What was in a Frontiersman’s Wagon? How Much Did it Weigh and Cost?

[Tsalagidave]

I have gone over a lot of online sites over the years and got a lot of answers without sources cited. A lot of people cite Marcy's 1859 book "The Prairie Traveler" (a fairly good source) or Hasting's 1845 book "The Emmigrant's Guide to Oregon and California"  (which has been heavily criticized for its vague and often inaccurate information.  Interesting note is that this is the book that cites the infamous "shortcut" now known as Donner Pass.  There are a lot of sources for prices on the West Coast but I was really interested in learning more about the details of those leaving the east so that I could share it with fellow enthusiasts.  After doing a lot of archival research, I tracked down J. Disturnell who was one of  the best producer of road maps and travel guides for the middle of the 19th century.  His 1849 guide book "Disturnell's Emigrant's Guide to New Mexico, California, and Oregon" appears to be the most comprehensive authority on what to pack  and the best routes (based on military routes whenever possible). Here is a quick rundown on the basics to bring; how much it would weigh, and how much it would cost.
Here is what is needed to outfit 3-men for 1-year.
•   4-Yoke of Oxen ($50 ea.)  $200
•   1 wagon   (with cover and accessories) $100
•   3 Rifles ($20 each)   $60
•   3-pair pistols (single shot since revolvers were still relatively rare in 1848-49) $45 or  ($15 pr.)
•   5 barrels of flour @1080lbs  $20
•   600 lbs. Bacon   $30
•   100 lbs. Coffee  $8
•   5 lbs. Tea  $2.75
•   150 lbs. Sugar  $7
•   75 lbs. rice  $3.75
•   50 lbs. dried fruit  $3
•   50 lbs. salt, pepper, & spice  $3
•   10 lbs. saleratus (baking soda)  $1
•   30 lbs. lead  $1.20
•   25 lbs. gunpowder  $5.50
•   25 lbs. Tools (pioneer, eg. Axe, hatchet, saw, hammer, augur, adze, &etc.)  $7.50
•   36 lbs. Mining Tools (pick, shovel, pans, assay gear, & etc.) $12
•   Tent  (about 30 lbs.)  $5
•   Bedding (about 45 lbs.)  $22.50
•   Cooking Utensils (about 30 lbs) $4
•   150 lbs. Lard  $4
•   150 lbs. private baggage
•   Lg. package of matches $1 (weight less than 1 lb)
•   One Mule $50
•   Candles & Soap (weight not specified)  $5.30

Interesting notation should be paid to the large amount of salt, spice and sugar. It would be highly useful in contributing to both  its culinary and medicinal benefits.  Another point is the mule.  People often deride the mule as a poor mount.  Anyone who has also worked with them can affirm that they are superb range horses and more capable for the hard demands for trailblazing or a really long trip.  Although they have temperaments and quirks that are a bit different from horses, they really offer a lot of benefits.  Their durability, and ability to pack cargo are a few reasons why I compare them to horses the same way I'd compare a good pickup truck to a sedan.  It's a good list to consider when doing a first person impression or even teaching on the various resources that travelers would likely have in their possession.  The overall load comes to around 2600lbs for the oxen to haul.   If you are more interested in packing and driving asses and mules, the 1859 Prairie traveler is good as long as you are already an experienced packer.  The 2-best sources I can recommend are 1. DC Beard's various publications on outdoor camping and 2. The US Army Manual on packing pack animals.  Not that much has changed over the years.

[Good Troy]

Very interesting!
And, I have problems today just packing for weekend trip.

I noticed rice is on the list twice...I assume a typo?

[Fingers McGee]

Very interesting!
And, I have problems today just packing for weekend trip.

Divide it all by 52 (weeks) and I pack a lot more for for a weekend CAS match

[Tsalagidave]

Yep, it's supposed to be 75 lbs of rice. I was transcribing late.  I have read other sources from the 1850-60s with information on how to preserve eggs, packing macaroni, and preparing dried or "dessicated" vegetables.

-Dave

[Blair]

Dave,

Good info!

Little info on what personal items might also accompany this arrangement. Although I would consider cooking, tent, bedding and firearms along these lines.
Also, would corn meal not have been popular as a form of meal for a quick type of bread making? (a little warm water with corn meal, a touch of salt, and a greased skillet)
My best,
Blair

[Tsalagidave]

Corn meal could be a substitute for flour but I did not put it in since Disturnell did not list it. Other travel sources do. As far as personal effects go,  these could be any home furnishings, musical instruments, books, writing materials, medical supplies, heirlooms etc.  It really does not allow much assuming the 150lb allowance was theoretically intended to be split 3-ways.

A friend of mine in the UK pointed out that it is interesting that the powder to lead ratio was prescribed as 25:30lb or 5:6 ratio as opposed to the 2:1 ratio for the Lewis & Clark expedition.  It leaves room to speculate that the later 5:6 ratio allowed for "Plains" era rifles that had bigger bores and heavier projectiles so pound for pound, a little less powder was needed than the typically smaller bored rifles of the Eastern Woodland woodsmen of the Lewis & Clark expedition. Keep in mind I'm just speculating here and do have time to go downstairs in my shop and start comparing bullet grain measurements to verify this.

However, at a guess-timate it makes sense.  I use 40 grains of powder to propel a .375 (79g) round ball in my Pennsylvania rifle. That is roughly .50 grains to push 1g of lead.  My plains rifle uses a .535 (230g) ball on 65g of powder. that is roughly .28g of powder pushing every 1g of lead.

What's everyone else's thoughts?

-Dave

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

if you were travelling the Southern route that Butterfield used, corn meal would be availble at missions, Mexican villages or even from sedentary indian farmers.

I assume this load table was for a 49er. Would a settler orf buffalo hunter have packed much differently? Or even cattle drive outfits?

[Tsalagidave]

The book was printed in 1849 and specifically mentions mining gear among the freight.  That being said it is good documentation on what Easterners would have likely packed.  That being said, the use of corn meal was widely documented and already a common foodstuff throughout the Southern States as well as the Midwest at the time.

He also wasn't specific on the barrels of "flour" as to if it was wheat or corn.  I can only imagine he was leaving that decision ultimately to the traveller.  Either way, they would be hauling 1080 lbs of the stuff.

 

[Professor Marvel]

Thanks Dave -

great start, and based on actual doco! You have inspired me to go back to searching for more sources.

Variations amongst travellers / trains will invariably occur due to experience and individual requirements. Most Soddies would probably ditch the "mining gear", legend has it that many farmers would include a milk cow and some sort of seed . Teatotallers would add more coffee/tea, whilst cork pullers would add liquour or even the hardware for a still.

Carpenters, Blacksmiths and other specialists would of course have to allow for their tools.

Oddly, I see no mention of kegs, barrels, or casks for water. I recall that "most" trails followed rivers as best they could but there were often dry spells that would prove disasterous.

Or for that matter , no recomendation of nails or spare wagon parts!

Getting a good mature (but still young) Mule is the best advice I can imagine. A mule has more sense than a horse, and will live a lot longer on rougher feed. I have seen horses run in fear from nearly anything , including back into a burning barn. Mules , on the other hand will not even go into a situation they feel is dangerous, and I have seen footage of a mule racing into battle to bite and stomp a cougar to death which had gotten into  the pasture and attack the other livestock.

As far as personal effects go,  these could be any home furnishings, musical instruments, books, writing materials, medical supplies, heirlooms etc.  It really does not allow much assuming the 150lb allowance was theoretically intended to be split 3-ways.

The stories of "excess goods" abandonned along the trail are legion  - I must go find proper doco on the topic.

I must also dig up the info on the prarie travelers specialized wagons. The proper prarie schooners are a far cry from the common lightweight box wagon.

more later
yhs
prof marvel

[Professor Marvel]

Short update, with annotations to follow:

Eastern Conestoga Wagon were huge,  heavy freight wagons that were well suited to the  more civilized conditions back East, but far too heavy for prarie travel. Conestoga wagons were pulled by teams of six to eight horses and could haul up to five tons
of freight on wheels reaching as high as six feet tall.

Prairie Schooners were developed as a lighter alternative that could both survive the plains and be more easily extricated from mud and sand. Common farm box wagons were used but oft' fell appart along the way.

as late as 1880 the needs were still virtually the same:

From a letter James Fergus wrote to his wife Pamelia Dillin Fergus listing the things she should bring to Montana
by wagon in 1880. Reprinted with Fergus' spelling preserved.

TEAMS, ETC.
3 good covered waggons
9 yoke of good cattle
1 cow
1 tent

PROVISIONS
600 lbs. flour
300 meat
50 beans
100 rice
2 crackers
300 bacon
200 ham
50 dry beef
50 cheese
50 butter
400 sugar
20 gallons syrup
50 lbs black tea
100 lbs coffee
400 lbs dried apples
100 lbs dried peaches
20 salt
40 dessicated veg. raisens

CLOTHING
One suit of good clothes for myself [James Fergus] including hat and boots
1 everyday coat
2 pr. everyday pants
2 good prs. shoes from L.F. same as I brought with me
1 pr. good boots
1 pr. good undershirts
1 pr. good woolen undershirts
2 pr good drawers
2 pr woolen mittens
12 pr good everyday shoes for [Pamelia and her three daughters]
1 pr good boots for each
2 pr boots for Andrew [the Fergus' son]
Shoes for Lillie [the Fergus' youngest daughter]
Stockings for [Pamelia and her three daughters]
Stockings for Andrew
Stockings for Lillie
Woolen shirts for family
Woolen drawers for family
dresses or dress stuffs
clothing or cloth stuff for Andrew
1 good strong sewing machine with an assortment of needles
saleratus
pepper spices
vinegar to use on the road
cod fish

BEDDING
Your feather beds (packed)
2 Indian Rubber Spreads to lay on the ground nights and to pack your bedding in day
Good blankets, quilts, bed ticks, pillows, etc, etc.

COOKING APPERATUS
Camp stove
Camp kettles
Tin reflector
Frying pans
Large cook stove for use here
Gold pans
Bread pan
Milk pans
Table Dishes
Matches
1/2 dozen good brooms

WASHING APPERATUS
1 wash tub
1 wash board
2 flatirons
soap
concentrated lye to make soap
starch

MISSELANEOUS
1 pr gold scales
candles 1 box
5 gallons kerosene oil
2 lamps with durable chimneys and some extra chimneys
side saddle
5 boxes pistol cartridges for my pistol
1 pr spectacles for myself
some padwilks from house
looking glass
garden seeds
flower seeds
2 half boxes window glass
2 kegs assorted nails
a few papers assorted screws
1 lb. shoe tacks
needles assorted
thread assorted
yarn assorted
Buck skin needles
Pins assorted

STATIONARY
2 reams good white letter paper
1 ream fools cap letter paper
1/2 dozen memorandum books
$5 worth stamped envelopes
2 large bottles ink
2 gold pens for girls
box steelpens and holders
school books and slates
form book (plus forms)
reading books
one or two good maps
2 doz lead pencils
extra for use on road

ox shoes and nails
tongue bolts
yoke and chains
waggon grease
tar
spirits of turpentine
whiskey for poisoned cattle and to make vinegar here
oxbows

TOOLS
My tool chest and tools. The chest may be used as a mess chest on the road
1 shovel to use on the road
1 pick to use on the road
1 hoe
1/2 dozen hand saw files
1 flat file
1 buck saw (not wood)

shot
powder
caps
candle molds
candle wicks
sausage cutter

more later
yhs
prof marvel

[Trailrider]

Don't get me wrong! I'm NOT an expert, but I have ridden mules on pack trips into some rough country. Mules have a rep for being stubborn. It isn't that they are stubborn; it's that they are so much smarter than a horse!  If you overload a horse, it will obligingly (for the most part, depending on the horse) go until it drops.  A mule that is overloaded will just stand there!  Mules will go a lot farther than a horse, though it isn't quite as good for fast charges.  Just ask BGen George Crook.  He rode a riding mule on the trail, during campaigns, switching to a horse during a fight! Deputy Marshall Festus Hagan on "Gunsmoke" rode a mule. He might have seemed like a comical character, but he was a competent deputy. (He could also sing when he was part of the "Sons of the Pioneers"!)

For the long haul, I'll definitely take a good riding mule.

[Coffinmaker]

I can't remember now (I can't remember a lot  ) where I was reading it, but ......... I was not uncommon for wagon travelers to find
really strange objects abandoned along the "established" route(s).  Foot pedal powered Organs, Pianos, Large heavy Bed Frames,
Library cases and piles of books.  All manner of really heavy but "trail" useless stuff that caused wagon axels to fail.

Some of those items were still there, into the early 1900s and the book had some early photographs of "stuff" along the trails.

Coffinmaker

[Tsalagidave]

Yes, logistically it was far cheaper and more effecient for those traveling to the East Coast to actually have heavy product such as stoves, pianos, furniture, business inventory, & etc.product shipped via ocean freight.  That being said, it has been documented via numerous sources that heavier freight carried by emigrants was often abandoned  in the name of propriety.  Prof. Marvel also contributed a couple of excellent resources from later in the era but absolutely valid nonetheless.  His sources also paint a much more detailed picture of the other things also present in a wagon's baggage.

Prof. Marvel, you brought up an excellent question regarding water carrying capacity on Wagons.  I would like to add to the list but then I'd be adding anachronism to an actual source.  That being said, the only clue I have on the inclusion of a scuttlebutt for wagons is to assume that the listing of "wagon with cover and accessories" would include this crucial item as well.  Also, thanks for covering the topic on the many wagons used.  I was just about to launch into a tirade about all the various types of freight wagons, ambulances, hand-carts, etc. used by the many people headed west.

As always my friend, thanks for jumping in.

-Dave

[Tsalagidave]

Had I been more thorough and read further before making my posts, I would have seen that this publication also cited Edwin Bryant's "What I Saw in California" (An absolutely fantastic account BTW) https://archive.org/stream/whatisawincalif00unkngoog#page/n11/mode/2up 

Bryant cited the following for one person:
150 lbs. flour
150 lbs. bacon
25 lbs. coffee
30 lbs. sugar
"...a small quantity of rice"
50-75 lbs. crackers
dried peaches
"keg of lard with salt, pepper, vinegar, & etc."

"Every man should be provided with a good rifle, and if convenient, with a pair of pistols, five pounds of powder and ten pounds of lead." (statement was made for the 1840s period)

He also goes on to mention the importance of carrying "with the wagon", carpenters tools including handsaw, augur, gimblet, chisel, shaving knife  & etc." as well as an axe, hammer, and hatchet.

-Dave