Chuckwagon: Chuckwagon Terms

Chuckwagon Terms:

Wreck pan – The pan in which cowboys placed their dirty dishes following a meal.

Squirrel can – The large can in which cowboys scraped the food scraps before placing them in the wreck pan.

Cook’s last job of the evening – Point the tongue of the chuckwagon toward the north so the herd could “follow the tongue” the next day.

Gut robber, greasy belly, biscuit shooter – Cowboys names for both the ranch house and trail drive cook.

Coffee recipe – A hand full of coffee for every cup of water.

Possum belly – A rawhide apron attached to the underside of the chuckwagon in which wood and buffalo chips are stored for the dinner fire.

Why cooks threw dirty dishwater under chuckwagon – This helped protect the cook’s domain by discouraging cowboys from taking a nap in the shade under the chuckwagon.

*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click  HERE.