Carreta de Fort Leaton, Texas Parks and Wildlife
The Spanish brought ox carts (carretas) to the region in 1590— arguably the first wheeled vehicles to enter what is now the United States. Carretas transpor...
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The Spanish brought ox carts (carretas) to the region in 1590— arguably the first wheeled vehicles to enter what is now the United States. Carretas transported goods on the Chihuahua Trail, which reached from San Antonio, Texas to Cuidad Chihuahua, Mexico and passed very near Fort Leaton.
The large wheel you see on this replica is six feet high, but wheels on some historic carretas reached even higher at nine feet.
Fully loaded carretas were so heavy that it took 10 to 12 oxen to pull them. Some say that a combination of prickly pear juice and pig fat was used to lubricate the axle; others claim that women walked beside the wheels and greased them with twigs from the creosote bush. The shade shelters, or ramadas, within the corral provided shade for horses and other livestock.
(source: https:--tpwd.texas.gov-publications-pwdpubs-media-pwd_br_p4501_0091d.pdf)
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The large wheel you see on this replica is six feet high, but wheels on some historic carretas reached even higher at nine feet.
Fully loaded carretas were so heavy that it took 10 to 12 oxen to pull them. Some say that a combination of prickly pear juice and pig fat was used to lubricate the axle; others claim that women walked beside the wheels and greased them with twigs from the creosote bush. The shade shelters, or ramadas, within the corral provided shade for horses and other livestock.
(source: https:--tpwd.texas.gov-publications-pwdpubs-media-pwd_br_p4501_0091d.pdf)
Read less
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