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History of the Chuckwagon
  
History of the Chuckwagon in Early-Day Texas
The first Chuck Wagon was developed by cowboys working for Colonel Charles Goodnight, co-founder of the Goodnight-Loving cattle trail.
Texas Cattle Drives Began in 1867 and ended Some 20 Years Later
Joseph G. McCoy, a young cattle shipper from Springfield, Illinois conceived the idea of a shipping point along the railroad that was steadily moving west. He chose the village of Abilene, Kansas for his enterprise. In the space of a few months he talked the Kansas Pacific Railroad into furnishing stock cars. He built shipping pens and a hotel in Abilene, and then he sent word to Texas that he had the facilities to ship all the cattle they could bring to him.
The year 1867 saw the beginning of the great trail drives up the Chisholm trail and other cattle trails as the cattle shipping towns moved westward with the railroad. In time expansion of the railroad system made the long cattle drives unnecessary, but before that day came over 9,000,000 left Texas for the north, with an approximate value of $108,000,000. Not all the cattle were sold for beef. Thousands of longhorns were used to stock new ranches throughout the Great Plains states and territories. They spread from the Dakotas to Utah, and from Texas to Canada.
Cowboy Shortage Led to Development of the Chuckwagon
By the 1870's, dozens of cattle drives were moving millions of cattle from Texas to markets in the midwest.
As a result, there was a shortage of cowboys and there was tremendous competition in recruiting good cowboys. To gain the recruiting advantage, Goodnight decided to improve on the quality of meals served along the trail.
What he needed was a good cook and a mobile kitchen.
To that end, Colonel Charles Goodnight purchased a sturdy war-surplus munitions wagon strong enough toi withstand a journey of more than a thosand miles along difficult trails and all kinds of weather.
Goodnight outfitted the wagon with a kitchen on the back of the military wagon
and with the help of his cook, developed an efficient layout that was soon adopted by all trail drovers across the west and named the chuckwagon after founder Chuck Goodnight.
The chuckwagon was used to transport food and supplies for trail crews and cattle drives and served as the cowboy cook's home on long trail drives. The chuckwagon also carried provisions for the trail hands, especially water, plus bedrolls, shovels, axes, rope, and even a few personal items.
Typical Crew for a Trail Drive
A 12-man crew could manage a herd of 2,000 to 3,000 head. The trail boss was the ultimate authority on the trail, like the captain of a ship, and was paid $100 to $125 a month. Of the rest of the crew, the cook was the most important, earning about $60 per month.
Legendary ranchman and trail driver Charles Goodnight invented the chuckwagon in 1866 for use by his crews.
Operation of the Chuckwagon
The chuckwagon, sometimes drawn by oxen, but usually by mules, carried not only food, utensils and a water barrel, but also tools and the crew's bed rolls. A fold-out counter, supported by one or two hinged legs, was used for food preparation. The wagon contained several drawers and shelves, with a ìbootî or storage compartment underneath, all covered by a canvas top. The cook served beef and bison steaks, and stew (made from calf parts), "chuckwagon chicken" (bacon), "Pecos strawberries" (beans), "sourdough bullets" (biscuits) and cowboy coffee.
After the beef was salted, the cook slipped them into a hot Dutch oven. He then pinched biscuits off one end of the newly made loaf of dough, rounded each one between his palms, dipped it in melted tallow and placed it into a bread oven. When the bottom was filled, he set the lid in place and shoveled hot coals around and over it.
When the grub was ready to serve the cousie would give a shout to summon the cowhands to breakfast.
The men headed for the wash basin and scrubbed their hands and faces and passed around the all too wet towel to dry off. A common comb may have been used to arrange messy hair. (Sounds a little too cozy).
Each man helped himself to a plate, cup and tools. The men got in line, grabbed their grub, plunked down somewhere and ate their meal.
As each man finished, he flipped the dregs from his coffee onto the ground and dropped his dirty dishes into the "wrecking pan" - a big dishpan set aside fir this purpose. To neglect placing dishes in this pan was the ultimate no-no
As soon as the men saddled up and left the cook washed and dried the dishes. The bed rolls were tossed into the chuck wagon or a bed wagon, (hoodlum wagon). The Dutch ovens were wrapped in burlap bags and stowed away with the pot racks in the boot. An assortment of hooks and hangers on the side of the wagon accommodated and other things that needed to be stowed away. The team was hitched to the wagon and the move to the next camp would be under way. Along the way the cousie would collect any combustible material he could find and store it in the "possum belly" under the wagon.
When the new bed ground was reached the cook would dig his fire trench, set up his pot rack, get the coffee going and get started on dinner. A good cousie changed the monotonous diet by preparing soup and stews which were eaten in relish despite some rather vulgar names for the concoctions. A really imaginative cook occasionally stirred up pastries with dried fruit or put up some beans to soak, though beans on the high plains were not to common as it took too long for them to cook.
Evening was the time of day to kill a beef. The carcass was halved with the cooks axe and each half was hung from an erected wagon tongue, where the meat chilled during the night, and was ready to be eaten in the morning. During the heat of the day the meat was wrapped in tarpaulins. At night the beef was hung out again to chill.
After washing the dishes, filling the water barrel and dragging wood the cousie could finally relax and enjoy what was left of the evening.
Also See Early Day Texas Cattle Drives
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