Sheepherder History | Museumpractice

At the Museum:

Sheep Wagons and Sheepherder History

The Stagecoach Museum displays many sorts of wagons, among which are Army wagons, water wagons, pioneer wagons, buggies, and buckboards that were used for transportation around early Lusk. Perhaps the most noteworthy display is a sheep wagon restored by Richard Kaan. Sheepherders lived their solitary lives in wagons like this throughout the West while tending large flocks of grazing sheep.

Did you know this about sheep wagons?

Depending on where they were used, sheep wagons were also called “camps” or “arks”.
The sheep wagon was invented in Wyoming in 1884. James Candlish of Rawlins and Frank George of Douglas are often credited with the invention. Marshall Buxton of Casper is thought to have improved on the initial design.
A typical sheep wagon was about 12 feet long and 6 ½ feet wide. In its small space, it had a door in the front over the tongue, a bed across the back, a window over the bed, storage areas, a fold-down table with side benches, and a coal-burning or wood-burning stove usually on the right side with a stovepipe extending through the roof.
The wagon was usually pulled by two horses in lower elevations or four horses in steeper terrain. The herder stood in the doorway or sat on the side bench as he drove the team.
In the early 1900s, many ranchers and blacksmiths were making sheep wagons. They used supplies from local hardware stores or manufacturing companies and had help from saddle makers and seamstresses.
Also in the early 1900s, companies such as Studebaker were making and selling component parts for sheep wagons. They also sold completed and sometimes custom-made wagons.
Some sheep owners disliked sheep wagons because they stayed in one place too long. This required sheep to return to the same bedding ground on previously grazed range.
Many sheep camps also had a high-sided commissary wagon where hay, feed, saddles, and other supplies were kept. This wagon was hitched to the sheep wagon when the camp was moved.
As the 1900s progressed, sheep wagons underwent many modifications. These included making the wagon less rounded and more square, using a sheet-metal or aluminum covering instead of canvas, adding insulation to the canvas top, converting to a propane stove, adding skirting around the wheels, and eventually using solar panels.
Rubber tires started being used on sheep wagons when vehicles began pulling them instead of horses. The wooden wheels could not withstand the speed the vehicles could travel.
Sheep wagons were also used in the early years as mobile homes, schoolhouses, apartments, and temporary lodging. Many are still used for guest quarters, offices, welcome wagons, and hunting and vacation cabins.
Now, many artisans are lovingly restoring old sheep wagons. Only one company makes a few commercial wagons a year, and those are largely for non-agricultural use.

Did you know this about sheepherders?

In the late 1800s, sheepherders were mostly from foreign countries – France, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Mexico, China, Scotland, England, Ireland, Finland, Romania, Norway, and most memorably, the Basque area between France and Spain.
Often, an immigrant sheep owner sent for young men from his home country to help tend his sheep.
Sheepherders had great responsibility. Usually, one sheepherder’s flock consisted of 1500 to 3000 animals. Before 1900, a flock that size was valued at about $25,000. After World War II, the value rose to about $40,000.
Herders often trailed their flocks from the lower elevations to the mountain grazing areas in the spring and came back down in the fall. Because the sheep grazed along the way, sometimes the sheep would arrive at their mountain destination just in time to start down again the fall.
Usually, a herder had a riding horse for daily use especially in the summer months.
In the 1930s, a herder earned about $35 a month including room and board.
Some herders, most noteworthy the Basque, took part of their pay in sheep. This eventually gave the herders enough capital to buy land and become prosperous sheep producers.
Herders used black sheep to keep track of the number of sheep in his flock. A typical ratio was 1 black sheep to 100 white ones. Sometimes, they used “marker” sheep, which had bright paint on their backs.
Camp tenders were employees from the main ranch who visited the sheepherders every 7 to 10 days to check on the sheepherder and bring supplies and letters from home. Sometimes, camp tenders would stay with the sheepherder to cook and maintain the camp.
Sheepherders always had at least one dog trained to help manage the flock. These animals also provided companionship. Often the herders also had dogs trained to protect the sheep from predators.
Herders built stone monuments, laying stones on top of each other with no mortar. Sometimes called “stone johnnies”, these sheepherder monuments served as markers for camp sites, favorite grazing areas, or water access.

Below: Monuments found in Niobrara County

Did you know this about sheep in the Lusk area?

One of the largest sheep ranchers in the area was Jacob Mill, often called “Jakie”. He came from Germany in 1873 and worked his way westward. In 1891, he settled in the Sage Creek area north of Lusk. At one time, Mill ran 40,000 sheep from Sage Creek all along creeks far to the west. These sheep were tended at camps that Jacob visited regularly in his yellow-wheeled buggy. This buggy is displayed at the Stagecoach Museum.
Jacob had a sheep camp in Lusk, where there were also shearing pens used by many sheep ranchers.

Above: Jacob Mill and his yellow-wheeled buggy

Right: Buggy on display at the museum

Below: Sheep pens in Lusk

Did you know this about the sheep industry in Wyoming?

Unlike the great cattle drives that came from the south or east, the great sheep drives came east from Oregon and California along the Oregon, Mormon, and California trails.
Often there were 2500 to 5000 sheep trailed in one group. Sometimes the drive took several years.
The height of these sheep drives was from 1865 to 1900.
The blizzards of 1886-1887 helped the sheep industry because many of the large cattle operations lost cattle and went out of business, thus freeing up the open range.
By 1900, there were 3,750,000 sheep in Wyoming. The all-time high was 5,480,000 sheep in 1910. This was the highest number in comparison with Montana, Oregon, and Utah.
During the western range wars from the 1870s to about 1920, 16,000 sheep were killed in Wyoming, more than in any other state. In total, 28 sheepmen, 16 cattlemen, and 50,000 sheep were killed.
Until 1940, there were more sheep than cattle in Wyoming.
The sheep industry started declining after World War II. This was caused by reduced consumption of lamb, fewer laborers willing to tend sheep, competition from Australia and New Zealand, and the use of synthetic fabrics that replaced wool.
Now, the sheep industry is a mere fraction of what it was at its height. In 2000, Wyoming had only 460,000 sheep.

Come visit the Stagecoach Museum to see our excellent example of a sheep wagon. Imagine what it would be like to spend months in the isolated rangeland carefully tending your flock of sheep, often with nothing but your dogs and horses for company.

The information for this article came largely from the following publications:

Sheepwagon: Home on the Range. Nancy Weidel. High Plains Press, Glendo, WY. 2001.

The Lonely Life: Basque Sheepherders in Wyoming. Lila Bond and Denice Wheeler. Publisher unknown. 2012.