Windwagon Smith is an American

tall tale A tall tale is a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true and factual. Some tall tales are exaggerations of actual events, for example fish stories ("the fish that got away") such as, "That fish was so big, why I tell ya', it n ...

about a sea captain who traveled in a Conestoga wagon, fitted with a sail, across the

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

prairie. The tale was the subject of a 1961 animated

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit ...

film, ''

The Saga of Windwagon Smith This is a list of animated short films produced by Walt Disney and Walt Disney Animation Studios from 1921 to the present. This includes films produced at the Laugh-O-Gram Studio which Disney founded in 1921 as well as the animation studio now o ...

''.

The legend

The tale is based on a story, with some plausible elements, of an incident in Westport,

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, in 1853, during America's

westward migration Westward may refer to: * The cardinal direction West * Westward, Cumbria, a settlement in north-west England * ''Westward'' (series), a series of games video created by Sandlot Games * Westward Islet of Ducie Island * Westward Television, a forme ...

. In some versions Windwagon Smith comes sweeping into town with his wind-powered Conestoga wagon complete and working. Other tellings have him inventing the wagon in town, building the craft, and gathering eager passengers, only to have his craft crash or his passengers abandon ship from

sea sickness Motion sickness occurs due to a difference between actual and expected motion. Symptoms commonly include nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, dizziness, tiredness, loss of appetite, and increased salivation. Complications may rarely include d ...

. By 1850 Westport and nearby Kansas City had displaced

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, Missouri, as the main outfitting and starting point for traders, trappers, and emigrants heading west on the Santa Fe and

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what is now the state of Kans ...

Historical accounts

Contemporary news accounts have at least three real-life inventors of Land sailing wind-powered wagons in that era. According to the December 1846 issue of the ''Independence Expositor'' newspaper, the first was a man named William Thomas. In 1853 Thomas showed a prototype with oversized wheels to the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest perma ...

and formed an Overland Navigation Company. According to ''

Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper ''Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper'', later renamed ''Leslie's Weekly'', was an American illustrated literary and news magazine founded in 1855 and published until 1922. It was one of several magazines started by publisher and illustrator Frank ...

'', another account involves Oskaloosa sawmill owner Samuel Peppard, who is said to have invented a sailing wagon in 1860 with at least partial success, according to the magazine's description of its arrival in

Fort Kearny Fort Kearny was a historic outpost of the United States Army founded in 1848 in the western U.S. during the middle and late 19th century. The fort was named after Col. and later General Stephen Watts Kearny. The outpost was located along the Or ...

, Nebraska—250 miles from his starting point.

Retellings

Wilbur Lang Schramm's short story "Windwagon Smith" won the 1942 O. Henry Award for fiction. It was later included in ''Windwagon Smith and Other Yarns'', which was published in 1947. Directed by Charles Nichols and with narration by

Rex Allen Rex Elvie Allen (December 31, 1920 – December 17, 1999), known as "the Arizona Cowboy", was an American film and television actor, singer and songwriter; he was also the narrator of many Disney nature and Western productions. For his contribut ...

, the

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

cartoon ''The Saga of Windwagon Smith'' was released on March 16, 1961. Since 1972 the annual River Festival in Wichita, Kansas, has chosen an "Admiral Windwagon Smith" from its volunteers to serve as a "costumed, sword-carrying mascot" of the event.

References

{{American tall tales American folklore Wagons Tall tales