The Studebaker—
My Portable Cowboy Caretaker

Long before they made automobiles, Studebaker built wagons. From buggies to freight wagons, the company played an important role in molding our history.

The Studebaker brothers built their first wagon in 1852, and by the late 1880s, they had grown into the largest horse-drawn vehicle builder in the world. Their success was largely due to the military contracts they received during the Civil and Spanish-American wars. During the latter, the company was contracted to deliver five hundred wagons within thirty-six hours, which they accomplished.

Horsepower takes on true meaning in a Studebaker. The teams I have driven have pulled the wagon over some rough country: uphill, downhill, across rivers, and down dirt roads that haven’t seen a wagon wheel in a hundred years. If we have to move camp more than once or twice, a team of horses or mules takes the wagon around the ranch. Otherwise, we haul the wagon in on a trailer and set up camp.

We pull the wagon up to a designated spot, unhitch the team, and set up camp. We try to carry enough groceries in to last about a week at a time. There’s no Frigi­daire, so we pack in a lot of canned goods and nonperishables. A good ice chest is our refrigerator, and someone makes the trip from the ranch headquarters to camp to replenish the meat and ice every few days. Each camp has a woodpile for cooking. On the larger ranches, one cowboy is in charge of a particular camp and is responsible for stocking the wood in that area. I’ve burned everything from a cedar post to a cow chip — anything to get the food hot and the cowboys fed.

The farthest I’ve driven the wagon with a team in one day is seventeen miles. This may not seem like much, but in a wagon going about three to five miles an hour, it is a long haul. Wagons are stout, but they sure weren’t made with shock absorbers or fancy upholstered seats. I feel every hump and holler in the road. But for me, this is still the best means of transportation. There’s nothing more relaxing than driving a wagon with a good team pulling it. A slower pace of life is often the fastest way to cure your problems.