Wagon Wheels Are Rolling In Kansas

Story ID:	687
Written by:	Gail Lee Martin
Organization:	Kansas Authors Club
Story type:	Only Here
Location:	El Dorado Kansas USA
Year:	2006
Person:	Gail & Clyde Martin

Wagon Wheels Are Rolling In Kansas

Iron wagon wheels that made the deep ruts of the Santa Fe Trail are rolling in Kansas again. Only their final destination isn’t the ‘promise land’ or the legendary Santa Fe, but beautiful round cotton rugs like the pioneer women used to make. My husband, Clyde, and I have revived a long-lost family craft by making Wagon Wheel Rugs.

The Martins’ ancestors, who arrived in Black Jack, Douglas County in 1860, needed rugs for a specific reason. Their prime motive was warmth at the bedside or by the rocking chair on those cold, bare wood floors and even dirt floors of the dugouts that many lived in until their houses were built. These pioneer women recycled their wore out cotton clothes into much needed rugs and in the process added a splash of color to their drab lives on the bleak Kansas prairies.

The early settlers could have been the origin of the saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” What could be more fitting for a loom than one of the extra iron rims carried with them in case of breakdown on their trip to the frontier. Many boring hours on the trip west were spent weaving rugs on these circles of iron.

We have enjoyed introducing this craft to our children, grandchildren and friends in the form of gifts for birthdays, weddings and Christmas. Using a combination of oral history and a trial and error method, we have succeeded in making the rugs the same way Great-grandmother Kennedy probably did. Our great-grandmother was Elizabeth Rosebaugh, and she was born in Butler County on the western frontier of Pennsylvania in 1826. She married David Greacen Kennedy, a school teacher in 1848. In raising a large family, Elizabeth always had to make do with what she had, so it would be natural for her to come up with the idea of the wagon wheel rugs.

Today we make them from cotton sheets, as well as dress material. The hardest part of the whole rug process is finding suitable cotton material. Clyde will tell you about the many hours we spend at garage sales looking for cotton sheets we can use making the rugs. Most sheets with a blend of fifty percent cotton work well. If there is too much man-made material in the fabric, the material stretches as you weave and the rugs won’t lay flat. In fact some of my first rugs looked more like baskets than rugs.

Most sheets from garage sales are on sale because the owners have changed bed size or are redecorating and changing color schemes. These sheets are usually still in good condition and can be purchased for a dollar or so in this area. The rugs can be made with brand new material but that would add to the price of the rug. Pioneers didn’t have the opportunity to make designs like we can, using the vivid colors of modern sheets. Depending upon the color scheme, some of the rugs have vivid spokes that dominate the rug, while others have solid band of color going round, giving the rug a wheel effect.

The wagon wheel rugs can be used in many ways. A small rug tossed down on a wall-to-wall carpet for accent is an ideal accent for a large basket of flowers. Or draped over a small antique table they make an attractive addition to any room. These rugs are as useful today as they were in bygone days as they are reversible as well as washable.

The old iron rim of the wagon wheel is over 140 years old and is still being used. We wrapped the iron wheel with strips of an old blanket, to pin the cotton material that forms the spokes. The early pioneers tied their strips to the rim. We start by crisscrossing the rim with an odd number of spokes, usually nine and pin the ends. Then we start weaving in the middle where the spokes intersect. As the rug making continues, more spoke strips are added and the weaving resumes. In the process the wheel rolls round and round many times before the rug is finished. This make for strong arm muscles.

On the large wheel the completed rug will be 33 to 34 inches across with a 2 inch fringe. Clyde found a smaller, easier to handle wheel that we can make smaller rugs about 24 inches across that are ideal for small areas like the bathroom. I use this wheel when demonstrating our craft. Clyde also experimented with making half rugs that are so attractive and handy in front of the kitchen stove or sink area. But he will admit that half rugs are the hardest to make so he just make them for family. Flannel sheets make a warm to the touch rug, ideal for Kansas winters.

Since we retired we have take our rug-making skills on the road with us as we travel across the state to craft fairs and fun in the sun at our summer home in eastern Kansas. Rug-weaving is a time-consuming occupation, so we set up the wheel and weave where ever we are and soon find ourselves the center of attention and a topic of conversation. Probably Great-grandmother Kennedy did the same.

Published in the Kanhistique magazine July 1993