Published: April 18, 2008 11:07 am            

Technology a friend to modern cowboys

PURCELL, Okla. — They look like cowboys.

A quick glance and you’ll see the jeans, the cotton shirt and, probably, a hat.

There’s the rope.

The chaps.

The scarf.

And the boots — gotta have the boots.

They act like cowboys.

They’re on horseback or on a mule or in a wagon and they are covered in a fine patina of red dirt. Dirt and dust earned from miles and miles of Oklahoma.

They have that “Western” look. That stoic, cowboy stare; the quiet nature and those small beads of sweat that leave their mark on the face.

Yeah, they act like cowboys, too.

But they’re not.

Not really.

Some are retired. Some are widows. One is a 13-year-old schoolgirl from Maysville and another, a civilian employee at Fort Sill in Lawton.

A couple raise cattle.

One was a sheet metal worker.

But others just raise children.

Those are their “real” lives. The day-to-day things they do to make a living and find their place in the world.

But here, they are different.

Here, like the song says, they belong to the land.

This is fun.

This is for the joy of it.

This is to celebrate all that is Sooner and earthy and history.

This is the ’89er Wagon Train Association’s 30th annual Land Run Ride.

“I’ve been doing this since the beginning,” said Joe Howard, a rugged, calloused man who calls Glenn Heights, Texas, his home. “I went to the first ride, 30 years ago.”

And, despite the fact that Howard hails from Texas, he’s come back to ride almost every year.

Complete with a green, Colorado Highlander covered wagon — with wooden wheels — Howard looks like he stepped out of the late 1800s. He speaks softly; his large hands are calloused from years of hard work.

“I run some cattle,” he said. “But I retired as a sheet metal worker.”

But he doesn’t ride a horse.

Howard prefers his mules.

“You can take an 800-pound mule and kill a thousand-pound horse,” he said. “Mules have more endurance. They’re stronger and they’re better behaved.”

Lisa Wright agrees.

A smiling, bluejeaned woman with a rich Oklahoma accent, Wright serves as the president of the ’89er Wagon Train Association.

She’s the one with the flag and the red band on her hat.

And, like the others, she’s here for the adventure.

“We do this to celebrate history and to have fun,” she said. “You get pretty connected to these people. You get to know them well. They are like a huge family.”

With planning that takes almost a full year, the horses, the mules and wagons are a way of life for Wright and her group.

A way that reflects both the past and today.

While Wright has the Western attire and the necessary animal for the ride, she also packs a two-way walkie talkie and a cell phone.

Her friends are no different.

Many of the wagons sport steel-belted radials instead of wooden spoked wheels. A few had side mirrors and at least one sported plush bucket seats.

“You could say we’ve blended,” Wright said. “Sure, the wagons have changed. But the world has changed. Cars and people have changed.”

For those in the wagon train those changes include shipping their own water and a structure that could only be described as the group’s MBF — mobile bathroom facility.

OK, it’s some PortaPotties being pulled by a tractor.

“Like I said, we’re self-contained,” Wright said.

And once the riders hit town for the evening, instead of camping out, they sleep in RVs or trailers with sleeping compartments.

Still, despite the conveniences, the technology and the tires, there’s something rustic and old school about riding a horse — or mule — 17 miles a day across Oklahoma.

It is all about the ride.

At least that’s what 13-year-old Troi Hornbuckle thinks.

Normally a middle school student — who somehow, managed to slip away from school for a few days — Hornbuckle has been participating in the ride since she was 8 or 9.

“I do it ’cause it’s what I like to do,” she said.

Hornbuckle, who has horses in Maysville, joined her grandmother and her sister-in-law on the ride. And despite the bugs, the humidity and the dust, she was delighted to be there.

“It’s all about riding the horses,” she said.

And it's about paying homage to those who made the run more than 100 years ago



M. Scott Carter writes for The Norman (Okla.) Transcript.

        

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