On May 3, 1884 One of the local Riverside papers mentioned that Clarence Stewart of West Riverside had had an accident while trying to cross the Santa Ana River. He was in a light wagon and had three ladies and a ten-month old child with him. One of the singletrees on the wagon broke causing the wagon to tip over. All of the occupants of the wagon were thrown into the water which, the newspaper said, was hub deep and very swift. Thankfully everyone, including the baby, only received a soaking. All got out of the river safely.
Just so you know, because I sure didn't, a singletree is a piece of wood that attaches to the front of a wagon. It prevents balance problems by insuring that the cart is pulled from the
center and insures a smooth pulling action by absorbing the left-right-left-right pulling movement of the animal pulling the wagon. If you want to see what they look like just google "singletree."
A singletree connects one horse to a carriage or wagon. If there are two horses, a doubletree is used. I never heard of a tripletree. The same idea applies to a vehicle pulled by oxen or elephants etc.
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