During the 1830s fur traders used wagons to haul their supplies and proved that the plains could be crossed by these four-wheeled vehicles. During the 1840s bad economic conditions, grasshopper plagues, free land granted by the Homestead Act, and the restless desire to travel to someplace new all played a part in the westward migration. The most common means of travel was the canvascovered wagon known as the prairie schooner. The heavy-duty canvas top kept out the wind, rain, and dust. The large wooden wheels rolled over bumps and through potholes. The wagon's ten-foot-by-three-and-a-half-foot body could transport a ton and a half of weight. It was pulled by mules or oxen and could travel fifteen to twenty miles a day. A new wagon cost between sixty and ninety dollars and carried supplies that included food, spare parts, cooking utensils, guns, clothing, tools...