prairie schooner

/ˌprɛri ˌskunər/

Other forms: prairie schooners

A prairie schooner was a horse-drawn wagon that carried settlers across the grassy plains of North America during westward expansion in the 19th century.

Also called a covered wagon, a prairie schooner was a relatively lightweight vehicle made of wood and covered with a canvas tarp. The whimsical name arose from these canvas covers, which were often white and resembled a ship’s sail. From a distance, the slow-moving wagons looked like schooners, long sailboats floating across the grassy prairies. They were usually pulled by oxen and packed with household goods, and they often carried entire families as they migrated westward.

Definitions of prairie schooner

1. noun

   a large wagon with broad wheels and an arched canvas top; used by the United States pioneers to cross the prairies in the 19th century
   synonyms: Conestoga, Conestoga wagon, covered wagon, prairie wagon

   type of:

   waggon, wagon

   any of various kinds of wheeled vehicles drawn by an animal or a tractor