History 

Shortly after the Civil War, Texas drovers headed thousands of longhorns north and a great American hero, the cowboy, was born. Generations of boys left the cities, towns, farms, and the comforts of home to live the life of their idol, the cowboy.   $30 dollars a month with little chance for advancement, eighteen-hour days, guaranteed hard work and hard living, lured thousands of soon-to-be cowboys with only the promise of honor, pride, and the respect from lifelong friends. The cowboy’s tools and gear were carried on his saddle or stowed in the chuck wagon. His disability insurance was a cast iron tail and guts to match. He lived in the saddle and became an artist with the lariat and branding iron, and a better than average shot with a Colt and Winchester.
            After the killing blizzard of ’87 the cowboy picked up some new skills. He irrigated, cut and stacked hay, built barns, dug wells, shoveled manure, cut poles, mended fences, and played nurse-maid to sick animals. He also learned that 110 in July was “tolerable” and 30 below in March might be a warm spell. His ambition was to buy a spread of his own, run his cows, marry a fine woman, and raise kids of his own.  But before he knew it the twentieth century was upon him and the open range was a patchwork of farms and homesteads stitched with barbwire and train tracks. Ranch after ranch went under or was broken up for farms. Younger punchers trailed rodeos for prize money. Old hands hoped only for a Home Ranch to live and die with their own kind.
            There was an alternative! Hollywood! It wasn’t long after the first studio was built on the corner of Sunset and Gower in 1911 that “Gower Gulch” became a favorite meeting place for cowboys to be hired on movie sets. For men who had worked for a dollar a day working cows, 3 dollars a day or more for doing what they were trained to do came just in time to save a dying breed. A “chuck wagon trailer” was a complimentary term referring to an old-time honest to goodness cowboy that knew his business. As the movie industry grew, more people were attracted to try for acting and atmosphere extra work. And it wasn’t unusual that people would stretch the truth about their skills. Men who claimed to be cowboys when it was obvious that they were lying were called “gunsils” or “scissorbils”. “That gunsil almost got a good cowboy killed”, was a common complaint. And a lot of men and animals were killed or seriously injured on the sets of those early films. The cowboys themselves could point out the men who could be relied upon to get the job done and hopefully avoid an accident on the set but they weren’t in charge of hiring.
Even though the cowboys were notorious for being independent non-joiners, they were a tight group. In 1932 a nonprofit corporation was officially registered as a social order of cowmen who rode the range prior to the year 1901. Chuck Wagon Trailers was one of the most exclusive clubs in the country. No amount of money or politics could buy a membership for anyone who didn’t qualify. But because the “old timers” had a habit of dying off, the time limit was raised to 1910 and stayed there until the late ‘40’s. Chuck Wagon Trailers and the younger “Gower Gulchers” set the standards for our modern stuntmen. In fact, a group was organized called “Riding Actors Association” who worked closely with Chuck Wagon Trailers and took part in the 1935 Fall roundup. They would have been the first stuntman group, but they couldn’t agree on much so they didn’t last long. By the 1950’s not many of the original members were still alive and so the strict restrictions were soon lifted and opened membership to anyone who wanted to “keep the Old West alive” by continuing to hold Spring and Fall roundups. A number of television actors and “Gower Gulchers” joined with the few remaining original members to keep Chuck Wagon Trailers going strong. 
            As we move into this new millennium, we need to learn from the previous centuries and continue to maintain a social group of cowboys and cowgirls, to promote those same values of honesty, fairplay, self-reliance, rugged individualism, and hard work. We must also teach the values and skills of the original Chuck Wagon Trailers to as many of our young people as possible. 
            If you agree, please consider joining our group.  Your support, personal and/or financial, will help the upkeep and restoration of our chuck wagon.  You can also help with the education of our youth to ensure that the code of the west and our tradition never dies off.
By the way, as in those early years, there still ain’t much chance for advancement in this outfit but there’s still lots of room for work and fun.