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Show extended out over the high wheels. Head space underneath the curved canvas top was limited, but after living in one as long as John K had he instinctively knew when to duck his head. Clothing and boxes were piled together into a small hammock high in the back of the wagon-there for that purpose. With the limited storage space a change of clothing and the daily food supplies crowded the interior of the wagon. John K provided two wagons to make sleeping space for the herder, a camptender who also herded, and himself when he was at camp. It allowed for visitor space also. Commissaries provided additional storage and were as important as the sheep wagon itself. A commissary was a regular wagon with a few arched bows above the wagon box over which a canvas tarpaulin was draped. The hay and grain for horse feed, sacks of flour for sourdough bread or biscuits, and cartons of evaporated milk-along with other basic supplies--were transported and most of them stored in the commissaries. When they were traveling or when moving campsites the commissaries always preceded the sheep wagons and all were pulled by sturdy draft horses. At times John K and his men used a third horse with a team to help pull the load. If the terrain were especially rough or too steep for the three horses, then two full teams were used-in tandem-to draw both wagon and commissary. The demand for so many horses, along with saddle horses or mules, required a lot of hay and grain for supplemental feed. The 60 |
