Sheep wagons are a part of life when you live in Wyoming. They provide housing for your sheepherder whose responsibility it is to care for and protect the sheep from predators 24 hours a day. They can also serve as temporary housing when the only other choice is sleeping under the stars. Life in a sheep wagon isn't always easy but it can be a real adventure. Although you have to supply your own firewood and find a good source of water, the sheep wagon for the most part is self contained. It consists of a wood frame covered with two layers of canvas. It has a stove with an oven, a bed, and a small table that fits in a recess under the bed. You would never know the table is there except for the handle which sticks out like the handle on a drawer. When you pull the handle the table comes forward and a leg drops down to the floor for support. Beneath the table in its recess is a roomy closet where you can store your winter overshoes and the oats for your horse and dogfood for your sheepdog among other things. There is also a bench on each side of the wagon so you have a place to sit while you eat. The benches also serve another purpose. The part of the benches that jut outside the wagon are lined with heavy tin for storing items you want to keep cold. Part of the benches lift up so that you can get at the contents. You see, there isn't anything between the benches and the outside of the sheep wagon so when it's cool outside the inside of the benches are cool which makes them a great place to store food items. Most sheep wagons have a kerosene lamp that fits in a bracket which allows it to slide back and forth from the head of the bed to an area near the stove. At the rear end of the wagon there are 3 or 4 small windows that can be opened to let the fresh air in. The shelf over the windows makes a perfect spot to put your battery operated radio. As for the bed, it's nothing more than a 4" cotton mattress that sits on wire bedsprings.

In the wintertime, it's a good idea to put rocks in the oven right after you finish cooking your breakfast. All day they sit and absorb the heat. When it's time to go to bed, just wrap them in a towel or cloth and put them at the foot of the bed to help keep your feet warm. Even at that, in the dead of winter you go to bed fully clothed, with socks, mittens and a wool cap on your head and still you are likely to be cold. Sometimes you might be awakened by a frightening racket. The wagon will be rocking to and fro and your rifle will be banging on the wall where it hangs. Stray horses have found that the corners of the wagon are fine places for itching any part that needs scratching. A loud shout and a thump on the floor will send them galloping away with no harm done, except for your lost sleep.

The oven serves another valuable purpose. It is a good place to store your alarm clock to keep it from freezing so you can be sure to be up on time. When you arise you immediately set about starting your fire to prepare your breakfast and warm the inside of the wagon. It is now time to determine if the teakettle has frozen in the night and break the ice on the water pail. It is sometimes possible to "bank" the fire in the stove the night before with pieces of coal, if available. To "bank " the stove is to put a large, thick piece of coal in the firebox. The idea is to allow it to catch on fire and then close the damper so that the coal will burn slowly all night. Hopefully, in the morning there will be sufficient hot coals left to start your kindling, and the teakettle will soon be humming. At one side of the door to the wagon is a small cupboard which contains your cooking utensils, probably one plate, one cup and a knife, fork and spoon. This is the place where you keep your toilet articles, also. Hanging on the inside of the small lower door of the wagon is an enamel pan for bathing. Washcloths, towels both for dishes and drying oneself hang on a wire extending between two bows. By the time you have washed up and brushed your teeth the wagon will be warming nicely and you can prepare your breakfast and the coffeepot should be perking. Take a quick look out the door. The air is crystal clear and sharply cold but the sunshine on the snow sparkles like diamonds and another day of adventure in Wyoming has begun.