Illustration of travois
plural travois also travoises
trə-ˈvȯiz 
ˈtra-ˌvȯiz
: a simple vehicle used by Plains Indians consisting of two trailing poles serving as shafts and bearing a platform or net for the load
Examples of travois in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This vehicle, called a travois, was used by Indigenous people from the Americas to carry goods throughout history, but this finding implies that the technology was developed thousands of years earlier than once believed.
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Tessa Solomon For Artnews, Robb Report, 5 Mar. 2025
Read More | 22,000-year-old tracks — possibly from ‘oldest known’ vehicle — found in national park
In White Sands National Park, New Mexico, researchers discovered fossilized tracks believed to be from a travois, a cart-like construction used 22,000 years ago.
—Stories By Real-Time News Team, With Ai Summarization, Miami Herald, 28 Feb. 2025
The footprints are of varying size along the tracks, researchers said, meaning an adult and children were moving together while the adult pulled the travois.
—Irene Wright, Sacramento Bee, 27 Feb. 2025
The use of the travois, especially at Alkali Flat, could reflect the advent of transportation technology long before wheels existed.
—Jack Knudson, Discover Magazine, 25 Feb. 2025
As soon as the Brulé glimpsed Harney’s troops the women began to strike tepees, loading lodge poles, skins and other belongings onto travois, sledges drawn by horses and dogs.
—Tim Madigan, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Oct. 2024
On the Great Plains of North America, Native American tribes employed dogs for centuries, outfitting them with a load-bearing frame called a travois that the animals pulled behind them.
—Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 18 June 2019
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Tessa Solomon For Artnews, Robb Report, 5 Mar. 2025
Read More | 22,000-year-old tracks — possibly from ‘oldest known’ vehicle — found in national park
In White Sands National Park, New Mexico, researchers discovered fossilized tracks believed to be from a travois, a cart-like construction used 22,000 years ago.
—Stories By Real-Time News Team, With Ai Summarization, Miami Herald, 28 Feb. 2025
The footprints are of varying size along the tracks, researchers said, meaning an adult and children were moving together while the adult pulled the travois.
—Irene Wright, Sacramento Bee, 27 Feb. 2025
The use of the travois, especially at Alkali Flat, could reflect the advent of transportation technology long before wheels existed.
—Jack Knudson, Discover Magazine, 25 Feb. 2025
As soon as the Brulé glimpsed Harney’s troops the women began to strike tepees, loading lodge poles, skins and other belongings onto travois, sledges drawn by horses and dogs.
—Tim Madigan, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Oct. 2024
On the Great Plains of North America, Native American tribes employed dogs for centuries, outfitting them with a load-bearing frame called a travois that the animals pulled behind them.
—Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 18 June 2019
Cite this Entry
“Travois.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/travois. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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