Chuck Wagon (1884)

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"Chuck wagon" should be in Texas Siftings and the Dallas Morning News. What  
does American Historical Newspapers have on this?
...
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_http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/chuck_wagon/_ 
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/chuck_wagon/) 
...
 
 
The “chuck wagon” has been recognized as an official state vehicle of Texas. 
 It allegedly all began in 1866. 



(Oxford English Dictionary)  
chuck wag(g)on 
N. Amer. 
A wagon carrying provisions and  equipped with cooking facilities, used esp. 
in western N. America, on ranches,  during harvest, in lumber camps, etc.; 
also, a roadside ‘eatery’. chuck-wagon  race, in rodeos and stampedes, a race of 
horse-drawn chuck wagons.  

1890 L. D’OYLE Notches 26 The sun blistered the paint upon the  ‘mess-box’ 
behind the ‘chuck-waggon’. 1910 MULFORD Hopalong Cassidy iii.  25 A group of 
blanket-swathed figures lay about a fire near the chuck wagon.  1923 H. STEELE 
Spirit-of-Iron 252 In a little gully beside the  chuck-wagon, the cook was 
boiling coffee. 1928 Daily Express 12 Nov. 6  [In Calgary] cowboys..invited us to 
have dinner with them earlier at the  chuck-wagon. 1950 H. SUTTON Footloose 
in Canada 211 In a chuck wagon race  the entrants are required at a given 
signal to break an entire camp..load all  the paraphernalia in a wagon, do a series 
of figure eights around barrels, and  then ride once around the track. 1952 
H. INNES Campbell’s Kingdom I. ii.  33 A small covered wagon stood in the yard…
 ‘That’s the old man’s chuck wagon…  Always enters a team for the chuck 
wagon races.’ 


_http://www.staroftexas.org/schedule_of_events/chuck_wagon.asp_ 
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php?URL=http://www.staroftexas.org/schedule_of_events/chuck
_wagon.asp)   
Old West 
Chuck Wagon 
Cookoff 
STAR OF TEXAS  FAIR & RODEO 
Austin, Texas 

Legend has it that in 1866 a Texas  cattleman named Charles Goodnight loaded 
a hinged box with compartments and  shelves onto the back of an Army wagon, 
filled it with supplies, and used it as  a kitchen during a cattle drive. As 
food was known as chuck, his invention  became the chuck wagon, and the totable 
kitchen is still so popular in Texas,  the legislature deemed it the state’s 
official vehicle just last year.  
Written by: Eborah Geigis Berry, Country Living: April 2006 
The Annual  Star of Texas Chuck Wagon Cook-off featured trail wagons similar 
to those used  50 or more years ago. Wagons are customary old-style trail 
wagons, authentically  restored or replicated. The wagons are drivable, with at 
least two sideboards,  painted or unpainted; and may include Dutch oven boot or 
possum belly.   
_http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlo/79R/billtext/SC00008F.HTM_ 
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php?URL=http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlo/79R/billtext/SC00
008F.HTM)   
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION  
WHEREAS, The Legislature of the State of Texas is pleased to 
recognize  the importance of the chuck wagon to the state’s history 
and culture and to  designate it as the official vehicle of Texas; 
and 

WHEREAS, The  chuck wagon has been important in Texas since 
the great cattle drives that  lasted from the end of the Civil War to 
the mid-1880s; during that period,  approximately 10 million head of 
cattle were driven along trails all the way  from Texas to railheads 
in Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, and Canada; and  

WHEREAS, During the early days of the trail drives, a cowboy 
relied  for survival strictly on what he could carry with him, 
experiencing hunger  and discomfort; and 

WHEREAS, In 1866, Texas rancher and Civil War  veteran Charles 
Goodnight first used an army surplus Studebaker wagon on the  trail 
drive; the Studebaker proved itself sturdy enough to withstand  
trail drives that could last up to five months; and 

WHEREAS,  Goodnight then designed and added a chuck box and a 
boot to the rear of his  wagon; this innovation became the prototype 
for all future chuck wagons; the  wagon’s box was used to carry the 
cowboys’ bedrolls, guns, personal effects,  bulk food supplies, feed 
for the horses, and other supplies; and  

WHEREAS, Today The American Chuck Wagon Association has 123  
registered chuck wagons and over 200 members; the association’s 
members  are committed to restoring and maintaining chuck wagons 
with their own  resources, which has ensured that the chuck wagon 
will continue to function  as a viable tool on many of our Texas 
ranches and add to our state’s  historical and cultural charm; now, 
therefore, be it 

RESOLVED, That  the 79th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby acknowledge the important  value of preserving the chuck 
wagon and designate the chuck wagon as the  official vehicle of 
Texas; and, be it further 

RESOLVED, That a copy  of this resolution be prepared as an 
expression of esteem from the Texas  Legislature. 


14 March 1884, Galveston (TX) Daily News, pg. 1:  
Chuck wagons shall be furnished and run by the following named persons:...  


14 July 1884, Galveston (TX) Daily News, pg. 3: 
An Indian  squaw, prospecting on the chuck wagon during a storm, was struck 
by lightning  and killed. 


17 May 1889, Marion (Ohio) Star, pg. 3: 
The  most important article in a cowboy’s outfit is the “chuck wagon.” This 
is the  wagon over which the cook presides, and it is a common prairie 
schooner, covered  with canvas to keep out the rain. Next to the “chuck” wagon is 
the pony, which  usually costs about $25, and is a vicious little animal liable 
to “buck” every  time it is mounted. 

 

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