Hollywood Wagon Trains Versus the Real Thing

I've graduated from parrot videos to oxen videos. This is progress. Seriously.

I started reading an excellent book, "The Best Land Under Heaven," by Michael Wallis. It's about the infamous Donner Party of 1846 and their misadventures on the way to California. It is easier to relate to some of this because I have camped on the old wagon trails this summer. At the moment I am stranded in the rain while camping above Cokeville, WY. Will it even reach 50 F today?

The book shocked me when it said that virtually all of the wagons were pulled by a single yoke of oxen, that is, two oxen side by side. That isn't what they show on "Wagon Train," starring Ward Bond. I should sue his ass.

Ward Bond, screen shot from Imdb.com

Of course horses are pretty and they move faster than plodding oxen, so they look good on camera.

But I was feeling pretty stupid. What is an ox, exactly? I always thought it was a breed or sub-species of bovine that was quite distinct from a standard, common cow on a farm -- like a water buffalo would be.

But actually an ox can be a standard farm bovine. What makes it an 'ox' rather than just a 'cow' is its training. It gets trained to pull something just by voice commands alone, although these can be supplemented by somebody (even a pioneer child) walking alongside the oxen and prodding them with a stick with a rope on the end. Typically they used steers, that is, castrated bulls. 

Oxen have so many advantages over horses, except speed. Oxen are to horses what a diesel tractor is to a gasoline powered race car.

Oxen can eat crap pasture; they don't need to be shod; they are calmer than horses; and don't need an expensive leather harness, bridle, or reins; nor a bit in the mouth. The yoke of oxen can be a simple log, or better yet, a shaped piece of wood. A wooden pole goes back to the tongue of the wagon, making it easy to steer or back up. A horse would be strangled if grabbed at the neck -- it needs to pull from the shoulders and chest.

Without reins, the driver is free to work with his hands. The pioneers must have spend many an hour in the wagon seat, sharpening tools, repairing things, or supervising children.

If all else fails they could eat the ox. (Preferable to eating a horse for most people.)

On the steep hills they would put several yokes (pairs) of oxen on each wagon. Recall that I was recently walking up one of the "Cutoff" trails and wondering how they did it, with wagons. Presumably sticking another yoke or two of oxen in front of your normal "engine" was pretty simple with a chain to a ring on the yoke.

The slowness of the oxen team wasn't really such a disadvantage because they had slow-moving cattle following the wagon anyway, for beef or milk. A horse's speed would not have been compatible.

Although the book didn't mention goats, wouldn't they have been the perfect livestock to drag along behind a wagon? An animal that can eat anything is a perfect fit with the gawd-forsaken wasteland of much of the American West.

This post must be ridiculous to an armchair traveler or newbie RVer who has stumbled onto this blog (by mistake!). But I'll bet more experienced travelers understand the need to make experiences more authentic and real.