So easy for
us today to go to the store and buy just about anything we want. A drive on any
interstate will allow you to quickly see how all those goods get there every
day. Trucks and trains and in some cases planes move our goods today, making
sure I can grab a fresh pineapple on a cold snowy November day in Wyoming. But how
did they do it in the old days, the really old days? Mule Skinners and Bull Whackers moved the
goods.
From about 1825,
freighters started moving goods to outlying settlements and forts. When the
1860s came, with the transcontinental railroad, the freighting business became one
of the busiest in the west. Freighters moved goods from and too the railroad,
supplying goods needed for expansion and settlement of the new west.
Freighters,
for protection and because of the amount of goods needed, traveled in huge slow
moving overland trains. These trains consisted of two dozen or more wagons,
each carrying as much as three tons of goods. The wagons were pulled by huge
teams of six pair of oxen or several pair of mules, depending on the weight of
the freight. Not fast but most efficient.
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| Train Stopped for the Day |
Mule Drivers
were known as mule-skinners and the oxen drivers as bull-whackers, all using
their bull whips most efficiently to nip black flies away from the oxen and mules.
This slow but efficient way to move goods allowed the new citizens of the west
to buy the same coffee, canned peaches and yards of calico that were offered on
the two coasts. It lasted into the 1900s until motor trucks and better roads
allowed for the bull-whackers and mule-skinners to die off in favor of truck
drivers.
5 comments:
Funny, I've also had this, or a related topic in mind.
Indeed, I've recently been posting on transportation, and one the posts that used to be a top ten one on my blog was the "Revolution In Rural Transportation" thread:
http://lexanteinternet.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-revolution-in-rural-transportation.html
I think today people can hardly grasp what animal transportation really meant. Even when we read it, except for people who've traveled really long distances riding, it eludes us. Truly a big change. And in some ways, a more recent one than we imagine.
Is this the origin of the term "teamsters"?
Might be Ron, that is a lot of teams of animals.
Pat and Marcus - I find this an interesting topic, don't see much for movies or books, in less they are attached, but it must have been fun to watch these massive trains pull into town. Now I am going over to your link to read --thanks.
Ron, the origin of the word "teamster" is indeed for men who drove teams of horses and mules for freight wagons.
If you look at the logo of the teamsters union, it actually depicts a wagon. While I'm not completely certain, I think that the union may be that old. Wagon teams remained in use for local hauling until after World War one, and in the early 20th Century, the railroads were actually the largest owners of draft horses in North America, keeping large herds for local transport after goods were unloaded from trains. A good treatment of this can be found in the book Horses In Society.
Neil, as always, I hope you enjoy the link. Another one on equine transportation is in the works right now.
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