The Anatomy of the Chuck Wagon

The mother ship for trail drives was a broad-beamed, sturdily built vehicle that carried virtually everything 10 men might need ona prairie voyae lasting as long as five months. Credit for the ultimate design of the wagon belongs to cattle baron Charles Goodnight, who in 1866 rebuilt for his trail crew a surplus Army wagon, picked primarily for its extra-durable iron axles. To the basic wagon bed, where bulk goods such as foodstuffs and bedrolls were to be stored, Goodnight added three already customary traildrive appendages: on one side a water barrel big enough to hold two days' supply of water; on the other a heavy tool box; and on top bentwood bows to accomodate a canvas covering for protection against sun and rain.

But the innovation that made the Goodnight wagon unique at the time, and a useful prototype for all self-respecting wagons that followed, was the design and installation of a chuck box. Perched at the rear of the wagon, facing aft, it had a hinged lid that let down onto a swinging leg to forma worktable. Like a Victorian desk, the box was honeycombed with drawers and cubbyholes. Here - and in the boot beneath - the cook stored his utensils and whatever food he might need during the day. A typical arrangement has a most convenient of the niches being occupied by the coffeepot and the whiskey bottle, the latter being in the cook's sole charge as medicine (to which cooks were known to be especially partial). Above them is the so-called "possible drawer," a combination first-aid kit and catchall, containing everything from calomel to sewing needles. The design of Goodnight's wagon proved so practical that cattle outfits all over the West imitated it, using redesigned farm wagons and Army vehicles. Inevitably the idea went commercial and became a standard item produced by major wagon builders, including the famous Studebaker Company, which sold chuck wagons for $75 to $100.