Say chuck wagon and you think of cowboys and cattle drives, campfires and hearty meals. Ask where you can find the best chuck wagon cooks in the nation and you'll get the answer - Amarillo, Texas. For the last several years, about 30 chuck wagons from across the country arrive in Amarillo for the World Championship Chuck Wagon Roundup. They set up near the Amarillo National Center on the Tri-State Fairgrounds during Cowboy Roundup USA.

CRUSA events
Cowboy Roundup USA is one of the largest western events in the nation, with activities that include more than just the Chuck Wagon Roundup. Some of them are:   Texas' Premier Western Vendor Show and Sale, a Junior cook cobbler competition, a horsemanship competion, a variety of cowboy entertainers, a chuck wagon breakfast and Cowboy Church, and all kinds of other "happenings" June 6 thru June 8. For all the "goings-on" go to the Schedule of Events.

A Taste of Amarillo's Heritage
Friday evening from 7:00 to 9:00pm food booths of all kinds are set up for the public and cowboy, cowgirl, chuck wagon crew reception and all-around fun evening. Tickets are available beginning April 15 at the Tri-State fairgrounds, Cavenders Boot City, United Super Markets and Foust Feed. The chuck wagon crews participate in an ice cream "crank-off." Maybe not too authentic for the trail, but certainly appropriate for the ranch house activities in that era. Kids from 10 to 17 are invited to compete in a cobbler cook-off on Friday. They don't have to be with a chuck wagon or a ranch. All kids in the community are invited.

Chuck wagon lunch
Each of the chuck wagon teams will spring into action early on Saturday morning to prepare an authentic chuck wagon meal not unlike a meal cowboys of the late 1800's ate when on cattle drives. The menu includes pan fried steak, potatoes, beans, sourdough biscuits, coffee and cobbler. Get your tickets beginning April 15 from the Tri-State fairgrounds, Cavenders Boot City, United Super Markets or Foust Feed. Lunch is served from 12:00 to 2:00, BUT GET THERE EARLY 'CAUSE THE FOOD GOES FAST.

Chuck wagon cooking competition
Like their predecessors, cooks competing in today's World Championship - and other competitions - cook over a fire pit in the ground, use a variety of hardwoods for the fire, and rely on staples such as flour, potatoes, dried beans, dried or canned fruit and, of course, beef for their menus. The Cast iron skillets, pots and dutch ovens favored by today's chuck wagon cooks are the same as the ones used on trail drives in the late 1800's. In fact, cooks still argue over the best way to temper a cast iron skillet and they all have a favorite piece of cookware. All the cowboys and cooks competing in the World Championship Chuck Wagon Roundup wear clothing authentic for the period. Everyone is invited to join the wagons and crews at the camp anytime during the Roundup. Just walk around the camp grounds and eat breakfast or lunch with any of the cooks and it is easy to imagine yourself on a cattle drive back on the range when the chuck wagon was the center of work as well as a symbol of security during weeks on horseback.

Chuck Wagon breakfast and Church service
A wonderful breakfast will be served at 9:00 am on Sunday morning. No tickets are required. Just pay $5.00 at the camp.
The breakfast will be followed by an inspiring cowboy church service.

Chuck Wagon history
The chuck wagon was invented in the 1870's by Col. Charles Goodnight, an Amarillo area rancher and former Texas Ranger. Goodnight is a western legend who established the JA Ranch in Palo Duro Canyon, first cattle ranch in the Texas Panhandle, and helped blaze one of the major cattle trails, the Goodnight-Loving Trail, from Texas into eastern New Mexico and Colorado. Goodnight saw a need for a rolling kitchen on the long cattle drives that were the norm in the 1870's and 1880's. He converted an old army wagon into a chuck wagon and the idea quickly caught on throughout the cattle industry. Every major cattle ranch used a chuck wagon on its spread and cattle drives. Soon, a good chuck wagon cook became a valuable part of the ranch operation as ranchers used good food as a way to recruit and retain the best cowboys. Top of Page

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