The main roads that the Conestoga wagons traveled on were either rocky mountain paths (dirt), or corduroy turnpikes. Corduroy roads consisted of logs laid side by side on a dirt path. The Conestoga wagons are not to be confused with the later wagons that crossed the Great Plains. Those wagons were much less sturdy, and were just converted farm wagons with no true design to them. Even though the Conestoga became rare after the Revolutionary War, they are to be remembered for the service they rendered to the Pennsylvania farmers in transporting goods.
Con`es*to"ga wag`on or wain (?). [From Conestoga, Pennsylvania.]
A kind of large broad-wheeled wagon, usually covered, for traveling in soft soil and on prairies.
© Webster 1913.
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