prairie schooner
Grassland sailing transport
A prairie schooner was a covered wagon used by American settlers migrating westward in the 19th century.
The canvas top, stretched over wooden hoops, resembled a ship's sail from a distance—hence schooner.
These wagons carried families and their possessions across the Great Plains: The prairie schooners rolled west in long trains.
Heavy woven cloth
- oxenCastrated male cattle
- wagon wheelSpoked circle for carts
- yokeCrosspiece binding draft animals
- wagon trainPioneers' covered convoy
covered wagon · buckboard · axle · hitch · harness · bonnet · hoops · drawbar
Toward the sunset
- Oregon TrailEmigrant route westward
- Santa Fe TrailNineteenth-century commercial route westward
- Mormon TrailEmigrant route to Utah
- overlandVia land routes
emigrants · wagon train · transcontinental · caravan · exodus · crossing · passage · trek
Those who establish homes
- homesteadersLand-claiming rural settlers
- frontiersmanSettler of wild borders
- trailblazerFirst to forge ahead
- sodbusterSlang for farmer
pioneer spirit · homestead · emigrant · pathfinder · explorer · scout · trapper · colonist
Spreading in sunset's direction
- manifest destinyObvious, inescapable fate
- territoryLand under jurisdiction
- plainsBroad, level grasslands
- wildernessUncultivated, uninhabited natural region
trading post · land rush · gold rush · land grant · outpost · settlement · fort · stagecoach
Stockpiled food and supplies
- suppliesResources for a task
- oxbowTight river curve
- dustyCoated with fine particles
- ruttedHaving worn tracks
river crossing · mountain pass · desert · drought · cholera · breakdowns · repairs · storms
canvas
Heavy woven cloth
- oxenCastrated male cattle
- wagon wheelSpoked circle for carts
- yokeCrosspiece binding draft animals
wagon train · covered wagon · buckboard · axle · hitch · harness · bonnet · hoops · drawbar · tongue
westward
Toward the sunset
- Oregon TrailEmigrant route westward
- Santa Fe TrailNineteenth-century commercial route westward
- Mormon TrailEmigrant route to Utah
overland · emigrants · wagon train · transcontinental · caravan · exodus · crossing · passage · trek · journey
settlers
Those who establish homes
- homesteadersLand-claiming rural settlers
- frontiersmanSettler of wild borders
- trailblazerFirst to forge ahead
sodbuster · pioneer spirit · homestead · emigrant · pathfinder · explorer · scout · trapper · colonist · adventurer
westward expansion
Spreading in sunset's direction
- manifest destinyObvious, inescapable fate
- territoryLand under jurisdiction
- plainsBroad, level grasslands
wilderness · trading post · land rush · gold rush · land grant · outpost · settlement · fort · stagecoach · Pony Express
provisions
Stockpiled food and supplies
rutted · river crossing · mountain pass · desert · drought · cholera · breakdowns · repairs · storms · rationing
- caravanscamel caravans, camel caravan, caravan route, caravan routes, caravan leader
- frontierfrontier, pioneer, pioneers, settlers, settler
- Frontier Transportcovered wagon, stagecoach, Conestoga wagon, wagon train, mule train
- historic transportcarriage, horse-drawn carriage, coach, phaeton, stagecoach
- wagonswagon, covered wagon, Conestoga wagon, buckboard, farm wagon
- old-timey vehiclescovered wagon, stagecoach, buckboard, Conestoga wagon, ox cart
prairie schoonertranscontinental railroad
Rail line spanning continent
steam locomotive · iron horse · railroad car · automobile · airplane