prairie schooner

noun

1. a type of covered wagon, similar to but smaller than the Conestoga wagon, used by pioneers in crossing the prairies and plains of North America.

prairie schooner

noun

1. a horse-drawn covered wagon similar to but smaller than a Conestoga wagon, used in the 19th century to cross the prairies of North America

Word History and Origins

Origin of prairie schooner¹

First recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

When people asked him about that big old ship he was building, he’d ask them, “Haven’t you ever heard of a prairie schooner?”

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“In coming along the Lincoln Highway, we are simply traversing the old overland road along which the prairie schooners of the pioneers passed,” Gladding wrote.

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The order was given and after moments that seemed hours, down the long hill they rushed pell-mell, without lock or brake, the prairie schooners tossing like their namesakes on a stormy sea.

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The wagon had been transformed by a canvas canopy over the bed into what was popularly known as a "prairie schooner."

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It was along the lines of the old American "prairie schooner," except that it was much bigger and heavier in every way.

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