It begins with Louis and Henry Espenschied of 148 Broadway, St Louis, Missouri. They were German natives who like so many others came to America seeking to build their dreams. As they had settle in St Louis, the two open a blacksmith shop in 1843. It was not long after that they expanded the business to include building wagons and by the 1850s were making large numbers for pioneers heading west. Henry passed away in the early 1850s, but Louis continued, renaming the firm the L. Espenschied Wagon Co.

Mormon records indicated during the the great migration of 1853, the settlers purchased fourteen wagons for $58 apiece from Louis Espenschied and began their trek from St Louis westward to the great Salt Lake. During the civil war Espenschied received a large contract for wagons and wheels for the Union Army profitting greatly.

While Espenschied was building wagons, a young lady named Hanna F. Arensmann married a young carriagemaker named John Henry Luedinghaus on May 9, 1858. The St Louis newlyweds were given a nice token of money from Arensmanns parent to help form the Arensmann-Luedinghaus Wagon Manufacturing Company.

By the 1870s both firms were specializing in heavy commercial and farm wagons and they decided to join forces in 1880 as the Luedinghaus & Espenschied Wagon Co.

Louis Espenschied died in 1887, but his sons and Luedinghaus kept the business going, which survived well into the 1930s making heavy wagons, trailers, commercial bodies and motor trucks (Luedinghaus Truck of the 1920s)