DCHP-1 Online

trail-cart Hist.

• n. a sturdy two-wheeled cart constructed entirely of wood, the parts being fixed by wooden pins and lashed with shaganappi (def. 1); the wheels were some five feet in diameter and about three inches broad at the rim; the axle carried a simple box equipped with a railing for carrying the load, about 1,000 pounds. As a rule, the carts travelled in trains or brigades and the ungreased wheels gave forth ear-piercing shrieks and squeals which could be heard for miles across the prairie. [See picture at Red River cart.]

  See also: Red River cart  shaganappi ((n.)) (def. 1)  

  • 1916  . . . York boats and trail-carts were being superceded by freight trains and passenger coaches.