CALGARY,
ALBERTA—
Chuckwagons
may have been invented to provide food for cowboys out on the range, but
at the Calgary Stampede, 36 chucks and their crews turn out with
nary a pancake on their minds. The Chuckwagon Races are the wildest
and most popular event at Stampede. In heats of four teams each,
the crews barrel around the track in nail-biting competition every night
for ten days. The winner of the final 'sudden death' heat takes home a
check for CDN$50,000.
At the sound
of a claxon, four outriders fly into action. In what looks like total
chaos, one holds the horses while others hurl items representing a stove
and other cooking implements into the back of the wagon. Once loaded,
each wagon completes a figure eight around a set of barrels, and then
charges out onto the track at breakneck speed. The outriders have to cover
a prescribed distance on foot, then jump on their horses and catch up.
Their teams lose points if they don't finish the course within 150 feet
of their wagons. Penalties are also imposed for interference and loss
of "cooking equipment." The track is 5/8 of a mile long, and
the wagons can run in it just over a minute.
There is
debate over the origin of chuckwagon racing. Some oldtimers say it developed
out of wagon races cowboys used to hold on the open range. Others say
it recalls land rushes, when settlers raced in wagons to stake their claims.
Guy Weadick, however, Stampede's founder back in 1912, maintained
it was his idea, inspired by the round up crews who raced to the nearest
saloon at the end of the day. Whoever is right, chuckwagon racing has
become the signature event at the Calgary Exhibition & Stampede.
Chuckwagon
Races
