The Reign Of The Prairie Schooner by Randall Parrish

Prairie Schooner - Page 3

<< Previous 1 2 3 Next >>

"In vain did the Indian cower to his pony's back, and dig his heels into his sides, and lash the animal desperately with his quirt, for the teamster held on like grim death as he ran, and plied his strokes swiftly and unerringly, and it was not until he was exhausted with running and stumbled over a hillock that the Indian's pony broke loose, and, with a parting cut of the teamster's whip across his hind legs, tore madly away toward the other warriors, who, fearing the aim of the soldiers, and not daring to come to his rider's rescue, were galloping wildly around just out of rifle range, whooping, laughing, and yelling with delight at the absurd plight of the discomfited brave, who, it is safe to say, from henceforth, until he had managed to rehabilitate himself by some daring deed of blood, would be dubbed and held only as a squaw in the Indians' camp. As for our long-legged Missouri teamster he was the hero of the hour, and deserved to be."

Indian on Pony, photo by Bain News Service.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

Immense Traffic at the Outfitting Points

It has been estimated that while the reign of the prairie schooner was at its zenith, the floating population on the Great Plains amounted to fully 250,000. In 1865 more than twenty-one million pounds of freight was thus conveyed westward from Atchison alone, and to transport it 4,917 wagons were required, with 6,164 mules, 27,685 oxen, and 1,256 men. Yet this was but a drop in the bucket as compared with the traffic at the numerous other outfitting points along the border. The firms engaged in this business were many, and their employees an army. From Fort Smith, Independence, Kansas City, St. Joseph, Atchison, Council Bluffs, and other less known points of departure, the great wagon streams swept forth into the Plains, their aggregate number beyond any possible estimate of today. The greatest firm in the trade, that of Russell, Majors, and Waddell, at one time employed 6,250 huge wagons, and 75,000 oxen. As Lummis says:

"Probably there are not to-day so many oxen working in the United States as this one firm used half a century ago. This may give some faint idea of the mighty traffic whose wheels wrinkled the face of the Far West, and the smoke of whose dusty torments 'ascended up forever,' and reddened the prairie sunsets for a generation."

The Organization of a Freight Caravan

For a moment consider the organization of such a train end its cost. Usually not less than twenty- five wagons traveled together for better protection. They were huge, long-geared prairie schooners, flaring from the bottom upward, sometimes seventeen feet long, with six feet depth of hold, and a capacity of anywhere from five thousand to sixteen thousand pounds each. Over all, upheld by stout hickory bows was the canvas cover. From six to twelve yoke of oxen furnished the propelling power, under the inspiration of one or more "bull-whackers." The men traveling with such a caravan numbered thirty-one -- a captain, or wagon master, his assistant, a night herder, and the "cavayard driver," or in Spanish caballada, who had charge of the spare horses, with, at least a driver to each wagon. Of the latter those handling oxen, or "bull teams" were known as "bull-whackers," while the others, devoting their energy and profanity to the steering of long-eared "critters," were denominated " mule-skinners," and each class well deserved its name. The trail was never noted for sentimentality, or mercy to dumb beasts. In the last years of prairie freighting, after 1859, "trailers" were quite commonly used. The trailer was a second, and generally a smaller wagon, chained to the one in the lead.

Freight Train.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

The amount of money invested in such a wagon-train reached a surprising figure. The huge Conestoga, Pittsburg, or Pennsylvania wagons cost from eight hundred dollars to one thousand five hundred dollars each; first-class mules (and no others could do the work) five hundred dollars to one thousand dollars a pair; harness for the ten-mule team three hundred dollars to six hundred dollars, making a total running from $2,600 to $7,100 for each wagon. To this must be added salaries, provisions, and incidentals.

Regular freight caravans as thus constituted, and running west from the Missouri River, not only greatly stimulated emigration, but did much to lower the cost of transportation.

In the days of the pack-train it was no uncommon thing to pay one dollar a pound per one hundred miles, or $20 a ton per mile. The tariff of the overland freighters between Atchison and Denver (620 miles) is thus given by Lummis:

Flour 9¢ per lb.

Whiskey - 18¢ per lb.
Sugar - 13 ½ ¢ per lb.

Glass - 19 ½ ¢ per lb.

Bacon and dry goods - 15¢ per pound

Trunks - 25¢ per lb.

Furniture - 31¢ per lb.

Everything went by the pound, and the trip required twenty-one days for horses or mules, and five weeks for oxen.

Compiled and edited by Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, updated April, 2010.

Also See other tales by Randall Parrish:

Adventures and Tragedies on the Overland Trail

Beginning of Settlement in the American West

Border Towns of the American West

Early Transportation on the Great Plains

Frontier Scouts and Guides

Mushroom Towns of the American West

Struggle For Possession of the West - The First Emigrants

About the Author: The Reign Of The Prairie Schooner was written by Randall Parrish as a chapter of his book, The Great Plains: The Romance of Western American Exploration, Warfare, and Settlement, 1527-1870; published by A.C. McClurg & Co. in Chicago, 1907. Parrish also wrote several other books including When Wilderness Was King, My Lady of the North, Historic Illinois, and others. The text as it appears here; however, is not verbatim as it has been edited for clarity and ease of the modern reader.

<< Previous 1 2 3 Next >>

From the Rocky Mountain General Store

Old West Books - Legends of America and the Rocky Mountain General Store has collected a number of Old West books for our frontier enthusiasts. For many of these, we have only one available. To see this varied collection, click HERE!