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Then came rules and regulations that had to be obeyed. Some of the bigger wagon trains were little travelling republics or kingdoms with their own laws, judges and courts where men could appeal against the decision of the president. If an emigrant grew impatient while the wagons waited for better weather, or for hostile Indians to move on, and decided to go off alone, he could be brought back at the point of a gun.
Each wagon carried a load of between 1,800 and 3,000 lb. of stores and personal equipment. There would be huge quantities of flour, bacon, coffee, beans, rice, salt and, in place of sugar, molasses. Sometimes, of course, fresh meat was obtained on the way with the aid of the emigrants’ guns, but it wasn’t always wise to go firing off guns in Indian territory. There was one case of a youth who took a shot “for fun” as he put it, only to bring down a horde of painted devils who killed half the entire company before they were driven off.
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Tags: Cartoon | Covered Wagon | Wild West
October 12th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I have, somewhere amongst the sh*t of life that I have collected, several Rawhide Annuals. Can’t say they’re any better than wagon Train, but at least you get Rowdy Yates!