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Cowboy Codes of the West & Chuck Wagon Etiquette – Then & Now
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May 9, 2025
We're talking the history of the cattle drives in the 1800s and wisdom and etiquette from the cowboy codes of the West. Used in this video: Kent's cookbooks: https://www.kentrollins.com/shop Rode wireless Go 2 mic: https://amzn.to/3seAQ7X Cowboy Hat: Chazhatz.com For more suggested products seen in our videos click here: https://www.amazon.com/shop/cowboykentrollins ====================== Check out our BEST SELLING cookbooks. Get your copy here: https://www.kentrollins.com/shop Also available at bookstores nationwide, and Amazon www.amazon.com/shop/cowboykentrollins --------------------------------- Connect with us! https://facebook.com/cowboykentrollins https://instagram.com/cowboykentrollins https://twitter.com/Kent_Rollins
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0:08
you ready to talk wagon
0:23
history you know if y'all are new to our
0:26
channel we cook off an old chuck wagon
0:28
cook for cowboys been on numerous
0:30
ranches we have but where did this all
0:32
start you know back many many years ago
0:35
when there was so many cattle leaving
0:36
from South San Anton going up the Chisum
0:39
Trail to hit a rail head in Abalene
0:41
Kansas there had to be somebody to feed
0:44
him first meals on wheels there it was
0:47
right there had an old fella up there in
0:48
that buggy seat just bouncing along he
0:51
was the cook he was the doctor he was
0:53
the dentist cookiey's job was to make
0:56
sure them boys was fed you know this old
0:58
chuck wagon was more than just a kitchen
1:00
sitting out there in the prairie this
1:02
was home away from home for tired weary
1:05
and hungry cowboys but also it was a
1:07
beacon of hope when they'd see that
1:09
lantern lit out there they knew where
1:10
they could come if they'd been out there
1:12
night hurting an old cold night
1:14
shivering gather up there around old
1:16
cookies fire get a hot cup of that
1:18
coffee to warm it up you know we're also
1:20
going to talk about wagon etiquette then
1:22
and now cowboy code and the code of the
1:26
west and how we can apply that to our
1:28
lives today but before we start I think
1:30
y'all need a little tour around camp i
1:39
do now when he had that wagon sheet drug
1:42
out there staked down that is the term
1:44
we call the fly of the wagon now then
1:47
next thing he would let that chuckbox
1:50
lid down now when that lid's down there
1:52
and he's got a leg under it that is his
1:54
kitchen table that is his kitchen
1:56
counter you see there is a water barrel
1:58
now they could be anywhere from 15 to 30
2:00
gallons and anytime they crossed a
2:02
stream of water if it wasn't full old
2:04
Cookie had fill it up with an old bucket
2:06
that he had come around to the front
2:08
there was a box there that had all the
2:09
stakes that he needed to set that wagon
2:12
fly up no matter where he was now under
2:14
a lot of them wagons also there was a
2:16
thing called a possum belly a possum
2:18
belly was a piece of old cow hide or
2:20
elkhide or deer hide that was stretched
2:22
the bottom of that wagon and he could
2:24
throw firewood in there but if there
2:25
wasn't firewood what were we going to
2:27
burn buffalo chips now when we're
2:30
talking about buffalo chips we ain't
2:31
talking about tater chips folks we're
2:32
talking about the deposit they made on
2:34
the prairie so many years ago and when
2:36
them things are dry they will light easy
2:39
and they will last a long time but they
2:41
will put out a lot of heat
2:47
so up at the front of that wagon is the
2:50
wagon tongue now when old Cookie would
2:52
drive them mules into camping park you
2:54
know what he was doing he's using a
2:56
compass the North Star he knew where it
2:58
was going to be out there and he would
3:00
line that wagon tongue up with the North
3:02
Star so in the morning if it was foggy
3:04
if it was dusty if he couldn't see way
3:07
before light he knew he was headed north
3:09
that was the right direction for him to
3:11
go now laying up there by that tongue
3:13
were two galvanized pans wreck pans now
3:16
these wreck pans one has soapy water one
3:18
has clean water this is where all the
3:20
dishes went that were going to be
3:22
accumulated during the day that they
3:23
were
3:30
eaten now let me just give y'all a
3:33
general idea of the cooking supplies
3:35
that old cookie might have had now there
3:38
was always a crosscut saw there was
3:40
always a shovel there was always an axe
3:42
and there was might have even been a
3:43
dooker dog i don't know for sure but you
3:45
like this part don't you and a pickaxe
3:47
was there because old cookie was digging
3:49
a hole in the ground to get this fire
3:51
started every day but he'd have a pot
3:53
rack is what I called it it'd be a rack
3:55
that went over that fire but two things
3:56
that come up a rod that went across he
3:59
could hang coffee pot on there he could
4:01
hang a Dutch oven on there now we get
4:02
back around here to that chuck box now
4:04
Cookie sure he's going to have every
4:06
utensil in there that he needed spoons
4:08
knives forks something to serve them
4:09
with coffee cups he was going to have
4:11
bean pots but he was going to have
4:13
skillets cast iron skillets Dutch ovens
4:16
that he could cook with you know we've
4:18
talked about this before in other videos
4:21
but really cooking then it wasn't a
4:23
glamorous lifestyle cookie getting up a
4:25
lot of times 2:00 in the morning feeding
4:28
them boys hitching up the team taking
4:30
off ain't no lunchtime two meals a day
4:34
for breakfast beans biscuits and coffee
4:38
at supper time we're going to have some
4:39
more of them beans we're always going to
4:41
have coffee and we're always going to
4:43
have biscuits but maybe Cookie got lucky
4:45
maybe there was something run across the
4:47
trail that he could kill maybe it was a
4:49
jack rabbit maybe it was a rattlesnake
4:51
that come by he could make some chili
4:52
out of but folks they was just two meals
4:54
a day and they was long long days every
4:57
day
5:02
so let's talk about the rules and the
5:04
code of ethics that went around this
5:06
camp during them cattle drives back
5:08
during the mid 1800s the ones that the
5:10
cowboys knew and respected and old
5:12
Cookie was going to
5:20
enforce there was sacred ground there
5:22
that was the chuck wagon that was the
5:24
area in which all the food was prepared
5:27
and between that fire that old cookie
5:29
had and that chuck box lid that was the
5:32
most sacred ground ever nobody walked
5:34
through that spot now when you go to
5:36
talking about a cook and the cook was
5:37
really to me the most important man on
5:39
the drive because when you had a good
5:41
cook cowboys are going to work better he
5:43
had a lot of authority to me really he
5:45
was second in charge there was the man
5:47
that was putting the drive together that
5:49
owned the cattle but the cook was second
5:51
in line and he took care of everybody
5:53
there being an old wagon cook back
5:56
during them days had more than just one
5:58
job title not only was he cooking but he
6:01
was a navigator he had to always be
6:03
ahead of the crew that way he could have
6:05
camp set up when them guys got 14 or 15
6:08
miles down the trail to knew where they
6:09
was going to come to eat but also he was
6:11
a doctor he was a dentist he was a
6:14
philosopher sometimes I think he was
6:16
even a nursemaid there was black cooks
6:18
Hispanic cooks they might even been some
6:20
Irish crooks because there was a lot of
6:22
folks that come from overseas during
6:24
that time and they were looking for a
6:26
job anything that they could do to make
6:28
a living but let's get back to them
6:29
rules when Cookie had that camp set up
6:31
and the fly was stretched out there
6:33
nobody come under that fly unless they
6:35
asked permission now y'all know that's
6:38
sacred ground over there but when he had
6:40
that fly set up too as well it's sacred
6:43
ground all the way around and no cowboy
6:46
in his right mind would ever come up to
6:48
that fly and just walk under it i don't
6:50
care which side of the stove or the fire
6:52
it was on a real hand knows better he's
6:54
going to have to have permission
6:56
something you never did was what we call
6:58
dust the cook and that was when you ride
7:01
a horse or you drove cattle too close to
7:03
the wagon and the wind was carrying that
7:06
dust plum over him you would not eat
7:08
supper that night probably nor breakfast
7:11
this was not a drive up window and
7:12
you're not going to come up there and
7:13
you're going to say "Hey Cookie I'd like
7:15
this and this and this." Never ask what
7:18
the cook was cooking or what he was
7:19
going to have tomorrow that was the
7:21
cook's job and he knew what he was going
7:23
to have now say you were on one of them
7:25
drives and you're going across ranch
7:26
country that somebody else had owned and
7:28
these folks come out to greet you and
7:30
they had a woman with them now when
7:32
there was a woman in camp and Cookie
7:34
seen her there he would take a white
7:35
dish towel tie it up in the corner of
7:38
the fly that way when these cowboys come
7:40
riding in they could see that white rag
7:43
flopping they knew what there was a lady
7:45
present in camp there would be no foul
7:48
language you see that chuck box lid is
7:50
folded down at night when old cookie was
7:52
through he'd fold it up latch it but
7:56
Cookie knew if somebody had pried stuff
7:58
in there i heard a tale one time where
7:59
this old cookie would always take a
8:01
turkey feather and put it in there when
8:04
that chuck box slammed and if that
8:06
feather was on the outside on the ground
8:08
he knew a thief had been there in the
8:10
night what was they after some of them
8:12
vanilla they had drank it i mean these
8:14
folks might have been needing to drink
8:15
pretty bad but also one thing that would
8:17
really be gone sugar and back then they
8:20
had a lot of Arbuckles coffee and in
8:22
that coffee what was there a peppermint
8:24
stick cookie hardly ever got to finish
8:27
one them by itself cuz some cowboy steal
8:29
it well that was back then during the
8:31
1880s and all the cattle drives and I'm
8:34
so thankful that them old cookies come
8:35
before me and laid them pass out but
8:37
also give me them rules to go by we
8:40
still cook on a lot of working ranches
8:42
we still feed cowboys but one thing
8:44
about it we still have the rules that
8:46
applied back then we're a whole lot more
8:49
lenient than old cookie was back during
8:50
the day and we're also feeding three
8:52
meals a day but we have added some more
8:55
rules to our camp cooking
9:04
but today around camp there's two things
9:06
that I stress the first time I set up
9:08
the wagon and I tell them we will not
9:10
have foul language in camp and we will
9:12
not talk
9:13
politics but also things that I think
9:16
cowboys know that I expect out of them
9:18
and that is manners and the respect they
9:21
have for not only me but each other now
9:24
typically when we go in on a ranch a lot
9:26
of times we would start on a Sunday
9:28
afternoon now it was always tradition
9:30
that the cowboys helped you set up your
9:32
camp first and while were you getting
9:34
everything laid out after that they were
9:36
setting up their houses their teepeees
9:38
you know back during cookies old time
9:40
them cowboys wasn't sleeping in canvas
9:41
teppes like they do today on the back of
9:44
that saddle was tied up in a tarp a
9:46
blanket on top of that was usually a
9:48
slicker which is a raincoat and them
9:50
boys was sleeping right out there in the
9:52
elements when them cowboys is setting up
9:54
tepee they're not setting them right
9:56
around camp they know that that is one
9:58
of the rules that I'm going to enforce
10:00
and they're going to get far enough away
10:01
from camp that the noise that I'm making
10:03
two hours before they get up don't
10:05
disturb them after each meal them
10:07
cowboys know you just don't leave that
10:08
plate sitting there on the table or
10:10
sitting on the ground you take it over
10:12
there if it's got anything left in it
10:14
you go out there out of camp scrape that
10:16
out then you put it in the soapy water
10:18
at the wreck pan you know me and Shan
10:20
have washed a lot of dishes in camp but
10:23
if you had a really good crew and most
10:25
of the time we did them boys would pitch
10:27
in at supper time and they'd wash them
10:28
for you but them cowboys know when they
10:30
come under that fly and we're fixing to
10:32
get ready to eat everybody pulls that
10:34
hat off their head and we're going to
10:35
bless the food before we ever partake in
10:46
it now there is a term and it's called
10:50
shapping if you ride too close to cap
10:52
and you dust the cook a shaping is
10:54
probably going to happen to you but it's
10:55
not coming from me it's coming from them
10:57
old hands that knew that law and knew
10:59
the rule but a shapen could also be done
11:02
as a prank you never walked into camp
11:05
and said "Hey today's my birthday." They
11:08
going to drag that fell out of that
11:09
teepee stretch him out take him leather
11:12
leggings and whoop his butt but one of
11:14
the best pranks I ever seen is one that
11:17
I pulled myself you know there was this
11:19
fellow that come up to camp and he was a
11:21
friend of mine and every day he would
11:23
leave his towel or maybe his socks
11:26
hanging on the wagon and I'd tell him
11:28
"I'm not your mama take his stuff home
11:30
with you when you go." And he'd come
11:32
over by the water burl get him some
11:34
toothpaste and brush his teeth every day
11:37
and they just set it right there on top
11:39
of the water burl he did this for three
11:41
days in a row and I told him every
11:42
morning "Hey I don't want to see that
11:44
there no more." He rode off that day and
11:47
it was pretty warm that day so I'm
11:48
thinking you know I got a little time
11:49
before I'm going to have to make cake so
11:51
I went over and I took that toothpaste
11:54
squirted me some in a half cup went out
11:56
there to the freshest green cow pie that
11:59
I could find brought it back over and
12:02
went to putting it in there like I was
12:03
loading a muzzle loader i just kept
12:05
poking that green stuff in there put a
12:07
little white right on top out of there
12:08
that I had from that toothpaste that I
12:10
took out first next morning he come into
12:12
camp he said "I'm sorry I forgot to get
12:15
my toothbrush and stuff this will be the
12:17
last day I promise got that toothbrush
12:20
wet it's dark he can't see the colors
12:23
later on there brushed them teeth he
12:26
never said a word and that toothbrush in
12:28
there was never there again but you know
12:31
what is really the most important thing
12:33
are not just the rules around camp but
12:36
the rule and the code of conduct that
12:38
you go through with the rest of your
12:39
life that is what we call really the
12:42
code of the west something that the
12:43
Cowboys always portrayed and we're still
12:45
going to keep it
12:52
moving i think the first one would be
12:55
riding for the brand now when I think of
12:57
that first off that's riding for the
12:59
brand of Jesus Christ our savior and
13:01
it's branded in my heart but really when
13:03
you look at it too and you're working
13:04
for somebody and you're branding cattle
13:08
you have to put that brand on their
13:09
right you want to make a mark you want
13:11
to make sure that it is correct because
13:13
you're representing that person you're
13:15
riding for that brand so whatever you're
13:17
riding for hey do it with pride do it
13:20
with honor you know and if y'all are
13:21
interested I wrote a story about riding
13:24
for the brand it's in one of our
13:26
cookbooks you be sure and check it
13:28
out you know my mother always taught me
13:30
and it's something that's been a code
13:32
around our house and every camp that I
13:33
ever know from a cowboy too and that was
13:36
your word you have your name and your
13:38
word and my mother would always tell me
13:41
"Be sure and not tarnish either one."
13:43
When you talk about deals that were made
13:45
and people look at them today and deals
13:47
that you have going on in life you got
13:49
to sign that piece of paper it's a
13:50
contract 33 years you're going to pay
13:52
this off the only contract we ever had
13:55
back then was a handshake you knew when
13:58
you got a hold of it it was full of
14:00
pride and it was full of honesty and
14:03
speaking of handshakes you always looked
14:05
a man in the eye when you shook his hand
14:07
you know you can always tell a lot about
14:09
a man by the way he treats his horse the
14:12
way he treats his wife his kids this man
14:14
knows a lot about respect and when
14:17
you're going through life and you come
14:18
up to a gate if it's open leave it open
14:21
but if it's shut you shut it leave it as
14:23
you found it you know I was taught a
14:25
long time ago you'd never judge a man by
14:27
the hat he wears on his head nor the
14:30
horse he rides but a thing that will get
14:32
you as far in life as respect and
14:34
manners and the way to treat people is
14:36
faith you got to have faith faith is
14:39
going to bring about hope hope is going
14:41
to bring about prosperity so always
14:43
remember I'm going to have faith i'm
14:45
going to use this code of conduct and
14:47
ethics that these cowboys and these old
14:49
cooks passed on down to me and I'm going
14:51
to make sure that I treat everyone in
14:53
life a whole lot better than I have been
14:56
but also remember this if times ever get
14:59
dark or times get hard reach back and
15:02
grab it faith the faith we have with God
15:05
he's hearing our prayers every day so
15:07
never give up on that faith cuz that
15:09
brings about the hope and the love and
15:11
the happiness that you're going to get
15:13
from having that faith in
15:18
him you know we talk about the things
15:20
that took place back in Cookie time but
15:22
also in our time but you can apply them
15:24
both to your life don't be afraid of the
15:26
challenges that come before you don't be
15:28
afraid to take a step that might not be
15:30
on the path get out there and make a
15:32
life for yourself and enjoy every day
15:34
like it's the last one you got but it is
15:36
with pride honor and most respect that I
15:39
tip my hat to all the servicemen and
15:41
women and all the veterans that have
15:43
kept that old flag over camp we commend
15:45
you all we do and if you really enjoyed
15:48
this go back and look we have other
15:50
videos about the chuck wagon and the
15:51
life down the trail what it took to feed
15:53
them cowboys we'll put that playlist at
15:56
the end of this video but did we miss
15:58
one would you like to add maybe a code
16:00
of conduct or something that you could
16:02
pass on to us leave us a comment down
16:04
there below god bless you each and
16:06
everyone and we'll see you down the
16:08
trail
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