Conestoga wagon, heavy freight-carrying vehicle of distinctive type that originated in the Conestoga region of Pennsylvania c.1725. It was used by farmers to carry heavy loads long distances b...

Prairie schooner, wagon covered with white canvas, made famous by its almost universal use in the migration across the Western prairies and plains, and so called in allusion to the white-toppe...

Oregon Trail, overland emigrant route in the United States from the Missouri River to the Columbia River country (all of which was then called Oregon). The pioneers by wagon train did not, how...

Jackson, William Henry, 1843–1942, American artist and pioneer photographer of the West, b. Keeseville, N.Y. After serving with the Union army in the Civil War he traveled overland to Californ...

Humboldt, river, c.300 mi (480 km) long, rising in several branches in the mountains of NE Nev. It meanders generally west to disappear in Humboldt Sink, W Nevada. Along with its tributaries, ...

Buffalo soldiers, name given to the African-American U.S. army regiments commissioned by Congress to patrol the American West after the Civil War. Consisting of two infantry and two cavalry re...

Santa Fe Trail, important caravan route of the W United States, extending c.780 mi (1,260 km) from Independence, Mo., SW to Santa Fe, N.Mex. Independence and Westport, Mo., were the chief poin...

Herrings, Battle of the, 1429, episode in the siege of Orléans by the English in the Hundred Years War. The French, under Jean, comte de Dunois, attacked a supply train commanded by Sir John F...

Walla Walla, city (2006 est. pop. 30,945), seat of Walla Walla co., SE Wash., at the junction of the Walla Walla River and Mill Creek, near the Oreg. line; inc. 1862. It is a trade, processing...

Caravan, group of travelers or merchants banded together and organized for mutual assistance and defense while traveling through unsettled or hostile country. Caravan trade is associated with ...