# American Indian drum signals **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 2, 2020, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-indian-drum-signals/845762 "2020-01-02T02:50:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-indian-drum-signals/845762/1 "2020-01-02T02:50:47Z")
I was watching an episode of Wagon Trail, which takes great liberties with Western history; horses instead of oxen pulling wagons, crossing deserts instead of following rivers, and probably other things that I am not aware. Indians are sending specific messages about the wagon train by drums, as detailed as if they were using Morse code. Naming a person who is with the wagon train who saved an Indian village from the US Army, and is to be protected by various tribes. Surely this is inaccurate. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-indian-drum-signals/845762/2 "2020-01-02T03:04:23Z")
[Apparently something like that happened in parts of Africa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drums_in_communication), but no mention of NAs. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-indian-drum-signals/845762/3 "2020-01-02T03:08:42Z")
Drums were primarily ceremonial, although the ceremonies might be preparation for an attack. I’m no expert but I think the use of drum languages by Native Americans would be more noted. Also, it’s Wagon Trail (Train?), those shows would rehash the same fictional concepts used in decades of western movies. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-indian-drum-signals/845762/4 "2020-01-02T05:36:33Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I was watching an episode of Wagon Trail, which takes great liberties with Western history; horses instead of oxen pulling wagons, crossing deserts instead of following rivers, and probably other things that I am not aware. That would be news to the pioneers. Some of them did indeed use horses, for better speed. Oxen have more pulling power, but horses generally make better time. > [@](#): > > Teams of 10 to 12 horses or mules or six yoked oxen typically were used to pull one of these wagons, with mules and oxen generally preferred. > **[Prairie schooner | Wagon History & Design](https://www.britannica.com/technology/prairie-schooner)** > > Prairie schooner, 19th-century covered wagon popularly used by emigrants traveling to the American West. In particular, it was the vehicle of choice on the Oregon Trail. The name prairie schooner was derived from the wagon’s white canvas cover, or... > [@](#): > > Oxen were the most common draft animal for pulling covered wagons, although mules and horses were also used. > **[Covered wagon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covered_wagon)** > > A covered wagon, also called a prairie wagon, whitetop, or prairie schooner, is a horse-drawn or ox-drawn wagon with a canvas top used for transportation or hauling. The covered wagon has become a cultural icon of the American West. > The Conestoga wagon was a heavy American wagon of English and German type from the late 18th century and into the 19th century. It was used for freight and drawn by teams of horses or oxen depending on load. The covered canvas top was supported on eight to twelve a... > [@](#): > > Only in the later years of the trail, from 1850 onward, did horse teams begin to be fairly common. By this time the road was better established, and swifter-moving transport had its advantages: grain was sometimes carried along so that the animals could have proper feed, at least during the first few weeks. To give them their due, the horses seem to have stood up well enough then, when the journey was not so arduous. > **[The Prairie Schooner Got Them There](https://www.americanheritage.com/prairie-schooner-got-them-there)** > > Fortress, ambulance, amphibious home on wheels—the humble covered wagon stands as the symbol of the winning of the West ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-indian-drum-signals/845762/5 "2020-01-02T11:50:20Z")
Thanks, Flyer. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-indian-drum-signals/845762/6 "2020-01-02T13:54:04Z")
The OP asks about drums, but another movie trope is smoke signals. It seems highly unlikely to me that a smoke message would be any more informative than the signal fires used all over the world to warn of invaders, but with no information about who, or how many. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-indian-drum-signals/845762/7 "2020-01-02T15:00:58Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > That would be news to the pioneers. Some of them did indeed use horses, for better speed. Oxen have more pulling power, but horses generally make better time. I think it was _Centennial_ where I read of just that debate for the trek west. The guide the protagonists had hired was adamant oxen be used and they watched enviously as horse-drawn wagons passed them and went out of sight. Then about six weeks later, they came upon people stranded with dead horses begging for help. “They made their choice; fuck 'em,” was the guide’s attitude.