The Chuck Wagon

The Chuck Wagon lived a pretty hard life when it traveled all around Eastern Maine in the days when my grandfather drilled artesian water wells with the old percussion drill. Unlike today, when most rotary drilled wells can be done in a day or less, the old rig pounded its way tediously into the earth and usually required a few days for the job to be completed.

I remember watching Grampie build the little house on the back of a farm truck. And sometimes we grandchildren had the privilege of staying in the Chuck Wagon. As you can imagine, there was little floor space but this home-away- from-home was a pretty efficient way for we people in the 1950s to get a meal and some sleep.  A few years later, a number of the great grandchildren also enjoyed staying in the little "camper". So it was our hopes that the great, greats could enjoy the experience as well.

Recently we went to look at the Chuck Wagon, which has been parked in Littleton for a number of years. The ravages of time have taken their toll and we knew it, but we hoped to be able to restore it and park it at Cary Lake for all the families to enjoy. But that wasn't to be! The old Chuck Wagon is too far gone.

We hope to do a second best. Here's the plan: we are going to apply for a permit to build a rough cottage at the lake and build it large enough to make a "Chuck Wagon Room" in one end of it. We hope to put the contents of the current Chuck Wagon in that room and replicate it as much as possible so that "the kids" can go there and enjoy it. This is all contingent on being approved for a building permit.

So, stay tuned! We hope the next episode has a happy ending.