View source for Wagon

{{short description|Four wheeled vehicle (mostly pulled by draft animals)}}
{{About|animal-pulled vehicles}}
{{redirect|Wain}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2024}}
[[File:Bad Schussenried - Museumsdorf Kürnbach Holz Jauchefaß auf Leiterwagen.jpg|thumb|A hay wagon in Germany, of a type common throughout Europe (the ''[[:de:Leiterwagen|leiterwagen]]''). The sides are actually ladders attached to serve as containment of hay or grain, and may be removed, such as for hauling timber.]]

A '''wagon''' (or '''waggon''') is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by [[Working animal#Draft animals|draft animals]] or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people.

Wagons are immediately distinguished from [[cart]]s (which have two wheels) and from lighter four-wheeled vehicles primarily for carrying people, such as [[carriage]]s. Common animals which pull wagons are [[horse]]s, [[mule]]s, and [[ox]]en. One animal or several, often in pairs or teams may pull wagons. However, there are examples of human-propelled wagons, such as [[Corf (mining)|mining corfs]].

A wagon was formerly called a '''wain''' and one who builds or repairs wagons is a [[Wainwright (occupation)|wainwright]]. More specifically, a '''wain''' is a type of horse- or oxen-drawn, load-carrying vehicle, used for agricultural purposes rather than transporting people. A wagon or cart, usually four-wheeled;<ref>{{cite OED2|wain|part = n|number = 1}}</ref> for example, a haywain, normally has four wheels, but the term has now acquired slightly poetical connotations, so is not always used with technical correctness. However, a two-wheeled "haywain" would be a hay cart, as opposed to a carriage. ''Wain'' is also an archaic term for a chariot. ''Wain'' can also be a verb, to carry or deliver, and has other meanings.

Contemporary or modern animal-drawn wagons may be of metal instead of wood and have regular wheels with [[rubber tire]]s instead of traditional [[wooden wheel]]s.

A person who [[Driving (horse)|drives]] wagons is called a "wagoner",<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wagoner |title=Wagoner |publisher=Merriam-Webster |access-date=29 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.thefreedictionary.com/wagoner |title=Wagoner |publisher=The Free Dictionary |access-date=29 January 2017}}</ref> a "[[teamster]]", a "[[bullocky]]" (Australia), a "[[muleteer]]", or simply a "driver".

Wagons have served numerous purposes, with a variety of designs.<ref name="ReesWaggon" /> As with motorized vehicles, some are designed to serve as many functions as possible, while others are highly specialized.

==Terminology and design==
[[File:Yerevan, National History Museum of Armenia (2).jpg|thumb|One of the two wagons in the [[History Museum of Armenia]], the world's oldest known wagons.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 December 2017 |title=4,000 Years Old Wagons Found in Lchashen, Armenia |url=https://allinnet.info/archeology/4000-years-old-wagons-found-in-lchashen-armenia/ |access-date=13 May 2022 |website=Art-A-Tsolum |language=en-US}}</ref>]]
The exact name and terminology used are often dependent on the design or shape of the wagon. If low and sideless it may be called a dray, [[trolley (horse-drawn)|trolley]] or [[float (horse-drawn)|float]].{{r|smith|pp=68, 79, 165}} When traveling over long distances and periods, wagons may be covered with cloth to protect their contents from the elements; these are "[[covered wagon]]s". If it has high sides, with or without a permanent top, it may be called a "[[van]]".{{r|smith|p=167}} A wagon might be unsprung if ordinarily used over rough ground or cobbles.{{r|stratton1878|p=442}}

A [[front axle assembly]], in its simplest form, is an assembly of a short beam with a pivot plate, two wheels and [[Spindle (automobile)|spindles]] as well as a [[Drawbar (haulage)#Agriculture and horse-drawn vehicles|drawbar]] attached to this. A pin attaches the device to a [[horse-drawn vehicle]] making the [[turning radius]] smaller.<ref name = ReesWaggon>{{cite encyclopedia |year=1817–1818 |title=Waggon |volume=37 |encyclopedia=Rees's Cyclopædia |publisher= Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown |location= London}}</ref>

== Types ==

=== Farm wagon ===

Farm wagons are built for general multi-purpose usage in an agricultural or rural setting. These include gathering [[hay]], [[crop]]s and wood, and delivering them to the farmstead or market.<ref name=ReesWaggon /> Wagons can also be pulled with [[tractor]]s for easy transportation of those materials.

A common form found throughout Europe is the {{interlanguage link|ladder wagon|de|Leiterwagen}}, a large wagon the sides of which consisted of ladders strapped in place to hold in hay or [[grain]], though these could be removed to serve other needs.<ref name=ReesWaggon />

=== Freight wagon ===

Freight wagons were used for the overland hauling of freight and bulk commodities.<ref name="Santa Fe Trail">{{cite web|last=Gardner|first=Mark L.|title=Wagons on the Santa Fe Trail: 1822–1880 |url= http://www.nps.gov/safe/historyculture/upload/Wagons-on-the-SFT_combined.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017235300/http://www.nps.gov/safe/historyculture/upload/Wagons-on-the-SFT_combined.pdf |archive-date=17 October 2013 |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=5 February 2013 |date=September 1997}}</ref> They were not designed for transporting people and were not built for comfort. Many were constructed without a driver's seat or bench, leaving the driver to walk alongside the wagon or ride atop one of the horses. Many freight wagons had a "lazyboard," a plank that could be pulled out for sitting upon, and then pushed back when not needed. In America, lazyboards were located on the left side and close to the brake because wagons were steered from the left side.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Burt |first=Olive W. |title=John Wanamaker: Boy Merchant |publisher=Bobbs-Merrill |location=New York |year=1962 |page=62 |ol=5855211M}}</ref>{{r|berkebile1989|pp=x,96}}

In the United States and Canada, the large, heavily built [[Conestoga wagon]] was a predominant form of freight wagon in the late 18th and 19th centuries, often used for hauling goods on the [[Great Wagon Road]] in the Appalachian Valley and across the Appalachian Mountains.

Even larger wagons were built, such as the [[twenty-mule team]] wagons, used for hauling borax from [[Death Valley]], which could haul {{convert|36|ST|LT MT}} per pair.<ref name="Twenty Mule NPS">{{cite web|title=Twenty Mule Teams|url=https://home.nps.gov/deva/learn/historyculture/twenty-mule-teams.htm|work=Death Valley National Park|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=6 February 2013}}</ref> The wagons' bodies were {{convert|16|ft|m|2}} long and {{convert|6|ft|m|2}} deep; the rear wheels were {{convert|7|ft|m|2}} in diameter, and the wagons weighed {{convert|7,800|lb}} empty.<ref name="Twenty Mule NPS" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://scvhisto.ipower.com/scvhistory/borax-20muleteam.htm |title=Borax: The Twenty Mule Team |access-date=18 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080925004706/http://scvhisto.ipower.com/scvhistory/borax-20muleteam.htm |archive-date=25 September 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Freight wagons in the American West were hauled by oxen, mules or horses. Freight wagon teams would generally haul between three and thirty-five tons of freight when hauling to mining outposts. On the return, they would haul ore to steamboats or to railroad depots.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heavy Freight Wagons of the American West |first=Gary |last=Carter |url=https://westernmininghistory.com/4127/heavy-freight-wagons-of-the-american-west/ |access-date=14 September 2024 |website=Western Mining History |language=en-US}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Smithsonian National Museum of American History - Conestoga Wagon (8307591214).jpg|[[Conestoga wagon]], USA 1840s
File:Bullock Team Wool Wagon.jpg|[[Ox-wagon]] hauling wool, New Zealand c. 1880
File:20 Mule Team in Death Valley.jpg|[[Twenty-mule team]], Borax freight, USA 1880s
File:20-mule-team wagons.jpg|Borax wagons on display c. 1935
File:Freight team LCCN2013647269.jpg|Freight wagons, USA 1905
File:Freight cart with a farmer and horses (3526479046).jpg|Freight wagons, Argentina 1920s
File:Horse-drawn wagon loaded with 175 sacks of wheat beside freight car LCCN2007677294.jpg|Load of wheat, USA 1910
</gallery>

=== Delivery wagon ===

A '''delivery wagon''' was used to deliver merchandise such as milk, bread, produce, meat and ice to residential and commercial customers, predominantly in urban settings. The concept of express wagons and paneled delivery vans developed in the 19th century.{{r|stratton1878|pp=441–5}} By the end of the 19th century, delivery wagons were often finely painted, lettered and varnished, serving as image-builders and rolling advertisements.<ref name=Hillick>{{cite book|last= Hillick |first= M.C. |title= Practical Carriage and Wagon Painting |year= 1898 |publisher= Press of the Western Painter |location= Chicago|pages= [https://archive.org/details/practicalcarriag02hill/page/2 2], 109–116|url= https://archive.org/details/practicalcarriag02hill}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last= Sanders|first= Walter R.|title= Ice Delivery |year= 1922 |publisher=Nickerson & Collins |location=Chicago |pages=[https://archive.org/details/icedeliveryacom00sandgoog/page/n186 170]–172 |url= https://archive.org/details/icedeliveryacom00sandgoog}}</ref> Special forms of delivery wagons include an [[ice wagon]] and a [[milk wagon]].

[[Tank wagon]]s carried liquid cargo. Water wagons made deliveries to areas lacking piped water and for military camp use.{{r|smith|p=171}} In the early 1900s, the American street flusher used a gas-powered pump to clean city streets of litter or mud, and to wet down dust in dry seasons.{{r|smith|pp=7,171}} Liquid manure wagons were low tank vehicles for spreading manure on fields in the 1860s–1900s.{{r|smith|p=156}} Oil wagons operated from the 1880s to 1920s and held up to 500 gallons of oil or spirits.{{r|smith|pages=123–124}}

In the city center of [[Schwäbisch Gmünd]], Germany, since 1992 the city's plants have been irrigated using a horse-drawn wagon with a water tank.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.gmuender-tagespost.de/p/825952/ |title=Ein PS für 160 Blumenkübel |trans-title=One horsepower for 160 flower pots |work=Gmünder Tagespost |date=31 July 2015 |language=de |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191211205814/http://www.gmuender-tagespost.de/p/825952/ |archive-date=11 December 2019 |access-date=25 February 2022}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Baker's-van-r.jpg|Bakery delivery wagon, Australia 1900s
File:Paardenkar met alcoholtank van de firma Delizy & Doistau Fils (Rectification d'Alcools) in Pantin, RP-F-F01164-30-2.jpg|Alcohol tank wagon, France 1900s
File:Bon Marche Department Store horse-drawn wagon, probably 1900 (SEATTLE 102).jpg|Store delivery, USA 1900s
File:Breadvan - London 1.jpg|Bread delivery, England 1910s
File:Hevosvaunuja Helsingin Meijeriliikkeen pihalla, toisessa kerroksessa konttori - - hkm.HKMS000005-km003lbl.jpg|[[Milk float|Milk wagons]], Finland 1920s
File:Acme Farmers Dairy milk delivery wagon (I0004258).jpg|Milk delivery, Canada 1920s
</gallery>

=== Living accommodations ===

Wagons have also served as the first mobile homes, as mobile workshops, and mobile kitchens.

* [[Shepherd's hut]] – for remote shepherds
* [[Vardo (Romani wagon)|Vardo]] – traditional wagon of the 19th-century British Romani people
* [[Living van]] – used to house roving work crews during early steam engine days
* [[Showman's wagon]] – elaborate living accommodations for showmen
* [[Chuckwagon]] – a small wagon used for providing food and cooking; essentially a portable kitchen

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Shepherd living vans at the Great Dorset - geograph.org.uk - 1476363.jpg|Shepherd huts
File:Gipsy caravan, Fishers Farm - geograph.org.uk - 238741.jpg|A Romani [[Vardo (Romani wagon)|Vardo]]
File:Walker Hoadley's caravan.jpg|Showman's wagon
File:Chuckwagon.jpg|[[Chuckwagon]]
</gallery>

=== Entertainment and show ===

Traveling circuses decorated their wagons to be able to take part in the [[Great Circus Parade|grand parade]]—even packing wagons for equipment, animal cage wagons, living vans and band wagons.{{r|smith|p=45}} Popular in North America was, and still is, the float or show wagon, driven by six horses pulling a highly decorated show wagon with a token payload, and heavily painted with company or owner advertising.{{r|smith|page=1}} Horse-drawn wagons are popular attractions at tourist destinations for leisurely sightseeing.{{r|smith}}

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Triumph-isabella-ommeganck-1615-alsloot.jpg|Pageant wagons, Belgium 1615
File:Circus parade wagon.jpg|[[Great Circus Parade|Circus parade]] wagon, built 1904
File:Horse drawn Japanese float in Portland Rose Festival parade, Portland, Oregon, 1908 (AL+CA 2101).jpg|[[Float (parade)|Parade float]], USA 1908
File:Colonial Williamsburg wagon tour.jpg|Tourist wagon, USA 2004
File:2008-06-01Dinkelsbühl Pferdewagen03.jpg|Sight-seeing wagon, Germany 2008
File:Budweiser Clydesdales, St. Louis, Missouri (33625293774).jpg|Exhibition wagon, USA 2017
</gallery>

=== Motorized wagons ===

During the transition to mechanized vehicles from animal-powered, vehicles were built by [[coachbuilder]]s and the bodies and undercarriages were substantially similar to the horse-drawn vehicles.

* [[Hippomobile]] – 1860s invention, gas powered
* [[Steam wagon]] – late 1800s, large steam-powered vehicle
* [[Duryea Motor Wagon]] – 1890s gasoline powered, patterned from the [[Buggy (carriage)#American buggy|American buggy]]
* [[International Harvester Auto-Buggy#Auto Wagon|Auto Wagon]] – early 1900s gas-powered, patterned from the [[Buggy (carriage)#American buggy|American buggy]]
* [[High wheeler]] – 1910s – often made from converted horse-drawn wagons

In modern times, the term [[station wagon]] survives as a type of automobile. It describes a car with a passenger compartment that extends to the back of the vehicle, that has no trunk, that has one or more rear seats that can be folded making space for carrying cargo, as well as featuring an opening tailgate or liftgate.<ref>{{cite web|title=Definition: station wagon |website=Merriam-Webster.com |url= https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/station%20wagon |access-date=9 December 2019}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

<gallery widths="200" heights="170" mode="packed" caption="Motorized wagons">
File:Patent, Duryea Road Vehicle, 1895.png|Drawing for the [[Duryea Motor Wagon|Duryea]] Road Vehicle, 1895
File:George B Selden driving automobile in 1905.jpg|[[George B. Selden#The Selden patent|George B. Selden]] driving an automobile in 1905
File:1911 International Wagon.JPG|1911 [[International Harvester Auto-Buggy#Auto Wagon|International Harvester Auto Wagon]] ([[High wheeler]])
File:International Torpedo - Coupe Florio 2015 01.jpg|[[International Harvester Auto-Buggy#Auto-Buggy|International Harvester Auto-Buggy]]
</gallery>

=== Modern agricultural wagons ===

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Gravity wagon 3-2.jpg|[[Gravity wagon]]
File:Forage wagon.jpg|Front unload [[forage harvester|forage wagon]]
</gallery>

== Wagon train ==

{{main|wagon train}}
[[File:Downtown Hico, Texas Wagon Team. circa 1910.jpg|thumb|Downtown Hico, Texas Wagon Team. circa 1910]]
In migration and military settings, wagons were often found in large groups called [[wagon train]]s.

In warfare, large groups of [[supply wagon]]s were used to support traveling armies with food and munitions, forming "baggage trains". During the [[American Civil War]], these wagon trains would often be accompanied by the wagons of private merchants, known as [[sutler]]s, who sold goods to soldiers, as well as the wagons of photographers and news reporters.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bealton, VA. |last=O'Sullivan |first=Timothy |year=1863 |url= https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/cwp2003000218/PP/ |publisher=Library of Congress Prints & Photographs|access-date=5 February 2013}}</ref> Special purpose-built support wagons existed for [[Traveling forge|blacksmithing]], telegraphy and even observation ballooning.<ref>{{cite web|title=Thaddeus Lowe with his Inflation Wagons|url=http://airandspace.si.edu/imageDetail.cfm?imageID=3370|publisher=Smithsonian Institution: National Air and Space Museum|access-date=5 February 2013|archive-date=22 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130422201717/http://airandspace.si.edu/imageDetail.cfm?imageID=3370|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In migration settings, such as the emigrant trails of the American West and the [[Great Trek]] of South Africa, wagons would travel together for support, navigation and protection. A group of wagons may be used to create an improvised fort called a [[laager]], made by circling them to form an enclosure. In these settings, a [[chuckwagon]] is a small wagon used for providing food and cooking, essentially a portable kitchen.
{{Clear}}

== Draft animals ==

{{see also|Ox-wagon}}
In addition to horses and oxen, animals such as mules and goats have been used as draft animals for appropriately sized wagons.

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Brazilian Princes 1883.jpg|Sheep and children's wagon (1883)
File:Goat team - Washington, D.C..jpg|Goat pair and wagon (1917)
File:The 18-seater pram, Park Royal Hospital, London, 1925 Wellcome L0002193.jpg|Donkey and wagon full of children (1925)
File:Ben Turner and family in their wagon with mule team. Flint R... (3109740135).jpg|Mule team and wagon (1939)
File:Opnamen FF-tentoonstelling te Enschede. Een Transvaalse boer met een huifkar get, Bestanddeelnr 904-7345.jpg|Oxen and covered wagon (1951)
</gallery>

== Wagons in art ==

[[File:Conestoga Wagon 1883.jpg|thumb|Painting: Conestoga Wagon, 1883]]
As a common, important element in history and life, wagons have been the subjects of artwork. Some examples are the paintings ''[[The Hay Wain]]'' and ''[[The Haywain Triptych]]'', and on the [[Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar]].

{{clear}}

==See also==
*[[Horse-drawn vehicle]]
**[[Carriage]]
**[[Cart]]
**[[Coach (carriage)]]
**[[Stage wagon]]
**[[Wagonette]]
*[[Horse harness]]
*[[Wheelwright|Wagon wheel]]
*[[Wagon-wheel effect]]

==References==
{{reflist|refs=

<ref name="berkebile1989">{{cite book |title=Horse-drawn Commercial Vehicles |first=Donald H. |last=Berkebile |year=1989 |publisher=[[Dover Publications]] |isbn=0486260208 |ol=2209008M}}</ref>

<ref name="smith">{{cite book |title=A Dictionary of Horse Drawn Vehicles |first=D.J.M. |last=Smith |year=1988 |publisher=J. A. Allen & Co. Ltd. |isbn=0851314686 |ol=11597864M}}</ref>

<ref name="stratton1878">{{Cite book |last=Stratton |first=Ezra M. |title=The World on Wheels; or, Carriages, with their Historical Associations from the Earliest to the Present Time, Including a Selection from the American Centennial Exhibition |year=1878 |publisher=The author |ol=7004294M |oclc=3570369 |location=New York}}</ref>

}}

==External links==
*{{Wiktionary-inline}}
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Wagon}}

{{Horse-drawn carriages|state=expanded}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Wagons| ]]