CHEYENNE "The Daddy of them All"

 

Roger Edison - Reporting for Cowboys and Chuckwagon Cooking

Wyoming is well known for Cowboys and rich with history.  A mere 90 minutes north of Denver, Colorado is Cheyenne, the capital of Wyoming.  It's name brings forth the romantic images of the west; Cowboys, Rodeo, Railroads and majestic plains.  Since 1897, Cheyenne Frontier Days host one of the greatest Rodeo attractions often termed, "The Daddy of the all."   This year, 447 steers walked a three-mile course in unison from Hynds Boulevard into Frontier Park to await the forthcoming events.  Through the years, Cheyenne continues to draw over 200,000 tourist to experience the cowboy life and see the exciting shows.  Their slogan, "Cheyenne - Live the Legend."   

The legend begins long before the cowboys came to the frontier.  The Crow, Shoshone, Cheyenne and Lakota, were but a few of the original inhabitants that Anglo explorers first encountered.  John Colter, a member of the 1804 Lewis and Clark Expedition, was prohaps the first white American to enter the region in 1807. Colter, born in Virginia grew to become an avid hunter and mountain man.   French-Canadian trappers ventured into the Wyoming state in the late 18th century, leaving French toponyms such as Téton and La Ramie, though it would be  Colter that would map the area and report on what today is known as

John Colter, painting by Gerry Metz

Yellowstone National Park.  Colter as a guide for a newly form business, the Missouri Fur Trading Company  ventured on his own with pack and rifle.  It the spring of 1808, he return to Fort Raymond describing the thermal wonders of Yellowstone, though most were skeptical of his story and Yellowstone would be known as "Colter's Hell." Although while often believed Colter's stories to be myth, two expeditions and decades later, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Act of Dedication law that created Yellowstone as a National Park, the first in the nation and the beginnings of what would later become the National Park Service. 

The western frontier was attracting new migration of pioneers.  Earlier on the mountain men who operated fur trade came to the territory. By 1836, settlers and wagon freighters cross the area as an early route of the Oregon Trail.  Mormons began passing through Wyoming on their way to Utah and other pioneers followed seeking new lands, gold, silver and other opportunities. An estimate of 350,000 pioneers crossed the area from 1841 to 1860.  

Clashes between the new pioneers and Native American Indians, the US Government established Forts to protect the emigrants. Fort Laramie originally an outpost to protect fur traders would house 350 soldiers by 1849.  The need for beef to feed the Army and growing populations would motivate early trail drives to the area, though raising cattle locally would become profitable.

Seth Ward, a sutler to Fort Laramie, left cattle out to graze the open range in the winter of 1852-53 along Chugwater Creek north of what is now Cheyenne. He expected to find carcasses in the spring. Yet when he returned he found “the oxen,” as he called them, thriving.  

The region had acquired the name Wyoming by 1865, when Representative J. M. Ashley of Ohio introduced a bill to Congress to provide a "temporary government for the territory of Wyoming". The name Wyoming derives from the Munsee name xwé:wamənk, meaning "at the big river flat", but it was also named after the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania, made famous by the 1809 poem Gertrude of Wyoming by Thomas Campbell.  

 On Susquehanna's side, fair Wyoming! 

Although the wild-flower on thy ruin'd wall, 

And roofless homes, a sad remembrance bring, 

Of what thy gentle people did befall; 

Yet thou wert once the loveliest land of all 

That see the Atlantic wave their morn restore. 

Sweet land! may I thy lost delights recall, 

And paint thy Gertrude in her bowers of yore, 

Whose beauty was the love of Pennsylvania's shore!

After the Union Pacific Railroad had reached the town of Cheyenne in 1867, the region's population began to grow steadily, and the federal government established the Wyoming Territory on July 25, 1868.  

On December 10, 1869, territorial Governor John Allen Campbell extended the right to vote to women, making Wyoming the first territory and then U.S. state to grant suffrage to women. In addition, Wyoming was also a pioneer in welcoming women into politics. Women first served on juries in Wyoming (Laramie in 1870); Wyoming had the first female court bailiff Mary Atkinson, Laramie, in 1870); and the first female justice of the peace in the country Esther Hobart Morris, South Pass City, in 1870). Also, in 1924, Wyoming became the first state to elect a female governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross, who took office in January 1925. In fact, Wyoming and Texas both elected female governors at the same time, but Wyoming's took office sixteen days before Texas's.  Due to its civil-rights history, Wyoming's state nickname is "The Equality State", and the official state motto is "Equal Rights." 

Wyoming was the location of the Johnson County War of 1892, on which the controversial 1980 film Heaven's Gate was based, which erupted between competing groups of cattle ranchers. The passage of the federal Homestead Act led to an influx of small ranchers. A range war broke out when either or both of the groups chose violent conflict over commercial competition in the use of the public land. 

The Daddy of them all - The Cheyenne Frontier Days has received the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Large Outdoor Rodeo of the Year award for the fourteenth time at a National Finals Rodeo award banquet held in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

 The Air Force performs their annual air show where the Thunderbird's share a long history with Cheyenne Frontier Days.  In 1947, while the jet age was still in its infancy, military aviation was hurtled into the future with the creation of the U.S. Air Force as a separate service.  Just six years later, on May 25, 1953, the Air Force’s official air demonstration team, designated the 3600th Air Demonstration Unit, was activated at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. The unit adopted the name “Thunderbirds,” influenced in part by the strong Native American culture and folklore from the southwestern United States where Luke Air Force Base is located.  That same year, they made the first public appearance at the Cheyenne Frontier Days. 

Air Force Thunderbirds

In 1989, our nation lost a great bullrider on July 30 at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. Lane Frost after completing a successful 91-point ride on a Brahma bull named "Taking Care of Business", dismounted and landed in the dirt. The bull turned and hit him in the side with his horn, breaking several of Frost's ribs. Lane initially rose to his feet and yelling at Tuff Hedeman for help. As he was running and signaling for help, Frost fell to the ground causing the broken ribs to puncture his lungs and heart. Lane was rushed to Memorial Hospital where he passed on. 

Free pancake breakfast held Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with nearly 40,000 people taking advantage of this every year, volunteers serve over 100,000 pancakes along with 3,000 pounds of ham that is sponsored by the local Kiwanis chapter. 

The rodeo action is powerful in Cheyenne.  Taylor Price won the Bareback Bronc with a scoring ride of 86 points.  Wade Sundell who had a serious injury to his left foot last year scored a 90 point ride on the third go around winning the Saddle Bronc event.  Will Scaffer would be this year Rookie having two great rides.

Dru Melvin with a 5.9 second score on the first go around of Steer Wrestling along with contestants Bray Armes and Matt Mousseau both had great times in the first go around but could not maintain a winning average in the second and third run finding Pampa, Texas born Matt Reeves winning the event.  

Mike Chase lasso over Bobby Harris and Trevor Brazile winning the Steer Roping event while contestants in the Senior Steer Roping found all but one performance having no time allowing Bobby Harris to easily win having three successful scores.  

Teague, Texas cowboy Scott Kormos entered the final round in eighth place and still did not believe he had any chance of a victory win in the Tie-Down Roping Event, even after his 12.4 seconds run in front of a giant crowd at the Frontier Park Arena. But combined with his other two runs, the veteran tie-down roper had a three head average of 39.5 seconds that held up and took first place by four-tenths of a second.   Jade Corkill from Fallon, Nevada partnered with Clay Tryan from Billings, Montana takes first with Team Roping.  

Christy Loflin

"In the sport of barrel racing we have so many variables that affect the outcome of our success. Sometimes things don't go our way and it's easy to lose sight of our dreams. Being positive and able to take the good with the bad has been the key to my success. I don't have any special talents or great barrel racing skills, I just always kept my dream in my heart and never, never, never gave up," states Christy Loflin who took second place last year at the Cheyenne Frontier Day's Rodeo. Her perseverance paid off winning First this year. 

Former Marine and rodeo performer, Wild Bill Williams who today is a football coach remembers a young skinny lad weighing 140 pounds and standing Five feet eight inches getting ready for high school rodeo. The left handed rider would go on to join the CBR, then entered the PBR earning Seven PBR World Finals Qualifications.  Today, that young cowboy is Cody Whitney from Asher, Oklahoma and an inspiration to the sport of Bull Riding winning the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo with a purse of  $10918.93     

However, the best part of the Cheyenne Frontier Days might just rest with the chuckwagon cooks, who like rodeo contestants, come from all across the nation to compete.  One cook, Randy Brown discovered chuck wagon cooking by just tagging along where he became hooked after his weekend there. Before he left, he made arrangements to buy a wagon and took it back to his home in Pennsylvania. Along with the chuckwagon competitions, many youth show off their cooking skills working off the chuck wagons.  All part of living the legend.  

Read  Cheyenne Frontier Days 2013 Chuck Wagon Cook-Off   story by Cassandra Swanson

Cheyenne Frontier Day's Youth Chuck Wagon Cook-Off

 

Seth Ward, a sutler to Fort Laramie, left cattle out to graze the open range in the winter of 1852-53 along Chugwater Creek north of what is now Cheyenne. He expected to find carcasses in the spring. Yet when he returned he found “the oxen,” as he called them, thriving. - See more at: http://www.wyohistory.org/essays/wyoming-cattle-boom#sthash.4avxJ4M8.dpuf

Cheyenne Frontier Days 2013 Chuck Wagon Cook Off

Story by Cassandra Swanson of Canton, SD

Wisps of steam swirled out the spout of the ever present coffee pot hanging over the coals as the cowboy passed out cups to early morning stragglers to sample the brew.  The sun just crested the trees and the golden glow lit up the dozen chuck wagon camps as the cooking crews drifted about…it was Cook Off Day at Cheyenne Frontier Days…and on this damp, cool morning, the heat was on. Literally.

Within five hours, the cooks would transform a standard issue of groceries into mouthwatering chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, beans, biscuits, and cherry cobbler vying for bragging rights of winning the “grand-daddy of ‘em all” – and wearing that CFD Belt Buckle proudly home to one of the six states represented at the 2013 event.

In its 11^th year, Cheyenne Frontier Days is one of the most coveted chuck wagon competitions to participate in.  Although chuck wagon and Dutch oven cooking have been around for over 100 years, competitions were sporadic, and there was not a home base for those interested in participating.  More than a dozen years ago, a small group of Old West enthusiasts and wagon masters talked about creating a chuck wagon association that would preserve the heritage of the chuck wagon and its use in the short, but significant, era of the cattle drives.  The ACWA (http://americanchuckwagon.org/) was born, and today, there are members in nearly every state, Canada, Germany and Switzerland.  Members participate in cook off competitions, demonstrations, catering, charity events, school visits and many other activities to fulfill that original mission and even surpass the dreams of those organizers.

Debbie Watson gets the credit for bringing a chuck wagon competition to CFD…and Debbie Russi has been assisting her in this monumental task for five years.  They are part of the incredible volunteer base of over 2500 individuals that bring CFD to life, as members of the 500+ strong, very busy, Parade Committee.  A dozen chuck wagons are invited to compete each year, and those wagons have the option of re-upping for the following year – if they choose not to, a waiting list exists of wagon owners who dream of an invitation to Cheyenne!

Cassandra and Steve Swanson (Canton, SD), Jim and Susan Patrick (Watertown, SD) photo credit Deb Russi

After years of creating and running my own chuck wagon events, I was invited to attend CFD and help cook on the South Dakota “DT” chuck wagon.  It was thrilling to meet the 2013 wagons -  included the Pampa, TX “Honey-Do Spoiler” wagon with Kevin Romine, Gerald Rasco, and Royce Henderson keeping the pots hot with the help of three delightful grandsons, Gatlin, Drake and Tate…This congenial crew kept the coffee on and invited us down for an incredible supper after an unexpected July hailstorm had us ALL running for cover!  Next in line was Jack Ramey’s “Crosstimber “ wagon from Mustang, OK.  Jack cooked with Todd and Heath Limke, and the fabulous ‘real’ American Icon of a cowboy, Eulan E. Peters – better known as just “Pete”.  Despite tossing a mean snow-, I mean HAIL-, ball at our camp, Dan MacCaffree and his “Musselshell” wagon cooked up some fine grub as well.  Dan and his wife, Carol, along with Chris and Julie Munson, hauled in from Round Up, Montana – my old stomping grounds!  We have had the privilege of being around Dan and Carol at several events these last few years, and a finer batch of folks has not been created.  Ned and Terry Larson hauled their “Creekhouse” chuck wagon from Stevensville, MT and cooked with Mike & Kathy Warren and Dennis & Julie Moffet…Frank and Georgianna Lipus were our closest neighbors with their “Gold Creek” wagon from Hamilton, MT.  They cooked with the hilarious Mario and Yvonne Torres whose name we could never keep straight.  We had the privilege of cooking on the Number ONE winning wagon at CFD – the Patrick’s “DT” wagon of Watertown, SD.  Jim and Susan compete and show their beautifully restored Peter Schuttler Wagon throughout the year.  Jim claims “DT” stands for Dakota Territory, but Susan insists it stands for Delerium Tremens – which is what all the wagon cooks suffer from during a cook off!  Go figure.  Donnie and Joe Daniels were our other ‘neighbors’ with their “Running D” wagon from Harrison, AR.  Donnie had an adorable short, two-man saw that Mr. Patrick was seriously in love with.  Brenda Thomas cooked at their camp with them.  The “(HO” owned by Cindy and Ray Gullion from Worland, WY was next in line, with Heidi Hernandez and Charlotte Brown assisting, and next to them was the 2012 Champions, the “Wishbone” wagon of Axtell, TX.  My two oldest sons, Clell and Caleb, had the honor of participating in the 2012 Kid’s cook off with this wagon, and Caleb won the meat

Jim Patrick  DT Chuck Wagon

championship, and wears his beautiful buckle constantly.  The Wishbone is owned by Brian and Sue Frankum, and they cook with the Soupbone Cattle Company, Butch and Sue Dohmann, also of TX.  Dr. T.C. Glenn of Arlington, TX owns the “Broken T” chuck wagon, and J. Aubry Lenamon from Victoria slung pots for them.  The “3LazyR” wagon owned by Fred and June Woods of Pine Bluffs, WY cooked with Beth and Kathy and the 2013 CFD Champions were the “Curly Cue” wagon owned by Clint Combs of Las Vegas, NV.  Clint’s sister, Tina Stallard, of Albuquerque, NM and her family cooked on the wagon and cleaned house in the food division.

Cheyenne Frontier Days is a week long chuck wagon cooking experience, with some amazing, historic rodeo fun thrown in for good measure.  It would not be CFD if you did not attend one of the fabulous parades held every other day, or the Pancake Feed offered a couple times a week – where else can you eat pancakes where the batter is mixed in a CEMENT MIXER truck and flipped off the griddle high thru the air by Rodeo Queens from across the country?  I have to thank the delightful gate guards who fitted me with a cowboy hat so that I could go behind the chutes daily to enjoy some close up rodeo action.  I will also hand it to CFD – no other city gets behind an event and supports it as thoroughly as Cheyenne believes in this rodeo week.  Every business and the majority of the community play a part in making this show work – especially since the approximately 60,000 population is inundated with over 500,000 visitors from around the world who trek to this historic town not only to see history, but to be a part of it.  CFD (http://www.cfdrodeo.com/home) should be on your bucket list…it truly is a once in a lifetime experience, but make your reservations early, the hotels book quickly.  While there, be sure to mosey by the chuck wagons and have a cup of cowboy joe…and if you are lucky enough – be there on sampling day – and you will know why chuck wagon cooking is more of a historical passion than a passing hobby.

Can’t leave you without a list of the 2013 winners:

The Youth contest was sponsored by John Brewster .  There were 14 young people competing:

MEAT: 1^st Thomas Watson cooking with Curly Cue, 2^nd Jack Osborn cooking with Honey Do Spoiler, 3^rd Dillon Robertson cooking with Quarter Circle HO

DESSERT: 1^st Troy Larson cooking with 3 Lazy R, 2^nd Montana Robertson cooking with Gold Creek, 3^rd Jeff Yepson cooking with DT Chuck Wagon

There were 12 wagon competing at CFD. The wagon judges were John Brewster, Don Shephard and Ken Wallis.

MEAT: 1^st Gold Creek, Frank & Georgianna Lipus, 2^nd Curly Cue, Clint Combes, 3^rd DT, Jim Patrick

BEANS: 1^st Uncle Fred’s Catering, 2^nd Lazy Double L, 3^rd Curly Cue

POTATOES: 1^st Honey Do Spoiler, Keven Romines, 2^nd Curly Cue, 3^rd Crosstimber, Jack Ramey

BREAD: 1^st Musselshell, Dan & Carol McCaffree, 2^nd Curly Cue, 3^rd Quarter Circle HO, Ray & Cindy Gullion

DESSERT: 1^st Creekhouse, Ned & Terri Larson, 2^nd Wishbone/Soupbone, Brian & Susan Frankum & Butch Dohmann, 3^rd Crosstimber

WAGON: 1^st DT, 2^nd Wishbone/Soupbone, 3^rd Curly Cue

OVERALL: Curly Cue

See you July 18-27, 2014 at Cheyenne Frontier Days!

 

Jim Patrick and Steve Swanson chopping wood

photo credit Jim Patrick

Saddle Up - Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Photo courtesy  Sharon Keller Rollins, Red River Ranch

Listed as Tennessee's top twenty best tourist events, Pigeon Forge "Saddle-Up Buckaroo Round Up" rope's in huge crowds during the four day Cowboy celebration.  Old Glory flew proudly under the blue sky in the heart of the Tennessee Smoky Mountains. The chuckwagons rolled in from across the nation for the 12th annual "Saddle Up" that featured western music, cowboy poetry and some exquisite cowboy cooking.  Named after the Iron Forge invented by Isaac Love around 1820, the community rest along the Little Pigeon River so named after the once massive amounts of Passenger Pigeons that frequented the banks at the time of the first Euro-American settlers. 


Kent Rollins, of Red River Ranch perform acts of Cowboy poetry and also fired up his griddles for some sizzling steak dinners during  performances at Mama's Farmhouse Restaurant which featured Montana singer/songwriter Stephanie Davis. An additional show held at Partridge and Pear restaurant with a four course family dinner featured performances by newest member of the Western Music Association Hall of Fame, R.W. Hampton. Other performances during the four day event included the Saddle Cats, Cowboy Celtic, Ray Doyle, Andy Nelson, Chuck Pyle and youth performance by Cal Farley. 

The Pigeon Forge Hospitality Association sponsored the competing chuckwagon's selling lunch tickets for $10 raising money for local area charities during the Saturday event held at Clabough’s Campground. The chuckwagon cooks competed for the bragging rights as "Best wagon."  Awards are given for each food category; Meats, Beans, Potatoes, Bread, Corn bread and Desserts. Strict guidelines require cooks to prepare these meals just as they did over 130 years ago as the Cowboys moves cattle north to market and the chuckwagon was home on the range. 

Photo by Bart Saucier

Bart Saucier from Chapel Hill, Tennessee, wanted to witness first hand this authentic set up provided by each chuckwagon team.  Bart is also restoring his own personal Chuckwagon where this hands on experience, aloud for him to take note of the many particular details of each wagon while he watched the ole cowboy cooks work using their huge cast iron dutch ovens as they prepared the wholesome lunch.

Each chuckwagon is a traveling museum ranging in price averaging over $20,000 once fully outfitted.   Historical items include an array of cooking gear from late 19th century. Items like a mounted Parker Coffee grinder to heavy bone saws and meat cleavers decorate the side of chuck boxes. Giant 14 to 16 inch cast iron dutch ovens rest over coals as large coffee kettle and bean pots hang from the fire spit. The displays also includes a variety of cowboy personal gear, saddles, bedrolls, tent, farrier equipment, tools, hames and harness. Every item needed to complete a trail drive is carried on the wagon including extra wood stored underneath in a draped hide or canvas called the possum belly. Proud of their displays, each owner enjoys sharing the heritage as they answer questions about their wagon and the history of a majestic past.

Troy and Cindy Reddick

Skillet and Spurs is owned and operated by Troy and Cindy Reddick of Vidalia, Georgia. Troy started camp cooking using cast iron dutch ovens over 25 years ago during hunting, fishing and camping excursions during his college days at Georgia Southern University. Cindy is a professional home decorator and retail shop owner of  "Accessorize it". Four years ago, the couple added the chuckwagon to their professional catering business.  The Pigeon Forge Cook-Off was their first competition where their seasoned cooking experience paid off. "We are just now starting to meet other 'cookies. So far, its been an amazing experience and we can't wait to meet some of the folks out west," stated Troy.  For information about Chuckwagon catering in the Georgia area, check out their web site http://www.skilletandspurs.com/

Lexie Dean Ramblin'Rose

Ramblin’ Rose Chuck Wagon operated by Lexie Dean and his wife Kathy are season competitors from Greenville, North Carolina.  Dressed in his fashionable top hat with a feather, Lexie takes the rugged look of the camp cook on the cattle drive. His wagon, is a family heirloom first used as a farm wagon built by Fish Brothers Wagon Company of Racine, Wisconsin in 1868.  Fish brothers bought out Daniel Bull interest in the former Fish and Bull business, changing the name to FISH Brothers just two years before Lexies wagon was built. He added the additional items to convert the wagon into a functional chuckwagon.  While mesquite is the popular wood for Texas, Lexie uses hickory because it's easy to monitor and control temperature. Burning down a third cord of wood before even beginning his baking, Lexie ensures he has plenty of coals to cover the dozen "Dutch ovens" he'll use making the competitive meal able to provide 50 servings in each category.

The Buckaroo Roundup also included a mechanical bull to test your rodeo skills, lasso lessons and branding demonstrations.  Kent Rollins of the Red River Ranch, provided chuckwagon samplings during the four day event along with his storytelling. Kent, who has been filmed by the Food Network Television show "Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Chicken Fried Steak." was named the Official Chuck Wagon Cook of Oklahoma, by its Governor. He also has won the Lubbock, Texas Chuck Wagon Cook Off and the Will Rogers Award for Chuck Wagon of the Year by the Academy of Western Artists and not part of the competition of the event. Kent recently authored his cook-book titled, "On the Trail and In the Kitchen" available on line at his web site www.kentrollins.com.  His stories were the gilt-edge of the cattle drives keeping the audience well entertained. 

Other chuckwagon teams participating in the competitive event were Double X Ranch, Fairplay Cattle Company from Winston, Georgia and Grumpy's Grub.  The five teams rounded out samplings for the judges as they served up the savory Chicken friend steak, sawmill gravy, bread, potatoes, beans, cornbread,  and desserts.  
  

MEAT: 1^st Skillet and Spurs, 2^nd Grumpy's Grub, 3^rd Ramblin' Rose
BEANS: 1^st Grumpy's Grub, 2^nd Double X, 3^rd Ramblin' Rose
BREAD: 1^st Ramblin' Rose, 2^nd Grumpy's Grub, 3^rd Fairplay Cattle Co.
POTATOES: 1^st Ramblin' Rose, 2^nd Grumpy's Grub, 3^rd Fairplay
DESSERT: 1^st Ramblin' Rose, 2^nd Skillet & Spurs, 3^rd Grumpy's Grub
CORNBREAD: 1^st Ramblin' Rose, 2^nd Fairplay, 3^rd Double X
WAGON: 1^st Grumpy's Grub, 2^nd Ramblin' Rose, 3^rd Fairplay
OVERALL: 1^st Ramblin' Rose, 2^nd Grumpy's Grub

Photo courtesy Sister's on the Fly

New to the Saddle-Up event this year was a display of over 30 interesting camper trailers that are part of  the "Cowgirl Caravan." The group is a national women's organization called  Sister's on the Fly and travel through many areas of the United States with their array of travel trailers. Ranging in sizes from 12 to 24 feet long, many trailers are decorated in a Cowgirl theme.  Some campers are newer models but many reflect the nostalgic airstream  traveling of the 1950 styles.   

As the sun set over the chuckwagon camp fires, the attention was turn towards the stage for country music and a night of dancing the Dosey Doe, swing steps and line dancing. Sunday concluded the Saddle Up event with a hearty cowboy breakfast  followed by Cowboy Church services before the cowboys rode off into the sunset.    For more information about Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

                                       http://www.mypigeonforge.com/

For more information about other Chuck Wagon Competitions, check out the 

American Chuck Wagon Association 

Chuck Wagon photo courtesy Bart Saucier

Double X Ranch Chuck Wagon, Photo Courtesy Sharon Keller Rollins

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Special thank you to Bart Saucier, Sharon Keller Rollins, My Pigeon Forge, Troy and Cindy Reddick, Lexie Dean and those who volunteered or sponsor Saddle Up.  Additionally, the American Chuck Wagon Association which helps preserve the western heritage and the chuck wagon.     

Song of Hiawatha - Chuck Wagon Cook Off

Lost Creek Chuck Wagon

 Story by Roger Edison



An aroma fills the air of fresh brewing coffee as the sun begins to rise over the land of 10,000 lakes. Pans clattering echo through the Historic District Streets as cooks prepare for the annual "Song of Hiawatha-Chuckwagon Cook-Off."  Daybreak revels the authentic display of Chuck wagons. A reminder of an era when Cowboys as far off as Texas once moved needed cattle across the nation. Impeccable details from the wagon with it's cowboy gear, too authentic clothing worn by the camp cooks, is just a small part of the days competition. Each wagon team will sizzle up their best food for the bragging rights winning the "Song of Hiawatha-Cook Off"  held in Pipestone, Minnesota.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the 1855 epic poem "Song of Hiawatha." The American literary piece is the romantic tale of a heroic Native American Indian who resided in the Minnesota Territory an his love for his Indian maiden Minnehaha.  While Longfellow never journeyed to the area, it's ancient history dates back thousands of years when Native Americans lived in close harmony with nature along the tall grass prairie.