Hoofs and Wheels: Wagons - Virtual Exhibit

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The chuck wagon—the cowboy’s kitchen Postcard Colourpicture, Boston, Massachusetts, ca. 1940 2003.254.05	When cattle drives from Texas to the railheads in Kansas began after the Civil War, ranchers needed a way to feed a dozen or more cowboys on the trail for months at a time. Tradition has it that Texas rancher Charles Goodnight invented the chuck wagon and the chuck box to solve this problem. Note how the bed of the wagon provides ample storage for bulk foodstuffs, while the chuck box has numerous drawers and cubbyholes for cooking tools and other smaller items. The hinged board that secures the drawers during movement and serves as a worktable when in camp was another Goodnight innovation.

The classic Conestoga wagon with its bent wood bows, cloth cover, and downward curved wagon box had its origin in Southeastern Pennsylvania during the Colonial era as a farm and freight wagon. Later, on the Oregon Trail, California Trail, and other Western trails, Conestoga wagons and other covered wagons were used to transport families and household goods to new homes all over the West.	Wagon […] “prairie schooner” type Stereograph Keystone View Company, Meadville, Pennsylvania, ca. 1920 2003.170

Indian supply train, on the Ute Pass Stereograph Charles Weitfle, Central City, Colorado, ca. 1880 2003.092	Ute Pass, which runs between Manitou Springs and Florissant, Colorado near Pikes Peak, began as a bison trail connecting the prairie with the mountain meadows. Ute Indians used the trail as they followed and hunted the bison. By 1859, the trail became an established wagon route through the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Because the trail was so narrow, by the 1870s teamsters devised a system whereby supply trains went up the pass in the morning and down in the afternoon; two trains could not pass each other safely. Later, the Colorado Midland Railroad was built upon the trail and today U. S. Highway 24 follows the same route. This image shows teams of 12 oxen with each team pulling two to three freight wagons up the pass.

Four elk hunters and their guide pose in front of two wagons filled with elk heads and hides. The front wagon appears to be a Texas wagon with top bows, a kind of freight wagon. The second wagon seems to be a one-horse farm wagon that has been jerry-built by the removal of the front wheels and shafts and the addition of two heavy poles or “reaches” to connect the trailing wagon to the lead wagon. The wheels on the trailing wagon also feature iron hubs and riveted reinforcement at the outer ends of the spokes. This is clearly a rig designed to carry heavy loads over rough terrain.	Untitled [Elk hunters pose in front of their kills] Mounted gelatin silver print Winchester & Goddard, location unknown, ca. 1900 2002.138.3

Freighting on Benton’s Ranch, McCoy, Colo., Aug. 1914 Mounted gelatin silver print Photographer unknown, McCoy, CO, 1914 2001.087.17	This flatbed, freighting wagon is carrying a full load of sawn lumber. The seat has been removed and the driver is actually sitting on the lumber. The horses are wearing team bridles with blinders; the wagon features heavy wooden wheels for carrying large loads. In addition to the leaders, the driver appears to have control of a line attached to a pulley behind the wagon, perhaps to assist in loading the lumber.

Two Lakota Sioux men prepare to head home with agency beef in their wagons. The wagons are one-horse farm wagons, which were light, standard utility vehicles used on many farms and ranches. Models differed as to bed length and wheel diameter, but this standard design was ubiquitous. If you look closely at the bed of the wagon in the foreground, you can see that the wagon is large enough to hold what appears to be a whole side of beef. The photograph was taken with a Folding Pocket Kodak camera, one of the earliest pocket cameras.	Issue Day, Cheyenne River Agency, S. D., Indian taking home his beef, June 1899 Mounted albumen print Arthur M. Tinker, Cheyenne River Agency, SD, 1899 2001.077.40

Mr. & Mrs. Howard Crill and children and the hired men on a ranch owned by Hord at Central City Mounted albumen print Photographer unknown, Merrick County, NE, ca. 1895 2002.164	The Howard Crill family of Merrick County, Nebraska poses in front of their house with their hired hands and two pieces of horse-powered farm equipment, a hay wagon and a farm wagon. The hay wagon has an extension coupler (a pole or “reach” connecting the front and rear wheel assemblies or “gears”) that allows hayracks up to 20 feet long to be hauled with ease. The farm wagon appears to be set up for manual manure spreading, with the leaders set long to allow the wagon to be driven from the back of the box and a box with flared sides, an open back, and an apron projecting to the rear.

Itinerant peddlers were a fixture of American life in the 19th and early 20th century. This peddler, shown here with two prospective customers, has built a custom superstructure onto an existing wagon. The peddler’s wagon features shelves and compartments to organize canned and dry goods and a rail around the top to keep crates from falling off. The worktable in the back, which also secures the wagon’s shelves and drawers, is very reminiscent of Charles Goodnight’s original chuck wagon design. The foldable canvas top over the driver’s seat helps shelter the peddler from the elements.	Untitled [Peddler with horse-drawn wagon] Mounted gelatin silver print Photographer unknown, ca. 1900 2001.063

Bertie, Mr. Cantwell and John [Stillwater Fire Department fire wagon] Gelatin silver print Photographer unknown, Stillwater, OT, ca. 1900 2000.005.9.0296	Many important tasks we normally associate with trucks were once done with horse power, including the commercial goods delivery, household furniture moving, emergency ambulance service, mail delivery, bus service, and fire fighting. Fire fighting wagons came in a wide variety, including wagons with large hand or steam-powered pumps for pumping water or carbonic acid (an early fire retardant chemical), extension ladder wagons, hose wagons of various kinds, and fire-patrol wagons for transporting firemen. This is a small fire-patrol wagon drawn by two horses. It has ladders and places for firemen to sit or stand, but the only fire fighting device in evidence is a small hand fire extinguisher belted to the wagon.

This is a classic example of a sheep wagon, which served as the living quarters of Western sheepherders from the 1880s to the present day. The sheep wagon is basically a modified farm wagon. Wide shelves were extended outward from the tops of the sides to form benches. A bed, table, and stove were also placed inside the wagon. A box for food supplies was attached to the outside of the wagon, but a hole was cut into the side of the wagon to make the food accessible from inside. The top was covered with canvas, although it was frequently lined with blankets, sheet metal, or other materials to stiffen and insulate this home on wheels.	Untitled [Sheep wagon] Gelatin silver print Photographer unknown, ca. 1914 2002.180.21