History of the Chuck Wagon

[donna]

Chuckwagon
Larry D. Moore [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Charles Goodnight is credited with inventing the chuck wagon. In 1866, he and his partner, Oliver Loving, were going to take a herd of 2000 cattle from Fort Belknap, Texas to Denver, Colorado. Goodnight bought a Civil War U.S. government wagon and had it rebuilt according to his specifications to become what is known as the chuck wagon.

The main feature of the wagon was "the sloping box on the rear with hinged lid that lowered to become a cook's table. The box was fitted to the width of the wagon and contained shelves and drawers for holding food and utensils. The term "Chuck" was food, so the box was called the chuck box and the wagon became the chuck wagon".

The cook became the most important member of a drive. They became known as "the king of the range". The cook had to get up several hours before the cowhands. He had to be at the next camp first and have a hot meal ready. He had to battle "the elements, wind, rain, sand, mud, insects and even rattlesnakes," when preparing meals.

The cook also served as the barber, doctor, banker. and sometimes the referee when fights began among the cowhands. A good cook was hard to find and thus they earned double or more of the regular cowboys. There were several names for the cooks, including "bean wrangler, dough puncher, pot wrassler, bean master, biscuit shooter, dough belly, and just plain cookie".

Many delicious recipes came from these cooks. I hope to post some for all to try. Some chuck wagon meals included sourdough biscuits, coffee cake and coffee, beans, fried steak and stews.

From: http://www.phudpucker.com/bluebonn/chuck wagon.htm

 

[diane]

Thanks for posting up the famous chuckwagon! That's a staple of Western lore. There is a large connection between the post-Civil War and California and Oregon - cattle drives and refugees! Southern California, which had an agricultural climate not too different from the South (except for humidity!) and the demand for beef from the Gold Country miners and lumbermen. Fresno and Stockton were as big a place for cattle drives and drovers as was Abilene or Dodge City! Many ex-Confederates came to SoCal - Gen Tyree Bell, Forrest's right hand man at Brice's Crossroads, set up farming in the San Joaquin Valley near Fresno - he is buried in Sanger, CA. Sanger is a valley town that has as rich a cattleman's history as Sedalia! (Did Gil Favor ever get to Sedalia? Did Wishbone ever bathe?)

 

[donna]

The Chuck Wagon always carried certain things which included a coffee mill and water barrels which were attached to the outside of the wagon. They had waterproof tarps that kept off the wind and rain. Larger cattle drives often had a second wagon to carry bedrolls, tents, spare saddles, and other supplies.

 

[Blessmag]

Wagon Train and Gunsmoke was wrong? They always went with the herd! LOL

And all this time I thought it was named after my son!

 

[damYankee]

When a cowboy was hired to drive cattle he was not guaranteed grub from the Chuck Wagon, some cattle out fits would take the price of grub out of their pay, most punchers would bring 5lbs. of beans and some coffee to "throw in" . That is where the term "throw in" came from. A cowboy would "throw in" with a out fit. Many a east coast tinhorn went west and spent all his money on saddles, spurs, boots and Colts, got hired on, then ended up selling that stuff off to pay for his "grub steak", we still have the Colt .41 my grand dad bought that way.

 

[Nathanb1]

http://www.cowboysymposium.org/chuckwagon.html

Some of these are ranches that still run a fall and spring chuckwagon.

As my dad used to point out (almost daily)....there was tremendous etiquette at work around the chuckwagon. You DID NOT ride your horse up in a cloud of dust--unless you wanted to be cussed out or shot by a cranky cook.

I highly suggest Trail Drivers of Texas to all of you as basic reading. I mean, it was good enough for Larry McMurtry to plagiari.....uh......be inspired by, in writing Lonesome Dove. Goodnight and Loving, BTW, if there is anyone on the planet who didn't know, were the inspiration for Call and McCrae. Andy Adams' Log of a Cowboy and Teddy Blue Abbott's memoirs are other must-reads for the era. Charlie Siringo and J. Frank Dobie also wrote a lot of fun stuff about chuckwagons and cooks.

Trail drives are a biggie for 7th grade Texas History. I can't believe they started out driving east through the Sabine bottoms and Piney Woods.....how on earth do you get LONGHORNS through there? Jeez.

 

[Nathanb1]

Oh, and the wagon that carried the bedrolls and tarps was the "Hooligan Wagon."

And yes, women did go up the trail, and they did serve as cooks occasionally.

 

[Nathanb1]

Sanger is a valley town that has as rich a cattleman's history as Sedalia! (Did Gil Favor ever get to Sedalia? Did Wishbone ever bathe?)

Imagine my youthful excitement when I got to go to Sedalia in 1961 to see my dad compete in the National Appaloosa Horse Club championships. I KNEW Rowdy was going to be there. Knew it. Boy, was I disappointed. But the trophy for Grand Champion Cutting Horse we brought home was taller than I was

 

[diane]

They still do! I've gone done some chuckwagon style cooking for the Forest Service. Now, that's a whole different kettle of fish than when I do it for the boys handling my cattle.

 

[diane]

Imagine my youthful excitement when I got to go to Sedalia in 1961 to see my dad compete in the National Appaloosa Horse Club championships. I KNEW Rowdy was going to be there. Knew it. Boy, was I disappointed. But the trophy for Grand Champion Cutting Horse we brought home was taller than I was

Get Rowdy! I don't know who was handsomer - him or Bret Maverick!

 

[Nathanb1]

I forgot to mention....those opening scenes in Rawhide (and some of the other location shots) were actually filmed on the famous Bell Ranch in New Mexico, and around old Ft. Bascom (Red River War 1874-5). The Bells ran a wagon for years...at least through its sale in 2010.

 

[diane]

Nathan, is the King Ranch still big down there? Haven't heard for a long time.

 

[Nathanb1]

It's still there! I'm not sure what the status is on all the divisions, but at least one of my former students has done some wildlife courses with A&M Kingsville there. I had the privilege of going there quite a few years ago during a 4-H Agents state convention, touring the big house and buildings, the absolutely wonderful museum in a former ice house in Kingsville, and eating fajitas prepared by Kinenos (forgive the lack of a tilde....I have no idea how to get it in the right spot!) over a campfire at the old Santa Gertrudis division shack. That was pretty special.

Even cooler was living in Dickens County and being right in the middle of the Spade, 6666, and Pitchfork. Wow. For a little ranch girl from Central Texas, that was pretty darned amazing. My favorite memory (besides those fantastic grulla horses off the Pitchforks) is driving to Guthrie early one winter morning and seeing the wrangler bring in the horses against the sunrise, with steam and frost...and you get the idea. Of course, I didn't have a camera

 

[diane]

Oh, thanks! They have a CW connection, as you know - smuggling! My aunt captured a great pic - wish I could put it up but my computer is from the Ice Age before the last! She caught them wrangling in a morning mist - epic! She's won a bunch of photography trophies with that one.

 

[donna]

Bumping this thread s the Chuck wagon was mentioned in Quartermaster thread.

 

[Anna Elizabeth Henry]

What a fun thread! I haven't thought about a chuck wagon since my reading and viewing of Lonesome Dove. I LOVED the books for their gritty realism.

Here's great website I found about the chuck wagon - http://www.americanchuckwagon.org/chuck-wagon-history.html

 

[bankerpapaw]

Oh, and the wagon that carried the bedrolls and tarps was the "Hooligan Wagon."

And yes, women did go up the trail, and they did serve as cooks occasionally.

What else could the women have - - - - - - Oh, never mind.

 

[Nathanb1]

What else could the women have - - - - - - Oh, never mind.

Actually, they were generally wives of the owner who was driving. Some rode in buggies, some rode horseback (especially those who'd participated in gathering the herds), and some either in the chuck wagon or hooligan wagon. Again, Trail Drivers of Texas is an encyclopedic book, with first person accounts in most cases.

 

[Schwallanscher]

Actually, they were generally wives of the owner who was driving. Some rode in buggies, some rode horseback (especially those who'd participated in gathering the herds), and some either in the chuck wagon or hooligan wagon. Again, Trail Drivers of Texas is an encyclopedic book, with first person accounts in most cases.

if i were a cowhand i'd prefer a houlihan wagon

 

[diane]

They DID get to Sedalia! (And Wishbone took at least one bath...)