Conestoga wagon

Meaning

Noun

• A heavy, freight-hauling cart with a canvas cover drawn by mules, oxen or horses. It should not be confused with the lighter prairie schooner that was used extensively during the westward expansion of the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries .

Origin

• Perhaps introduced by settlers from the Conestoga Valley of Pennsylvania in about 1725, the pattern was later developed for heavy wagons manufactured by the Studebaker brothers.