Hot Cakes to High Stakes: The Chuckwagon Story

Glynn A. Leyshon is a professor of physical education at the University
of Western Ontario, a former weekly columnist for the London Free Press,
and author of 18 Sporting Stories.

Four wagons, 20 men, and 32 horses—that is what constitutes a heat in
a chuckwagon race at the Calgary Stampede, or in Cheyenne. This book
describes the people and the animals involved in the arcane sport of
pelting around a dirt track in a cumbersome, four-wheeled vehicle pulled
by four thundering horses. It is exciting and dangerous; both people and
animals have been killed in spectacular, dust-filled crashes, some of
them recorded on film and presented in this profusely illustrated
volume.

Although the emphasis is on the competition, the author—himself a
former outrider and a member of a rodeo family—does an excellent job
of outlining the history of the activity (it began only in 1923) and its
association with the long-forgotten trail drives of the 1800s. The
chuckwagon then was the mobile kitchen and social centre for those
smelly, unwashed laborers we call cowboys; the racing of those clumsy
vehicles was an event added to the Calgary Stampede to spice up the menu
of events.

The 21 chapters cover everything from the dark side of the racing, with
its crashes, injuries, and death, to the warm camaraderie of this unique
and close-knit family-oriented sport. The writing is lively and
colorful, as befits this entertainment, and the author’s familiarity
with the sport adds a dimension that makes the account more than a
report.

If there is a weakness in Nelson’s approach, it is that the book is
too parochial. Virtually no one outside of Alberta is mentioned. While
having a close and intimate knowledge of your material and subjects is a
plus for any author, restricting your scope and range is a definite
minus. As well written as it is, the book would have been improved by a
wider look; alternatively, it should have been given a title that
reflected its intense local flavor.