12/11/2024
Intrepid Bullwhackers:
Perhaps the most recognizable artifact associated with frontier freighters is the bull whip. William H. Jackson wrote: “Bull whips, as used on the plains, are rather formidable affairs – 15 to 18 feet long and nearly two inches thick at the ‘belly,’ with a stock, or handle, about 20 inches in length. It requires considerable practice and skill to properly swing such a whip, and the professional driver takes great pride in his proficiency in the use of it. The ‘popper’ at the end of the lash is a strip of buckskin about eight inches long and two wide; when swung out just right the final snap sounds like a pistol shot, and when directed against the flanks of lagging oxen will cut the hair from their tough hides. Just snapping the whip is sufficient in most cases to get all the action required.” The intent of the whip was not to strike the animals; in fact many bullwhackers considered striking them something of a sin to be condemned.
While the common image of a bullwhip is that one the one-handed variety, a two-handed bullwhip was also common at the time. This 1840 image by Charles Collier Michell shows bullwhackers with two-handed whips.
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