Dragging up (for quiting)

Posted by Brian from Shawnee on March 25, 2004

In Reply to: Dragging up (for quiting) posted by Brian from Shawnee on March 25, 2004

: : I'm fixin' ta drag up. I think maybe this came from trail drives in the 1880's, but figgured yall could help out.

: Women were scarce on those trail drives.

But seriously, lonehand.com/ chuckwagon.htm has this to say about drag riders:

"A herd of about 3000 head would take around 10-15 cowboys; this included the trail boss, the wrangler and the cook. Men worked in pairs so two man watches could be made, and a cowboys status was determined by his position on the trail drive. The top hands were the "pointers" who rode at the head of the herd and guided them; next came the swing riders about a third of the way back, and finally at the back of the herd were the poor "drag" riders. Probably one of the dustiest jobs in all of workdom. The "pointers" kept their position throughout the drive ; others might change their position as the drive progressed and no one wanted to ride drag. "

Hope this helps!