Presentation Transcript

1. Chuck Wagons

   By: Dalton Underwood
2. History of the Chuck Wagon While some form of mobile kitchens had existed for generations, the invention of the chuckwagon is attributed to Charles Goodnight, a Texas rancher who introduced the concept in 1866. Goodnight modified the Studebaker wagon, a durable army-surplus wagon, to suit the needs of cowboys driving cattle from Texas to sell in New Mexico. He added a "chuck box" to the back of the wagon with drawers and shelves for storage space and a hinged lid to provide a flat cooking surface. A water barrel was also attached to the wagon and canvas was hung underneath to carry firewood. A wagon box was used to store cooking supplies and cowboys' personal items. Chuckwagon food typically included easy-to-preserve items like beans and salted meats, coffee, and sourdough biscuits. Food would also be gathered en route. On cattle drives, it was common for the "cookie" who ran the wagon to be second in authority only to the "trail boss". The cookie would often act as cook, barber, dentist, and banker. The term "chuck wagon" comes from "chuck", a slang term for food, and not from the nickname for "Charles".
3. What was in a Chuck Wagon? Food carried in the chuck wagon was generally easy-to-preserve items such as beans, salted meats, coffee, onions, potatoes, lard, and flour to make biscuits. Beef was something that was never in short supply and a good chuck wagon cook knew how to prepare it in many different ways. Fried steak was the most common and also the general favorite; but, pot roasts, short ribs, and stew were often served. A general perception of the chuck wagon was that the cowboyslived on beans; and though the cook sometimes did make them, it was not that common, as they took too long to cook. The cook was not limited to only those items stored in the chuck wagon, but, food was also gathered en route.
4. Layout of the Chuck Wagon
5. Interesting Facts Chuckwagon racing is an event at some rodeos mainly in Western Canada such as the Calgary Stampede.]Chuckwagon races were held from 1952 until 1998 at Cheyenne Frontier Days,one of America's biggest rodeos. There are a few professional chuckwagon racing circuits that operate in North America with the premiere circuit being run by the World Professional Chuckwagon Association (WPCA) based in Calgary, Alberta, the Western Chuckwagon Association out of Grande Prairie, AB, and Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association out of Saskatchewan. A yearly chuckwagon race event is still held in Clinton, Arkansas Chuck wagons are raced around a figure eight barrel obstacle, and the stove and tent poles within the wagon must not be lost. The racing team also has from two to four "outriders" who load the stove and tent poles at the start and must finish the race with the chuckwagon. Many such races are held each year in Western Canadian cities and towns http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1RFVCMQfks
6. Credits http://youtube.com http://wikipedia.org http://www.americanchuckwagon.org/ Made By: Dalton Underwood Social Studies, 1st Period-Mrs.Ruff