The Bicentennial Wagon Trains of 1776

The Bicentennial Wagon Train in Jersey Shore Pa

Eastward Ho!  The Bicentennial Wagon Train, 1976.

"So Your Children Can Tell Their Children"

In 1976, more than 60 covered wagons, from 49 states, following 6 separate routes, arrived in Valley Forge, Pa.

Between 1840 and 1880, there had been a great western migration, by covered wagon along routes like the Oregon Trail.  

"Briefly, the Bicentennial Wagon Train Pilgrimage to Pennsylvania is a replay of history, in reverse."
The first wagons started on their way from the west coast in June 1975, traveling for over a year to reach their destination.

Today the wagon is on display at the State Museum in Harrisburg

The Bicentennial Commission of Pennsylvania, which organized the event, described it as “a replay of history – in reverse. A train of covered wagons – one from each state – is crossing the country from West to East, adhering as closely as possible to original pioneer trails and wagon routes.” They provided an authentic Conestoga wagon or Prairie Schooner for each state, as well as a Pennsylvania Conestoga and a chuck wagon to accompany each of the five main caravans. People were also encouraged to join the trek in their own wagons.

All of the wagons converged at Valley Forge on July 3, 1976, for an encampment and Bicentennial festivities the following day.

Leaving Williamsport - Grit Newspaper

The wagons paraded to the state park encampment there on July 4 to celebrate the Bicentennial, which included a visit from President Ford to sign legislation establishing Valley Forge as a National Historical Park. After the celebration the state wagons remained on display at the park through October 1976.

Volunteers from the North America Trail Ride Conference and local riding groups served as mounted escorts for the wagon trains.  "Pony Express" riders branched out from the State Wagons to reach communities not on the main trails.

The outriders were to bring back scrolls from the Bicentennial Community, signed by the citizens, reaffirming their belief "in the principles which this nation was founded."

Donald Yocum & Steve Treon from Sunbury joined the wagon train in Hughesville

State wagons traveled their own states, then joined the National Wagon train to journey to Valley Forge.

"The daily rhythm was simple and relentless. Wake up. Hitch the horses. Roll 20 miles. Make camp. Put on a show. Do it again tomorrow. The draft horses pulled three days and rested every fourth day, rotated with fresh hitches so no team was overworked. The saddle horses — ridden by outriders, local volunteers, and anyone who showed up with a mount — had it harder. They carried weight. But most only rode part of the route, peeling off after a day or two while the core crew kept moving east.

The core crew was young. Five separate companies of Penn State University students — actors, singers, musicians — traveled with the five wagon train segments for the entire journey. They lived together in pairs of Winnebagos, one for the men, one for the women. They performed a patriotic musical written specifically for the pilgrimage every single night at every single stop. Over 2,000 performances in 15 months.

Each of the five wagon trains was accompanied by a show troupe which performed a musical revue for the local community at that night’s campground. 

The show was written and produced at Penn State by Bruce Trinkley, Roger Cornish and Dan Tucker. The performers in the video are: Larry Biren, Janie Gioffre, Deneille Lilley, Earl Reinhalter [Electric Earl], Kathleen Renish and Donald Lee Shell.

Think about that. These were college kids in their early twenties, sleeping in Winnebagos, performing the same 45-minute show in a different small town every night for a year. They did it in rain. They did it in South Carolina heat and Wyoming cold. The wagons were designed to fold open into portable stages, and the performers climbed up and performed in period costumes — buckskins and calico — under whatever sky showed up that evening.

The audiences loved it. Towns didn’t just watch the wagon train pass through. They came out and met it. Local saddle clubs rode alongside in period costumes. Women held quilting bees. Somebody always made soup in an iron pot. School bands played. 4-H clubs showed up. Square dance groups performed after the Penn State show. At one stop in South Carolina, volunteers demonstrated lye soap making and displayed antique quilts while an exhibition of arrowheads and artifacts filled a nearby hall. "- Bicentennial Memory Project

"At every encampment, a small stage appeared — maybe 10 by 12 feet, draped in stars and stripes. Behind a table sat a woman in a colonial dress. On the table were the Rededication Scrolls. Each scroll had spaces for 24 signatures. You sat in a chair, picked up a pen, and signed your name beneath a pledge reaffirming your belief in the principles of the Declaration of Independence. One boy in Wisconsin used a fountain pen and India ink because his mother said it would be more authentic."

At Valley Forge

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THE ROUTES
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The Central Great Lakes Route - #2 - included stops in 

Jersey Shore, Montoursville, Hughesville, and Ricketts Glen.  A show was performed at Muncy, before the wagons headed on to Hughesville to camp for the night.

"Making a water stop in the morning at the Woodward Township Fire hall.  a lunch break will be taken bout 11am at the city firemen's training field on West Third Street... is scheduled to arrive at the Montoursville Bridge around 5pm, and head to Nicely field for an encampment.  A show will be staged there at 7pm.  The train leaves Friday at 8am, going to Muncy for a noontime show. It will then move along Route 405 to Hughesville, arriving at 1:30 pm.  It will parade through the center of town and will arrive at the Lycoming County Fairgrounds at 2:30pm for encampment.  A show will be held there at 7:30pm"

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MADE IN PA

The Vo-Tech School Wagon
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Made by the Centre County Vo-Tech School

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"A Financial Debacle"

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This once in a life time event was a "financial debacle".  Mrs. Thelma Gray, who conceived and supervised the project, had told the state that 15 corporations were ready to donate $6.8 million dollars.  At the projects end, only two corporate donations had been made - $1 million from Gulf Oil, and $15,000 from Holiday Inns.  

Marketing and Souvenir Sales were then expected to help offset the cost, with a projected revenue of 3.3 million.  That estimate was revised down to $1.5 Million.  At the projects end, Designed Marketing had a loss of $1,583, and had remitted nothing to the state.  (the firm blamed the commonwealth and Thelma Gray, for frustrating every plan they developed.)  

The project, which was expected to pay for itself or even make a few dollars profit, ended up costing the state 2.3 Million Dollars.

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BLANMED FOR HORSE VIRUS
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The Penn State wagon train show had a 30th anniversary reunion in 2006. Original cast members returned to Penn State to rehearse and perform the show again, then took it on the road to Fort Roberdeau, a Revolutionary War-era fort near Altoona. At sunset, the field looked like Valley Forge.

The wagons traveled by river, too. On sections where the trail crossed major waterways, the wagons were loaded onto barges and floated — down the Missouri, Mississippi, and Ohio rivers. In Wheeling, West Virginia, a barge carrying the wagon train docked overnight at the wharf. The local paper covered it like a UFO sighting.

Bill Howard, who led the Western States’ segment into Valley Forge, was one of only a few Americans certified to handle a six-horse Conestoga team. His own team of dappled gray Percheron draft horses pulled a Conestoga that had been displayed around the tri-state area before the pilgrimage began.

Corporate sponsors included Gulf Oil, Holiday Inns, and the Aero-Mayflower Transit Company. The official wagons were crafted in Arkansas. Insurance and small salaries of $100/month for wagonmasters were part of the budget. But most participants were volunteers who paid their own way.

"A few quit their jobs, pulled their kids from school, and rode the whole way. Marilyn “Micki” Robison of Naches, Washington, served as National Trails Coordinator, crisscrossing the country to keep all seven trains on schedule. She hired and fired staff, solved problems, and rode alongside whenever she could. By the end, she was the only person who had seen every train."