Anyone who has ever worked a job requiring physical labor for long hours must know the importance of eating right. Food need not be served in attractive forms, but it must be ample, well cooked, nourishing, and it must "stick to your ribs." Such was the challenge the cook on cattle drives faced three times a day. If he was a good cook, he was a real treasure, and commanded wages higher than the riders.

The chuck wagon was covered with canvas to protect the supplies and to keep the men’s bedrolls dry. At the rear of the wagon, held by rods through it, was the chuck box. It was usually four feet high and one side of it was hinged and folded down to form a cook table. The inside of the chuck box was divided into compartments. The large lower ones held the sourdough jar or keg, large pans, tin plates, cups, knives, forks, and spoons. Sugar, syrup, lard, rice beans, and dried fruit were kept in the middle. The smallest compartments at the top contained seasonings and baking needs. The major part of the flour, beans, bacon, beef, dried fruit, sugar, and coffee was stashed in the wagon bed. Underneath the wagon bed were racks to carry the Dutch ovens, pots, spade, ax and other large, heavy utensils.

Sourdough biscuits were a staple of the cowhand’s diet throughout the American frontier. Sourdough was made by filling a stone jar or a small keg half full of lukewarm water, adding a handful of sugar, and stirring in flour. The jar then was set in a warm place, and within 48 hours, it became sour and increased to twice the original size.

Upon arrival at their destination, the cook gathered wood and built a fire in a short, shallow trench, and lowered the chuck box to form his cook table. First he worked flour and soda into the sourdough, pinched off egg-sized pieces, rolled them into balls, greased them and placed them in the Dutch oven near the fire so they could rise while the rest of the meal was being prepared. Then he filled the well-blackened coffee pot with water, ground a generous supply of coffee in the mill attached to the side of the chuck box, dumped it into the pot, and placed the pot on coals shoveled from the fire.

Meat preparation came next. Usually a heifer was slaughtered every few days, and the quarters of beef, after hanging overnight to cool, were packed in the wagon. When needed, half a quarter was unpacked and cut into thick slices. A generous handful of suet was placed in several large skillets on the coals, and pounded steaks were dredged in salt and flour and fried when ready. Tin lids were placed on the skillets to keep out the dust and to keep in the steam and flavor.

Next the Dutch oven of biscuits was placed on a few coals and, using a camp hook, the hot lid that had been heating over the fire was placed on top of it. Hot coals were then placed on top of the lid to brown the biscuits. The secret was not too many coals beneath, and plenty above, so that each biscuit had a deep brown upper and lower crust surrounding a soft, spongy interior.

Good timing was required to have everything ready at the right time when the men arrived with the herd. If the cowhands were slow for some reason, the cook removed the bread and meat off the coals and placed them near the fire to keep warm.

When the men arrived and settled in to eat, all the steaks were placed in one skillet and all the fat in all the other skillets was combined and made into thick gravy called sop. A pail full of dried fruit stewed the night before was served with syrup.

Another way beef was prepared was in the form of a pot roast, made by dredging a large piece of beef in flour and placing in the Dutch oven. When it was nearly done, the cook added potatoes and onions when they were available.

Hot cakes, or flapjacks, were also staples in the cow camp. Adding soda, a little salt, and enough water to the sourdough made it into a batter. Letting the batter stand for half an hour in a warm place caused bubbles to form, which made the cakes lighter. Syrup was made from the dried fruit.

The time when the boss felt the herd should stop to rest and graze gave the cook time to experiment and prepare something unique he thought the men would like. One of these was beef and dumplings. When a young animal was slaughtered, the cook usually made the hands’ favorite dish, son-of-a-gun stew. Each cook had his own recipe.

If the cattle drivers had any spare time, they sometimes went hunting or fishing, which gave them a string of perch or catfish, or quail, prairie chickens, and ducks for variety. The cook rarely felt he had to provide dessert, but he did occasionally make bread pudding by soaking cold biscuits in warm water and adding sugar and raisins. Fried pies or turnovers were fairly easy to make, and delicious too.

Cowboy dishes varied with the region, the season, and the source of supplies. Ingenious cooks devised new recipes from what was available. Despite the fact that cooks were not dietitians, no hardier, healthier, more robust men ever lived than the men that were fed out of his chuck wagon.

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Top - Chuck box found on clemmwheelandwagon.com
Bottom - Chuck wagon found on clemmwheelandwagon.com