A teamster, in modern American English

American English

American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....

, is a truck driver

Truck driver

A truck driver , is a person who earns a living as the driver of a truck, usually a semi truck, box truck, or dump truck.Truck drivers provide an essential service to...

. The trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 named after them is the International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Teamsters

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of several local and regional locals of teamsters, the union now represents a diverse membership of blue-collar and professional workers in both the public and private sectors....

 (IBT or Teamsters), one of the largest unions in the United States.

The term "teamster" originally referred to a person who drove a team of draft animals, usually a wagon

Wagon

A wagon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals; it was formerly often called a wain, and if low and sideless may be called a dray, trolley or float....

 drawn by ox

Ox

An ox , also known as a bullock in Australia, New Zealand and India, is a bovine trained as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castrated adult male cattle; castration makes the animals more tractable...

en, horse

Horse

The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

s, or mule

Mule

A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...

s. This term was common by the time of the Mexican-American War (1848) and the Indian Wars

Indian Wars

American Indian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between American settlers or the federal government and the native peoples of North America before and after the American Revolutionary War. The wars resulted from the arrival of European colonizers who...

 throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries on the American frontier.

A teamster might also drive pack animal

Pack animal

A pack animal or beast of burden is a working animal used by humans as means of transporting materials by attaching them so their weight bears on the animal's back; the term may be applied to either an individual animal or a species so employed...

s, such as a muletrain, in which case he was also known as a muleteer or muleskinner. Another name for the occupation was bullwhacker, related to driving oxen. Today this person may be called an outfitter

Outfitter

An outfitter is a shop or person that sells men's clothes . More specifically, it is a company or individual who provides or deals in equipment and supplies for the pursuit of certain activities. The term is most closely associated with outdoor activities such as rafting, hunting, fishing,...

 or packer. In Australian English

Australian English

Australian English is the name given to the group of dialects spoken in Australia that form a major variety of the English language....

, a teamster was also known as a bullocker or bullocky

Bullocky

A bullocky is an Australian English term for the driver of a bullock team. Bullock drivers were also known as teamsters or carriers. The American term for a bullocky is a bullwhacker.-History:...

.

Further review

• Telleen, Maurice (1977), The Draft Horse Primer: A Guide to the Care and Use of Work Horses and Mules, Rodale Press, Emmaus, Pennsylvania, ISBN 0-87857-161-2
• Elser, Smoke (1980), Packin' in on Mules and Horses Mountain Press Publishing Co., Missoula, Montana, ISBN 0-87842-127-0
• Gebhards, Stacy V. (2000), When Mules Wear Diamonds: Mountain Packing with Mules and Horses Wilderness Skills, McCall, Idaho, OCLC 47630999
• Damerow, Gail; Ainsworth, Brandt and Edmunds, Bill (2001) Driving Draft Horses, DVD, Rural Heritage
  Rural Heritage
  Rural Heritage is a bimonthly magazine published for America’s past and present enthusiasts of animal power. First published in 1976, it serves small farmers and loggers who use draft horses, mules, and oxen in their business. It is self-published on a small Iowa farm, and distributes its issues...
  
  Video, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, ISBN 978-1-893707-31-3
• 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