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A teamster is the American term for a
truck driver
A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster, or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; a HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...
or a person who drives teams of
draft animal
A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks instead of being slaughtered to harvest animal products. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for t ...
s. Further, the term often refers to a member of the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the un ...
, a
labor union in the United States and Canada.
Originally the term ''teamster'' referred to a person who drove a team, usually of
oxen,
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
s, or
mules, pulling a
wagon
A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people.
Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...
, replacing the earlier ''teamer''.
This term was common by the time of the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
(1848) and the
Indian Wars
The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...
throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries on the
American frontier
The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of United States territorial acquisitions, American expansion in mainland North Amer ...
.
Another name for the occupation was bullwhacker, related to driving oxen. A teamster might also drive
pack animal
A pack animal, also known as a sumpter animal or beast of burden, is an individual or type of working animal used by humans as means of transporting materials by attaching them so their weight bears on the animal's back, in contrast to draft ani ...
s, such as a muletrain, in which case he was also known as a
muleteer
An ''arriero'', muleteer, or more informally a muleskinner ( es, arriero; pt, tropeiro; ca, traginer) is a person who transports goods using pack animals, especially mules.
Distribution and function
In South America, muleskinners transport ...
or muleskinner. Today this person may be called an
outfitter or
packer.
In some places, a teamster was known as a
carter, referring to the
bullock cart
A bullock cart or ox cart (sometimes called a bullock carriage when carrying people in particular) is a two-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle pulled by oxen. It is a means of transportation used since ancient times in many parts of the world. The ...
. In
Australian English
Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language and ''de facto'' national language; while Australia has no official language, Engli ...
, a teamster was also known as a bullocker or
bullocky
A bullocky is an Australian English term for the driver of a bullock team. The American term is bullwhacker. Bullock drivers were also known as teamsters or carriers.
History
Bullock teams were in use in Sydney, New South Wales in 1795 wh ...
.
From the
Revolutionary War at least through
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
,
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
enlisted personnel responsible for transporting supplies by wagon and upkeep of animals for this purpose were called wagoners.
References
Further reading
* Telleen, Maurice (1977), ''The Draft Horse Primer: A Guide to the Care and Use of Work Horses and Mules'', Rodale Press, Emmaus, Pennsylvania,
* Elser, Smoke (1980), ''Packin' in on Mules and Horses'' Mountain Press Publishing Co., Missoula, Montana,
* Gebhards, Stacy V. (2000), ''When Mules Wear Diamonds: Mountain Packing with Mules and Horses'' Wilderness Skills, McCall, Idaho,
* Damerow, Gail; Ainsworth, Brandt and Edmunds, Bill (2001) ''Driving Draft Horses'', DVD,
Rural Heritage
''Rural Heritage'' is a bimonthly magazine published for America's past and present enthusiasts of animal power.
History and profile
First published in 1976, the magazine was named ''The Evener''. It serves small farmers and loggers who use draft ...
Video, Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
* Damerow, Gail and Rice, Alina (2008), ''Draft Horses and Mules: Harnessing Equine Power for Farm & Show'', Storey Publishing, North Adams, Massachusetts, {{ISBN, 978-1-60342-081-5
Transport occupations
Obsolete occupations
Animal husbandry occupations