Did cowboys actually use saddlebags?

Did cowboys actually use saddlebags?

Geneva Enright
Chandler, Arizona

Cowboys usually disdained saddlebags or other accessories, such as water bags or canteens, as they were too heavy to pack on a cow pony. Cowboys usually packed essentials—extra clothes, small personal items—in a canvas bag referred to as a “war sack.” On roundups and trail drives, the cook or the bedroll wagon carried a water barrel.

Cavalrymen, on the contrary, were issued saddlebags in which they carried items such as currycomb and brush, a picket pin for staking out the horse, horseshoes and some horseshoe nails, some rations and extra ammunition.

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Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian. His latest book is Wyatt Earp: Showdown at Tombstone.  If you have a question, write: Ask the Marshall, P.O. Box 8008, Cave Creek, AZ 85327 or e-mail him at marshall.trimble@scottsdalecc.edu