High Side Freight Wagon

High Side Freight Wagon. . , Before you is the “eighteen wheeler” of the 1860’s. It could haul 2000 lbs. to 5000 lbs. of weight depending on the grades of the trail. This model of the wagon was powered by oxen. Anywhere from 3 yokes (a yoke being two oxen) to 10 yokes, depending on the load and the trail or road. Notice that there is no seat on the wagon. This is because the teamster or bullwhacker walked on the left side of his oxen. , He would swing a long bull whip and out to the left, then back over his head and forward, to haze or discipline the oxen into the direction he wanted them to go. Because of this whip motion the bullwhackers drove their oxen from the left side. Wagon trains coming into a town or settlement passed each other on the left. Wagons being pulled by mules or horses passed ox drawn wagons on the left. This may be the reason that you operate a motor vehicle from the left seat. , Oxen were preferred by freighters over the western trails because the oxen cold subsist on grass, without having to haul additional forage. In addition, the oxen could be used for food on the trip or sold for beef at the end of the trip. , Notice the pioneering tools on the wagon. Breakdowns and upsets were frequent. Tools were needed to repair wagons and to make short stretches of trail passable. Remember there were no improved roads or bridges. 10 to 20 miles were all the wagon trains could make in a long day. Oxen and mules needed grass and water to sustain themselves, hence wagon trails followed the streams and rivers. , Wagons, oxen, mules and horses; the trucks and diesels of an era past.