page_title: Travois
section_title: Dog travois
hierarchical_section_title: Travois / Dog travois
caption_attribution_description: English: Dog with a travois in an Assiniboine camp on the Upper Missouri. Detail of painting by Karl Bodmer to use in article about the "Travois
context_page_description: A travois is a historical frame structure that was used by indigenous peoples, notably the Plains Aboriginals of North America, to drag loads over land.
  There is evidence to support the thesis that travois were used in other parts of the world before the invention of the wheel.
context_section_description: The basic dog travois consists of two aspen or cottonwood poles notched and lashed together at one end with buffalo sinew; the other ends rest splayed apart. Cross-bars are lashed between the poles near the splayed ends, and the finished frame looks like a large letter A with extra cross-bars. The apex of the A, wrapped in buffalo skin to prevent friction burns, rests on a dog’s shoulders, while the splayed ends drag over the ground ... First Nations women both built the travois and managed the dogs, sometimes using toy travois to train the puppies. Buffalo meat and firewood were typical travois loads.
  "The dog travois of pre-European times was small, capable of pulling not more than 20 to 30 kg." Travel by dog travois was slower in hot weather, which is tiring for dogs. The dog travois can be seen in the paintings of Karl Bodmer.
caption: Dog with a travois in an Assiniboine camp on the Upper Missouri
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