Arizona Hoorah

The Southwest chapter of the American Chuck Wagon Association held a Hoorah on March -21-24, 2014 just outside of Ft. Thomas, Arizona at the end of Poverty Flats Road at the home of John and Sandy Sullivan.  President Russ Richins, of the Southwest chapter, was on hand to help with the organizing of the various events scheduled throughout the three day event.  The ACWA president-Wayne Calk, Administrative Assistant-Nancy Sparks, and three board members-Dave McDowell, Kathy Christianson, and Glenn Moreland were present.  
                                                                               

The Hoorah began three years ago in Ft. Thomas, Arizona as a way for chuck wagon owners and ACWA members could come together to celebrate the chuck wagon heritage while getting to know each other under circumstances other than competitions.   Clearly the gathering has grown from a little over 20 the first year to over 60 this year.  Chuck wagon aficionados traveled from Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Washington, and Colorado to participate in what is turning out to be a shining star in the American Chuck Wagon Association. 

As we arrived in Thacther, Arizona the first stop on Thursday was at Brashas’ Grocery Store where manager, Edmundo Lopez provided the event with nearly all the groceries we needed for the event at Poverty Flats.  The amount topped the $500 mark.  Edmundo was such a fine gentleman as was his assistant.  We are humbled by his extreme generosity and will be forever in his debt for kindness.  We wanted to be able to display a sign showing that he was the sponsor for the event and invited him to attend and he said that all he wanted in return was a group photograph to place upon the wall of his office. 

A small group of folks arriving on Thursday made a short trip over to Safford, Arizona to enjoy the fine steaks at the Copper Steer Steak house. This is the only time that we have when “someone else” serves the food.  Our meal planning begins on Friday and the Arizona sunrise is nothing short of spectacular.  Of course with the full complement of cowboy tipis, flags from around the US and also a windmill to help serve as a backdrop didn’t hurt.  Steve and I were up early with our own little campfire and coffee pot gurgling…we were ready to start the morning.  It wasn’t long before many of the camps were up and attum, ready to see what else the day would hold for this group of friends and strangers.  I think it can easily be said that is wasn’t long before there were no strangers…only friends.  

Friday began with some hot steaming cowboy coffee, as you would expect.  Some of the guys were rushing around loading some poles for a project back in El Paso.  Many of the folks were beginning to arrive about mid-morning and the lunch preparations were underway with Steve Woods from Denton, Texas, Bob Sparks from Brownfield, Texas and myself making Pico de Gallo to go with the marinated and grilled flank steak to be served on a flour tortillas.

As folks got their camps set up they immediately got their “swap meet” stuff lined out on the ground or table like fire iron, coffee pots, ovens, lanterns, dippers, knives, steak turners, harnessing components, cookbooks, pots, pans, three tined forks, and a lot more.  The quality of the items were really good and many good bargains could be had if you were quite enough to pick them up before someone else got to the good stuff. 

The time frame for Friday was to have everything at Poverty Flats set up and ready so we could journey down the road to Pima, NM by 4 pm for the Vaquero gathering at Gummer’s Camp.

Randy and Rhonda Hawkins hosted the Friday night event, at their home in Pima, Arizona, in honor of the Vaquero.  It was explained at the supper--it was with much indebtedness to the Vaquero that we owe for the many cowboy ways we learned from them.   To the Vaquero—We Salute You!

Randy and Rhonda Hawkins at Gummer’s Camp Western Town provided a Mexican meal highlighted by their Tapatias.  Randy gave everyone a guided tour of his western and chuck wagon collectables.  Their backyard is the location of the western town of which they are quite proud. During the meal we were entertained by a most capable group of musicians led by their fiddle player.  I apologize that I didn’t get their names but they were indeed quite good and entertaining. 

Saturday morning began with coffee and with Dave McDowell from Chandler, Az preparing donuts, Scottish scones and Welsh Cakes.  Martin Winslow from Cortez, Colorado was cooking the donuts (folks sort of hovered around the donut bowl and ate the wonderfully hot pastries)  and Rodney Carriker, also from Cortez, served as the fireman for the whole event having coals ready for whatever it was that was being prepared.  I might add that there were a few folks mentioned who were sort of responsible for preparing certain meals or side dishes, but all of the rest of the people in attendance fell in and offered their assistance from everything to washing dishes to making the fire.  That makes it a Fun For All!!! 

As the clock ticked, it came to pass that the black powder cannon demonstration and “front end loaders” didn’t get to do their thing because of some personnel glitches.  As it turned out we spent time with Dave McDowell leading a discussion on the timeline of certain spices during the cow camp era.  He explained that oregano, garlic, chilies, bell peppers, mustard seed, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, vanilla, and lemon extract were available along with various sweeteners like loaf sugar (cones) and molasses followed by syrup.  Corn was the most plentiful after the Civil War but flour, baking powder (Saleratus) and yeast was also available.   Canned goods were available in 1865 and the most common were corn, tomatoes, beans, pineapples, strawberries, cherry, peach, oysters and lobster—costing from 50 cents to a dollar per can and were sold in cases of 24 for $12-$15 per case.  By 1870 United States canners were producing 30 million cans of food per year.  The most common on the chuck wagon were tomatoes but the prairie supply points often stocked canned oysters and sardines, potted chicken, deviled ham, as well as cheese and crackers. There are other categories that Dave covered that can be obtained through the ACWA May 2014 Newsletter. 

John Sullivan, Sandy Sullivan and Randy Hawkins worked off and on during the morning prepping for their wheelwright demonstration that was to occur after lunch. 

Bob and Nancy Sparks gave a historical accounting of the chuck wagon and discussed in detail the many things that chuck wagon judges (both have judged many chuck wagon competitions) look for when judging the wagons for competitions. Using a sample judging sheet, they went down the list talking about all the items on the “check sheet”.  There was enlightening and interesting commentary from the Sparks’ as well as Kathy Christenson and Glenn Moreland.  Some “new” wagon owners got many of their questions answered. 

Russ Richens, from Phoenix, AZ, was busying himself with the hot dog preparations and cooking up some more of the skirt steak while Rex Dalton, from Cortez, CO, was making up two batches of Pico De Gallo, one with green chilies and the other with Jalapenos. 

The fire was hot and the wagon wheel tire was in amongst the coals expanding so that John, Randy and Sandy could set the tire on a butcher knife wheel during their wheelwright demonstration.  The tire spokes and fellies had been put in place and the procedure for doing so was talked about by John. He explained that tire had a section of it taken out to better fit the outside measurement around the wheel.  The setting of the tire didn’t go so well and it was determined after a couple of tries that further adjustments would have to be made before the final fitting.  The demonstration outside of John’s wagon barn was informative as well as enlightening because of all of the close tolerances. 

The American Chuck Wagon Association held a meeting to discuss the possibilities of the ACWA sanctioning chuck wagon cook-offs and ultimately culminating in an ACWA Championship Cook Off.  Some of the pros and cons were discussed as well as some issues such as the fairness of someone who is really far from most of the cook offs being held.  The ACWA announced an upcoming meeting in Abilene, TX to discuss the topics further. Also discussed at the Hoorah was the implementation of the ACWA Awards Program.  Awards discussed were:  Pioneer Award, Western Heritage Award, Rookie of the Year Award, Youth Award, and the Hoodlum Award.  Much discussion occurred around the need for wagon recognition and it was brought forward that the award might include the whole wagon camp.  We took that information and promised to present it at the Abilene, TX meeting.

During the calendar year I was contacted by the Bethany Braley, Executive Director of the National Day of the Cowboy organization that the ACWA had been selected as one of their recipients of the Cowboy Keeper Award.  Beth asked when would be a good time that she might be able to present the award in person.  I suggested the Hoorah and she was excited about the possibility of attending.  Many times when a distinguished award is presented the presenter does a brief fanfare and the award is handed over, BUT not this one.  Beth did an amazing amount of research in recognizing the ACWA accomplishments and goals of preserving the Chuck Wagon Heritage.  It was with honor that we, the board of directors of the ACWA, accepted the award by such an eloquent delivery by the Executive Director.  Thank you so very much National Day of the Cowboy for this honor.

Grant Smith from Alma, New Mexico was on hand to give a demonstration of his exceptional Dutch oven pie making skills.  As you can see by the picture the crust isn’t your ordinary pie crust.  Grant went through the steps of creating the masterpiece.  He had his cookbooks for sale that included many outstanding recipes and “tricks” that he has learned from cooing with Dutch ovens for 60 years.  And speaking of cookbooks, there were at least 5 other chuck wagon cookbooks for sale.

Several appetizers were being enjoyed while preparations were being made for the New Your Strip steaks, chicken, baked potatoes, salsas, frijoles and several desserts.  Socialization or as some would call it…bsing was at a high pitch.  Rex Dalton and Joe Cannon had some wonderful tales to tell and were quite memorable, like the “this is gonna hurt” and the “breaking of 28 mules” and one that Joe Cannon told last year was about the “neighbor’s dog”.  You just had to be there to appreciate the humor in the stories.

Later in the evening, around the big campfire, the group was entertained by two local musicians (didn’t get names) with Glenn Moreland setting in and singing some songs.   It was a nice culmination for the evening.   Several individual campfires burned late into the night kindling the fire of old and new friendships. 

John and Sandy were up early preparing their Mountain Man breakfast which was a combination of eggs, cheese, sausage, onions and other ingredients.  Not much need for breakfast to be announced…as everyone was ready to indulge in the smells coming from the central fire pit.  And, as has become a tradition at Ft. Thomas, a cowboy church service. 

This summarizes THE HOORAH at Ft. Thomas, Arizona.  When it was begun three years ago, we didn’t know what was going to become of the future of the “get together”, we just knew that it would be fun and a chance for folks to come together in an environment without a competition.  The organizers feel that the Hoorah has served the purpose and has paved the way for others to step forward and organize a gathering in other areas.  The next event—The Chuck Wagon Rendezvous-- will be in Bennett, Colorado at Lost Creek Farms on May 4-6, 2014 followed by another one in Sat the Three Hearts Ranch on September 12-14, 2014 in Fredericksburg, Texas. 

See ya on down the trail!
Wayne