For 43 years, members of the Chuckwagons of the West Association have held their annual Jamboree, with each member taking turn hosting the event.
This year, Durango’s Bar D Chuckwagon will do the honors, hosting five members, who will take the stage alongside the Bar D Wranglers for two nights of storytelling, jokes and traditional cowboy/Western music under the stars.
And don’t forget the chuckwagon dinner, which, Bar D Founder Cy Scarborough said in an interview in 2018, tries to mimic the experience of a real cowboy chuckwagon. The meal includes chicken or beef, beans, rolls, spice cake, potatoes and apple sauce – and entertainment is served up after the plates are cleared.
“A chuckwagon followed the trail ride with the chuck on it – with all the food,” he said. “The chuckwagon would meet up with the trail drivers where the cows were every night, and they would have dinner, and the next morning, they would have breakfast and take on off with the cows.”
And, like at the Bar D, after dinner came the entertainment, Scarborough said.
“’Course, they gathered around the campfire at night, and if it was cold weather, they ate around the campfire in the mornings,” he said. “We don’t have a campfire, but we do have a stage show, and there was usually somebody on the cattle drive who played a guitar, a harmonica, some kind of entertainment.”
Heading to Durango this year will be: Bar J from Jackson, Wyoming; Flying J from Ruidoso, New Mexico; Flying W from Colorado Springs; Circle B from Rapid City, South Dakota; and Blazin’M from Cottonwood, Arizona.
Gary Cook, who has been playing with the Bar D Wranglers since 1989, said the Jamboree started at the Flying W Ranch as a way for all the different groups to get together. When they meet, they share new songs, stories and jokes with each other. He said there’s also a business meeting with the ownership, where the group tries to come up with good ideas and watch for trends in the chuckwagon business and entertainment. The groups are all independently owned, Cook said.
“It’s a pretty fun thing to do,” he said. “It started out as just the entertainers and owners wanting to get together, but since then, it’s grown into something … we try to get some benefit out of it and help the other members around the country.”
And it’s not just the bands that make up the Jamboree that travel from place to place, Cook said – there are cowboy-Western music fans who will follow the groups. Travelers will make reservations early and meet up with the Wranglers.
“With the Jamborees, we’ve had so many people over the years that actually travel along with us when we’re going to Jackson Hole, for instance, or wherever’s it’s been,” Cook said. “The percentage of Bar D fans at these Jamborees has always been tremendous. That’s a great thing. And it’s just a fun thing. All our fans are fans of the other groups as well, and so it’s just an opportunity for them to go and hear all the different groups. When we ask from the stage, generally, how many people have been to the Bar D, for instance, no matter where we’re at in the country, the percentage of hands is pretty great. It’s fun; we have some loyal fans, thank goodness.”
And if you miss the chance to catch the Jamboree – tickets sell out pretty fast – Cook said there’s a still a chance to check out the fun at the Chuckwagon – the Bar D’s last night of the season will be Monday – Labor Day – which will be an evening with a twist.
“It’s kind of our silly night of the year. We call it “Prank Night,” and it really is a fun time,” he said. “Each year, we pick a theme, and this year, the theme is going to be all about trains.”
katie@durangoherald.com
If you go
What:
Chuckwagons of the West Association 43rd annual Chuckwagon Jamboree.
When:
Sept. 3 and 4.
Where:
Bar D Chuckwagon, 8080 County Road 250.
More information:
Visit
.
