A Cowboy's Bedroll Was A lot more Than the usual Sleeping Bag

The cowboy's bedroll, unlike bedrolls or sleeping-bags utilized by modern-day campers, was much, a lot more than the usual sleeping bag. The bedroll served as his "mini-home" about the range.

In the most elaborate form, a bedroll contained lots of personal possessions covered with canvas (when canvas might be found) or sometimes just in make-shift heavy grain sack cloth. Tangled up or strapped within this type of bedroll may be a "sugan" (also spelled "sougan" or "suggan" and many other very creative ways) or two and also the cowboy's "war bag" or "possibles sack. " Actually, a well-planned and well-stocked bedroll carefully wrapped and tied may be slung across a horse's back behind the saddle, or whether it was too big and burdensome and also the cowboy would be a working cowboy, his bedroll may be slung from the side of the chuck wagon or tucked down within the bed from the chuck wagon together with all of the crew's cooking utensils.

Smaller bedrolls for "portability" might have been installed on the cowboy's horse, although not the real, masterpieces of portable homes just like a serious, full-grown bedroll. Meaning we ought to ask -- what were these mysterious "sugans" or "war bags, " and just how did they work with the typical cowboy?

Sugans -- They were heavy blankets, or even more often quilts, that contained some substance and when possible some padding that built them into warm for cover. Exactly the same term may also be employed for a little tarp or canvas that may be drapped on the tree branch or propped track of sticks to create a rudimentary one-man tent. So a sugan may be a tent, or you will consider it a sleeping bag. The main thing in winters about the range in Texas or over the Great Plains was that sugans usually supplies both shelter and warmth whenever possible.

War Bags or Possible Sacks -- If you feel about those terms, you might figure that one out. They were canvas bags or often just old grain or flower sacks where the cowboy kept collectibles. They may be grabbed up and brought along in a rush. Quoting from Winfred Blevins' "Dictionary from the American West":

"In the era of the open range, a snoop would have discovered some town clothing, the makings (for cigarettes), cartridges and perhaps some letters at home inside it [the war bag]. "

A modern-day bedroll far less colorful and exciting. In cowboy terms, "bedroll" was equal to a whole one-person camping setup. In modern terms a "bedroll" really just describes a great sleeping bag.

That old "cowboy ways" of utilizing bedroll attracts me probably the most. Celebrate a bedroll right into a portable campsite, a transportable home abroad.