Every day, staff members add new components to the Gallery of California History. Recently, we moved in a passenger freight wagon from the 1880’s, also known as a "California Mud Wagon.” To move objects of this scale, the entire team lends a hand. Learn more about the mud wagon here, and then come see it for yourself at the grand opening on Saturday, May 1, 2010.

This particular mud wagon was used on the ranch of the A.A. Moore family, located near Mission San Jose.  The Moore family ranch was a “hobby farm,” designed as a weekend retreat and summer vacation home.  With the assistance of hired ranchers, the Moore family farm raised cattle, horses, and chickens, and planted trees.  During the week, the Moore family lived in East Oakland. On weekends, they would take the train to Irvington, which is now part of Fremont, and the ranch keeper would pick them up in the mud wagon. 

Mountain roads from the train station to the ranch were very muddy, and this carriage model was specifically designed to get through deep mud, and customized to meet a wide range of uses.  This two-horse wagon is a mixture of the "Concord" design of the famous Wells Fargo stagecoach and the Conestoga wagons that brought settlers overland from the east.  From the Conestoga wagons of Pennsylvania the mud wagon received its bowed box, designed so that cargo would not shift.  The wheels are also unequal in size, with the front wheels slightly smaller for better maneuverability. Like multipurpose vans and station wagons today, the seats in the mud wagon could be removed to carry cargo instead of people. Though often stripped down for heavy work, the wagon could also be decorated with fancy lanterns and other accoutrements for festive occasions.

When the History Gallery opens on May 1, you will find the mud wagon in the exhibit “Coming for Land and Green Gold.” There, you’ll discover stories and objects from five different agricultural communities in early California history and learn about the many ways that people have participated in our state’s agriculture.

The wagon arrives in a moving van. Photo: Terry Carroll

The wagon's undercarriage. Photo: Terry Carroll

The history crew carefully rolls the wagon from the moving truck. Photo: Terry Carroll