Chuck Wagon (1884)

Mon Aug 7 14:30:26 UTC 2006

Barry cites for this term his entry in
_http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/chuck_wagon/_

I hadn't realized that chuck wagons were associated with NYC.

But then - - -
My wife was born and raised in Elizabeth, Pa., near Pittsburgh.  Her
Great-Aunt, also born and raised in Elizabeth, once sent her a
postcard she had found showing three cowpokes cooking beans and bacon
over a campfire.  The postcard's title was "Twilight on the Trail in
Elizabeth, Pa.".

So one never knows, do one?

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.

----- Original Message -----
From: Bapopik at AOL.COM
Date: Thursday, August 3, 2006 7:55 pm
Subject: Chuck Wagon (1884)

> "Chuck wagon" should be in Texas Siftings and the Dallas Morning
> News. What
> does American Historical Newspapers have on this?
> ...
> ...
>
_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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>

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