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{{Short description|Load-dragging structure}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}}
[[Image:Cheyenne using travois.jpg|thumb|300px|right|[[Cheyenne]] family using a horse-drawn travois, 1890.]]
A '''travois''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|r|æ|v|w|ɑː}}; [[Canadian French]], from [[French language|French]]
== Construction and use ==
The basic construction consists of a platform or netting mounted on two long poles, [[Lashing (ropework)|lashed]] in the shape of an elongated [[isosceles triangle]]; the frame was dragged with the sharply pointed end forward. Sometimes the blunt end of the frame was stabilized by a third pole bound across the two poles.▼
{{multiple image|perrow = 2|total_width=300|align=right
|image1 = Blackfoot travois 1.jpg
|image2 = Blackfoot travois 3.jpg
|footer = Travois designs used by the [[Blackfoot people]]
|footer_align = center
}}
▲The basic construction consists of a platform or netting mounted on two long poles, [[Lashing (ropework)|lashed]] in the shape of an
The travois was dragged by hand, sometimes fitted with a shoulder harness for more efficient dragging, or dragged by [[dog]]s or [[horse]]s (after the 16th-century introduction of horses by the Spanish).
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A travois could either be loaded by piling goods atop the bare frame and tying them in place, or by first stretching cloth or leather over the frame to hold the load to be dragged.
Although considered more primitive than [[wheel]]-based forms of transport, on the type of territory where the travois was used (forest floors, soft soil, snow, etc.), rather than roadways, wheels would have encountered difficulties which would have made them less efficient. As such the travois was employed by ''[[Coureur des bois|coureurs des bois]]'' in [[New France]]'s [[North American fur trade|fur trade]] with the Plains Tribes.
It is possible for a person to transport more weight on a travois than can be carried on the back.
== Dog travois ==
[[File:Dog with travois. Detail of Karl Bodmer painting - A Skin Lodge of an Assiniboin Chief.jpg|thumb|Dog with a travois in an [[Assiniboine]] camp on the Upper [[Missouri River]]]]
{{quote|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
| title = Travois
| encyclopedia = The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan
|
| date = 2006
| url = http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/travois.html
| via = esask.uregina.ca
}}</ref>▼
| archive-date = 2017-07-06
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170706084136/http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/travois.html
"The dog travois of pre-European times was small, capable of pulling not more than 20 to 30 kg."<ref name = "canencyc">{{Cite web▼
| url-status = dead
▲}}</ref>}}
▲According to ''[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]'', "The dog travois of pre-European times was small, capable of pulling not more than 20 to 30 kg."<ref name = "canencyc">{{Cite
| last = Gadacz
| first = Renee R
| title = Travois
|
|
| date = 2012
| url = http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/travois
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120419125642/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/travois
| archive-date = April 19, 2012
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> Travel by dog travois was slower in hot weather, which is tiring for dogs.<ref>{{Cite journal
| volume = 39
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| title = Replicating Dog Travois Travel on the Northern Plains
| journal = Plains Anthropologist
| date = May 1994
|
| doi = 10.1080/2052546.1994.11931719
}}</ref> The dog travois can be seen in the paintings of [[Karl Bodmer]].<ref name = "dogtravois">{{Cite web
| title = Dog Travois
| work = Women of the Fur Trade
|
| date = 2007
| url = http://www.womenofthefurtrade.com/wst_page16.html
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== Horse travois ==
By the mid-
▲By the mid-19th century, the dog travois had given way to the horse travois.<ref name = "dogtravois"/> When dogs were replaced by horses, the greater pulling power allowed tipis to increase in size and household goods to multiply."<ref name = "canencyc"/>
<blockquote>
After horses were introduced to North America, many Plains Indian tribes began to make larger horse-drawn travois. Instead of making specially constructed travois sleds, they would simply cross a pair of [[Tipi|tepee poles]] across the horse's back and attach a burden platform between the poles behind the horse. This served two purposes at once, as the horses could then simultaneously carry the tepee poles and some additional baggage. Horses, of course, could pull much greater weight than dogs. Children often rode in the back of horse travois.<ref>{{Cite web
| title = Native American Travois (Indian Drag Sleds for Dogs and Horses)
| work = native-languages.org
|
| url = http://www.native-languages.org/travois.htm
}}</ref>
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| title = Salish culture
| work = Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
|
| url = http://www.cskt.org/hc/salishculture.htm
}}</ref>
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| last = Henderson
| first = Norman
| title = Replicating Horse and Travois Travel
| pages = 137–147
|
| url = http://iportal.usask.ca/docs/Prairie%20Forum/Replicating%20Horse%20and%20Travois%20Travel%20%28v21no2_1996_pg137-147%29.pdf
}}</ref>
== Other ways to use a travois==
The travois served the Native Americans in a number of ingenious ways. Before the use of horses, Blackfoot women made a curved fence of dog travois’ tied together, front end up, to hold driven animals enclosed until the hunters could kill them.<ref name=Ewers1988>Ewers, John C. (1988): A Blood Indian’s Conception of Tribal Life in Dog Days. Indian Life on the Upper Missouri. Norman and London. Pp. 7-13</ref>{{rp|9}} When the women put up a tipi, they placed an upright horse travois against a tipi pole and used it as a ladder so they could attach the two upper sides of the lodge cover with wooden pins.<ref name=Point1967>Point, Nicholas (1967): Wilderness Kingdom. Indian Life in the Rocky Mountains: 1840-1847. The Journals and Paintings of Nicholas Point, S. J.. New York, Chicago, San Francisco.</ref>{{rp|xi}} A travois leaned against a branch of a tree functioned as a simple burial scaffold for a dead Crow baby tied to it.<ref name=Riebeth1985>Riebeth, Carolyn Reynolds (1985): J.H. Sharp among the Crow Indians, 1902-1910. Personal Memories of His Life and Friendship on the Crow Reservation in Montana. El Segundo.</ref>{{rp|57}}
== Travois tracks ==
What today is known as the [[Lewis and Clark Trail-Travois Road]], and Montana's [[Lewis and Clark Pass (Montana)|Lewis and Clark Pass]] were areas heavily traveled where travois "were dragged over the trail, causing deep, parallel tracks to mark the earth," which are still visible today.<ref>{{Cite web
| title = Lewis & Clark Trail-Travois Road--Lewis and Clark Expedition: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary
|
| url = http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/lewisandclark/lew.htm
}}</ref> Remains of travois tracks can also be seen at the [[Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site]].
There is archeological evidence to support the thesis that travois were used in other parts of the world before the invention of the [[History of road transport|wheel]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Western European Loess Belt: Agrarian History, 5300 BC - AD 1000|last=Bakels|first=Corrie|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|year=2009|isbn=9781402098406}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://musee-archeologienationale.fr/sites/musee-archeologienationale.fr/files/un_travois_pour_les_dieux.pdf|title=Un Travois pour les dieux. Lac de Chalain 31ième siècle avant J.-C. |language=fr |trans-title=A Travois for the Gods}} [https://www.canal-u.tv/chaines/cerimes/films-du-crava-archeologie-ethnologie/un-travois-pour-les-dieux-lac-de-chalain-31e The film]</ref>
== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Two Klondikers with dogs packing supplies along the Chilkoot Trail near Dyea, Alaska, 1897 (LAROCHE 111).jpeg|Dog-travois, Alaska 1897
File:Kainai travois.jpg|[[Packhorse]] and travois, Canada 1910
File:Native American baby transport; Travouis at Lake Windemere. Wellcome L0003105.jpg|Riding horse with travois, Canada 1922
File:Travois or Indian ambulance, U.S. Army LCCN2014680130.jpg|US Army mule & travois "ambulance", circa early 1900s
File:35541 purilaat Rukajarvi 15081941.jpg|A workman's travois, Finland 1941
</gallery>
== See also ==
{{Commonscat}}{{Wiktionary}}
*[[Lewis and Clark Trail-Travois Road]]
*[[Carrying pole]]
*[[Sled]]
{{clear}}
==Notes==
{{reflist
<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 |page=182 |quote=Travois or travoise. A wheel-less drag consisting of two or more poles, hauled by a single human being or beast of burden, its apex resting on the back or hind quarters. Space near the base of the ‘A’ frame would be bridged by thongs, woven twigs or small planks. Widely used by the North American Indians both for conveying the sick and elderly of the tribe or personal belongings. Travoy: A modern spelling of Travois.}}</ref>
}}
== External links ==
*[http://www.cartingwithyourdog.com/ctravoisplans.html Dog Travois Plans]
*[http://nmai.si.edu/exhibitions/horsenation/travel.html Travois photos], A Song for the Horse Nation, [[National Museum of the American Indian]]
*[http://www.art.com/products/p13251395-sa-i2341816/horsedrawn-travois-crow-indian-fair.htm Horse-Drawn travois] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805234909/https://www.art.com/products/p13251395-sa-i2341816/horsedrawn-travois-crow-indian-fair.htm |date=2019-08-05 }}, at [[Crow Fair]]
*[
*[http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/search/searchterm/travois Travois photographs], from [[Denver Public Library]]
*{{Citation
| title = Imataa Manistsi: How to Make a Blackfoot Dog Travois
|
| url = http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/blackfootshirts/attachments/028_Imataa%20Manistsi-%20Blackfoot%20Dog%20Travois.pdf
}}
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[[Category:Human-powered vehicles]]
[[Category:Animal-powered vehicles]]
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