work gloves

 

Hightower Chuck Wagon

Lubbock, Texas

7.22.2016

Chuck wagons usually carry grub.  This one at the National Cowboy Symposium had a box of explosives and a jug of hooch.  Love the hat.

National Cowboy Symposium
Lubbock, Texas
9.11.2015

chuck wagon biscuits

 

Hightower Chuck Wagon

Ranch Day at Ranching Heritage Center

Lubbock, Texas

4.11.2015

original cowboy coffee

 

Arbuckles Coffee is known as the Original Cowboy Coffee.  Sometime after the Civil War, the Arbuckle Brothers came up with the idea of selling roasted coffee.  Previously coffee beans had to roasted in a skillet before brewing into coffee.  With a consistently fine quality, Arbuckle Coffee, the first sold in one-pound bag, soon became the favorite of the Old West.  Most cowboys didn't know anything else.  Arbuckles even sells Chuck Wagon Coffee especially roasted for the Lubbock's National Cowboy Symposium.  And the quilt on the Hightower chuck wagon?  A period piece with the "Double T" pattern which supposedly originated with the women of the Temperance movement who made a difference by standing with determination for what they believed was right. The Double T stood as the symbol of their resolve. Although, temperance not withstanding, the Double T also appropriately stands for Texas Tech!

 

Hightower Chuck Wagon

Lubbock, Texas

7.22.2014

winding the clock

The Big Ben alarm clock was essential gear on the chuck wagon.  "Cookie" would set the clock for 3 a.m. so he could get up and start the sourdough biscuits.  The Chuck Wagon was an invention of the Post-Civil War era developed by Charles Goodnight, a Texas cattleman. Frustrated by the inefficiency of hauling supplies for trail crews, he obtained a surplus Army Wagon and transformed it into a mobile kitchen. The Chuck wagon came to epitomize the hub of life for the western cowboy. Because of its usefulness and practical design, the chuck wagon has changed very little from its original design in 1866 and remained an integral part of American ranching for nearly a century. Still a useful part of the ranching industry today, the chuck wagon is a sentimental symbol of the western legacy of a bygone era.  Today the mission of the American Chuck Wagon Association is to  preserve the heritage of the chuck wagon and its use in the short, but significant, era of the cattle drives. Members participate in Cook off competitions, demonstrations, and catering.  Chuck wagons are outfitted with period pieces like this Big Ben clock which was first produced in 1909.  The Lubbock Westerners Corral thoroughly enjoyed last evening's program on "The History of the Chuck Wagon."

 

Lubbock, Texas

7.22.2014

chuck wagon chicken fried steak

 

The Lubbock Corral of Westerners International was hosted tonight by Farris and Monica Hightower.  The purpose of Westerners is to stimulate interest and research in the history of the North American West.  Our interest and appetites were both whetted as the Hightowers presented a program on the history of chuckwagons -- including a chuckwagon meal of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits and peach cobbler, all cooked outdoors.  The Hightowers compete in cook-offs with their authentic chuck wagon, which belonged to Monica's grandfather.

 



how the west was won

 

Whiskey--apropos of a Friday evening. Ever wonder how those cowboys endured?  It's not just for snakebite!  The secret ingredient of chuckwagon cook-offs.

 

National Cowboy Symposium

Lubbock, Texas

9.9.2011