Conestoga Wagon

The Cave Creek Museum features terrific art in addition to historical artifacts and exhibits. A popular piece is a bronze, created by Jasper D’Ambrosi in 1975, called “Way West.” It is a well-researched, very accurate depiction of the covered wagon pulled by eight oxen. The classic covered wagon, also called the prairie schooner, is the “Conestoga Wagon.” The Conestoga Wagon was developed by Dutch and German settlers in the Conestoga Valley of Pennsylvania, around 1750. In pre-revolutionary times the wagon was used to haul crops. A later incarnation was use as a freight-wagon to facilitate commerce between Pittsburgh and Ohio. Finally, a smaller version was used by a half-a-million rugged pioneers, between 1836 and 1869 (transcontinental railroad), for about a 2000-mile journey west. This was” Manifest Destiny,” courtesy of the Conestoga Wagon.