OklahomaHorses Magazine September 2021

12 OklahomaHorses • September/October 2021 C harles Goodnight invented the chuck wagon for use on the initial cattle drives out of Texas. The wagons were as important to a cattle drive’s success as a good pair of cowboy boots were to the cowboy. With a Dutch oven and some sourdough, a cook on a chuck wagon could feed an entire trail crew, according to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum’s website. “Chuck wagons remained popular well into the 20th century, and some ranches still use them today,” explains Jason Harris, director of the Chisholm Trail Museum at Kingfisher. “The cook would often rise well before sunrise and start his fire for break- fast. Breakfast often included biscuits, salt pork, and coffee. Once ‘Come and Get it!’ Life on the trail wasn’t easy in the late 1800s, but without the chuck wagon, it would have been impossible.