Boxes to sit on were a luxury

The cooking was done over a fire place, in the rear of the dugout—the fireplace facing one as he descended the steps. The crude bed was made of hackberry logs built against the wall. The mattress was made of feed sacks sewn together, and then stuffed with hay. It was a mighty good bed after sleeping for weeks on the ground. Every cowboy furnished his own bedding. A puncher’s clothes were kept in an oil cloth bag, known as a war bag. It had a side opening; the clothes laid in it flat and the whole thing was used for a pillow. There was little furniture in a camp other than the bed. A box on the wall served as a cabinet. Boxes to sit on were a luxury—a fellow sat cross-legged on the floor when he ate, holding his plate on his knees.

From The Camp Life of a Cowpuncher by Carroll Doshier as told by Jim Christian