Transportation Living on the Plains meant living with great transportation challenges, particularly for a nomadic people following the buffalo. During the cold winter months, when the buffalo left the plains to seek shelter in the valleys, transportation was particularly difficult. Sleds pulled by dogs or wolves were the most effective means of transportation in deep snow. Snowshoes, made of wooden frames and sinew netting, were also effective. Skates made of buffalo bones were also used but mostly for leisure. When the snow was gone, following the buffalo over the great, open spaces required quick and light travel. Water transportation as practiced by the Natives of Eastern Canada was less practical on the Prairies. For centuries, personal belongings were transported by travois. A travois was a structure made of two long, poles that crossed at the top with netting or a wooden frame added. A dog, or wolf, pulled the travois until the arrival of the horse. The horse could carry a larger travois allowing the Plains Indians to build larger tipis and to carry more belongings more rapidly. Traders later introduced the Red River cart which made transportation of heavy loads easier. The Metis used the carts to carry hides and goods across the Prairies. By the late 1800s another method of transportation arrived on the Prairies; the railway led to radical changes in the lifestyle of the Plains Indians.