11/06/2025
Eagle Project ~ Pioneer Covered Wagon ~ Sand Ridge
This period correct full-sized covered wagon, or prairie schooner, was the 2 1/2 year long Eagle Scout Project of Zachary Yovich of Boy Scout Troop 276, Lansing Illinois. It was officially dedicated and donated to the Sand Ridge Nature Center 13 years ago at their 40th annual Settlers Day, November 18th, 2012.
These covered wagons popular in the 1800's, were not used for primary transportation, but instead were reserved for material goods, supplies, the sick, elderly, and very young. Most settlers walked along side their wagons as they made their way westward into the Illinois Prairie. On a good day they could walk twenty to twenty five miles. Routes into the area then were primitive at best. They mostly followed the contours of Lake Michigan's ancient beaches. Many of Lansing's earliest settlers arrived in the 1840's via covered wagons just like the one in the photograph. Ridge Road was once one of the early wagon trails. It later became part of Route 6.
Photo by Dan Bovino
