver, or at
least his family, could ride during the seemingly endless days of the
journey._

_In this respect the prairie schooner differed not only from the early
farm wagons, but also from the large freighting Conestogas, like that in
figure 6, which dates from about 1830. In the years following the
Revolution and before the coming of the railroad these freighters were
used to carry all types of merchandise to Pittsburgh from Philadelphia
by way of present route U.S. 30 and from Baltimore by way of present
route U.S. 40._

_The freighting Conestoga had no inside seats, and the teamster, when
not walking by his team, either rode the left wheel horse or the "lazy
board" projecting from the left side of the wagon, just in front of the
rear wheel. It is distinguished by its distinctive, overhanging end
bows, from which swept down the characteristic homespun cover, and by
its lines, which are longer and more graceful than those of either the
later prairie schooner or the earlier Pennsylvania farm wagon._

[Illustration: Figure 8.--FREIGHT-CARRYING WAGON OF THE PERIOD
1800-1820. (_Drawing by Donald W. Holst._)]

This drawing and those of figures 9 and 10 are from specifications,
sketches, and photographs, now in the files of the division of
transportation, U.S. National Museum, taken in 1925 by Paul E. Garber
from a wagon then the property of Amos Gingrich, Lancaster,
Pennsylvania. This wagon is illustrated in John Omwake's _Conestoga
six-horse bell teams_, 1750-1850, Cincinnati, 1930, pp. 57, 63, 87.

_a_: Bed and running gear, right side: 1, Bows for supporting cover. 2,
Ridgepole, or stringer. 3, Top rail, with bow staples and side-board
staples. 4, Side-boards, removable. 5, Feedbox in traveling position. 6,
Rubbing plates to prevent wheels wearing wooden frame. 7, Side-board
standards, forming framework of sides (on the inside, a few of these
sometimes project a few inches above the top rail to support the
side-boards). 9, Securing rings for the ends of the spread chains, two of
which span the bed to give extra support to the sides against inside
pressures.

_b_: Tongue, or pole, top and side views: 1, doubletree hasp, shown in
proper position over the doubletree in the lower drawing: the
hammer-headed doubletree pin goes through it, then through the
doubletree and the tongue. 2, Wear pl