In size and appearance, the Conestoga wagon was a huge structure, heavily built, with broad six-inch, iron-rimmed wheels to travel the poorly drained and sink-holed roads. They were also the inventors of the “Kentucky rifle” that was the prize possession of the frontiersman who depended on this gun for much of his food and on occasion for his life. The “vehicle of empire” had its origin among the Pennsylvania Dutch (Germans) craftsman in Lancaster. The family sold their eastern possessions before departure - partly because space was limited in the wagon and partly because funds would be required to start housekeeping over again. When an entire family moved, the process was somewhat more complicated. Such a man might be fortunate to have a few dollars to buy a farm immediately, but most likely he would work to save funds to purchase some land or start a business. Westward-bound settlers were of all ages and both sexes, but the largest single element consisted of young men who had just attained their independence from family and were traveling to find a start on life. These many anonymous pioneers used the Conestoga wagon to reach the Mississippi River, and to skirt across the western plains, they employed the prairie schooner. These pioneers were eager to move west, the garden of the world, the Eden of their dreams. Confined to the east coast by territorial claims, Indians and geographical features, they suddenly breached the Allegheny Mountains. The end of the War of 1812 signaled the start of a large migration of Anglo-Saxon pioneers.
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