wagon track

    Article

    A two-track path created by four-wheeled wagons drawn by draft animals such as oxen or horses. The wheels created two ruts, marking routes that other travelers could follow and that left traces over the landscape that could be read for centuries. Travelers in wagons would often follow routes already created by indigenous peoples, appropriating traditional travel ways that had been previously used for trade and pilgrimage.

    Photo Credit

     
    "Horses and wagon on the road to Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico," photograph, T. Harmon Parkhurst Collection (001932). Palace of the Governors Photo Archive, New Mexico History Museum. All rights reserved. Use with permission only.

    References

     
    Lyman, Edward
         2004    The Overland Journey from Utah to California: Wagon Travel from the City of Saints
             to the City of Angels. Reno: University of Nevada Press.

    Shumway, George
         1964   Conestoga Wagon, 1750-1850: Freight Carrier for 100 Years of America's Westward
             Expansion. Williamsburg: Early American Industries Association.

    Waldman, Carl
         2009   Wagon Roads, Railroads, and Canals. Atlas of the North American Indian, Third
             Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc.