The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-04-24
WAGON FOLKS DISTINCT TYPE
The StOlid Man, Patient Woman,
Wondering Children.
Transient Homes Seldom Seen
in Kansas Amy More.

A covered wagon pulled by team
of tired horses with a rickety chicken
crate fastened on behind, a silent dog
trotting beside it and little girl with
bright eyes peeping out from under
the top, passed down Kansas avenue
one day this week, and like a float in
some historical pageant, it was elo-
quent with the story of a day that is
fast passing in Kansas, when every
spring hundreds of prairie Schoon-
ers'' dragged westward to the harvest
and back again in late summer when
the grain had been cut and thrashed
But it is not as prairie schooners'
that we know these wagons. The
schooners were the conveyance of the
early Kansas settlers who came out
here from the east bringing with them
what they could of the old home. The
schooners today are simply covered
wagons that for years the unfortunate,
the restless, and the easy-goins have
used as their homes thru the sum-
mer, thinking that by fail perhaps
luck would turn their way
Types of Travellers.
OF course there were as many sorts
of people travelling in these wagons
as there were sorts of wagons, and
the outfit reflected the character of
its owner. But in each one there al
ways seemed to be the man who sits
listlessly the front seat, the reins in
his hands, his eyes on the team ahead;
the woman. always too fat or too thin.
swaying with the slow motion of the
wagon and looking half-heartedly at
the village streets where were neat
little houses, shady yards and care
fully kept flower beds. Between the
man and woman or peering out of the
round opening at the back sat one
or more children with eyes full of
wonder and interest; the children
were finding the world
Each wagon was different from the
one before and the one following UNI
less it was one of a party. Sometimes
there would be three or four together,
a whole neighborhood or family hav-'
ing pulled up stakes and set out at
the same time. Some wagons were of
extra large size with a firm white
cover stretched over ample bows, with
well fed team to pull it and perky
little dog that trotted behind part of
the time. In this wagon the woman
usually wore a hat or sunbonnet and
tried to keep from getting quite sun
burned With such wagon there
might be a pony for the children to
ride part of the day.
Often a Pathetic Sight.
But more times the teams were pa
thetically thin and looked as if they
could not make the next town. The
i man on the seat always was hitting a [
such horses with an impotent whip.
Such an outfit would have a stained
and faded cover, patched awkwardly
here and there with oil cloth, usually
! brown or red and the chicken crate at
the back would be almost falling to
pieces Even the dog would walk
with bowed head and with tongue
| lolling out.
Some wagons were built on a spring
| foundation and the team could go
trotting along, which seemed strange
for the usual cross country traveller
moved sedately. Occasionally the
| wagons were not covered at all. but
were little houses on wheels with win
! dows, a stovepipe and about every
thing except a solid foundation.
The more careful noInads had an eX-
ira team which was tied behind the
wagon and took its-turn at pulling
Some wagons bore bales of hay, but
for the most part the driver depended
on the countryside to furnish the
horses hay and corn.
Feared the "Wagon People,
They were a class to themselves, "the
covered wagon people," and the vii
tlagers spoke of them in almost fearful
tones, for it might be that they would
steal. But for the most part they
were law-abiding. Once in a while
somebody one knew made a journey
in this way and then the people il
wagons seemed more like real folks
but for the most part they were re-
garded almost like aliens.
, So they passed, day after day, go.
ing west. At night you would fine
; them camped by the roadside or in
some hospitable lane or wood. They
would cook their supper on a.~camI
fire or little oil stove, and way into
the night after the flaps of the wagon
were tightly closed. the embers of the
fire would shoulder. and the tetherec
horses would browse on the grass al
} the roadside.
When a storm came with torrent:
! OF rain and thunder and lightning, the
children in the villages would walker
kup and snuggle down in their bed
and wonder about the little bare
legged children in the canvas covered
wagons. The former had envied the
little travellers when they went drivins
thru the town andfhad wanted to join
them when they had seen them eatinl
| by camp fire. But now If was diff
ferent.
, Then the Return Trip.