Buckaroo John's Blog — chuck wagon

The chuck wagon was invented in 1866, when Texas rancher Charles Goodnight converted an old army-surplus Studebaker wagon into a mobile kitchen to feed cowboys while driving cattle from Texas to New Mexico.  The wagon itself carried everything you could possibly need. A Dutch oven was important for cooking, along with food such as beans, salted meat, sourdough biscuits, dry fruit, a water barrel, guns, ammo, farrier supplies, ropes, lanterns, firewood, kerosene, slickers, bandages, coffee, tobacco and alcohol. If a cowboy or calf was injured, they would ride in the back of the chuck wagon. The second highest ranking cowboy...