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How to Build a Travois

Build a travois (trav-wah) to lighten your load like Native Americans did for thousands of years. They used dogs and later horses to pull them. It can still be a useful way to haul gear in remote areas. You can pull it yourself or train a dog to pull it. The traditional materials are wooden poles, rawhide strips and hides or blankets. Here's how to do it.

Things You'll Need

Sharp utility knife
Rawhide strip, 1/2 inch wide and 18 feet long
Bucket of water
4 wooden poles, 1 1/2 inch diameter and 8 to 10 feet long
Saw
Animal hide or blanket (optional)

Instructions

- 1
  Cut the rawhide strip into 2-foot long sections and put them into the bucket of water to soak. You'll be using these wet strips to bind the joints of your travois together. As they dry, they will tighten up and make your joints stronger.
- 2
  Lay two of the poles on the ground so they form an "X" with ends crossed together about 2 feet from the top pole ends and the other ends about 5 feet apart. The finished travois will resemble a modified A frame with three cross pieces and one diagonal support piece forming the platform for carrying the load.
- 3
  Wrap one of the wet rawhide strips tightly several times around the intersection of the two crossed ends and tie them together securely.
- 4
  Saw one of the remaining wooden poles into 3 sections. Make one section 5 feet long, one section 3 feet long and one section 2 feet long.
- 5
  Lay the three cut sections of pole across the frame. Starting from the bottom, lay the 5-foot section across at about a foot up from the open end, the 3-foot and 2-foot sections should be about two feet apart. Adjust the placement of each cross piece so it extends approximately 3 inches past each side of the frame.
- 6
  Tie the cross pieces to the frame by wrapping a wet rawhide strip tightly in a figure eight pattern around the frame and cross piece at each joint and tie it securely.
- 7
  Turn the frame over and lay the last wooden pole diagonally across the frame. One end crosses the frame just below the joint of the lowest cross piece. The other end crosses the frame about half way between the highest cross piece and the top cross joint of the frame. Tie each of these joints with the remaining wet rawhide strips in the figure 8 pattern to complete the travois.

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