Buckboards
BUCKBOARDS
BUCKBOARDS. In the 1500s, the coach—a carriage with an enclosed cab—was developed for the well off. The early-sixteenth-century buggy, a "poor man's coach," had a roof but no sides. By the mid-1800s, Americans had developed the versatile buckboard. It had four wheels and two axles, mounted by a board of flexible wood. Its front seat could hold two people and it was drawn by one or two horses. On western farms, the almost ubiquitous buckboard was used to haul supplies. Some had sides; they rarely had roofs. Most were single-seaters for two, but some were two-seaters for four people. In 1879, American
George B. Seldon developed a buckboard with a motor. The basic design later evolved into the pickup truck.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Carriage." In The Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000.
Smith, Philip Hillyer. Wheels Within Wheels: A Short History of American Motor Car Manufacturing. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1968.
Kirk H.Beetz
See alsoCarriage Making ; Transportation and Travel .