I pulled into MB in the middle of the afternoon. I was looking forward to my stay here and the adventures it was supposed to bring, heck, I was going to meet an old TV cowboy from my youth. I had reservations for the famous dinner with the cowboy, the one and only star of the 1960's and 70's TV Series, THE VIRGINIAN. Now I have to say, The Virginian had the BEST theme song of any TV series ever produced. And I really did love the burning map and the staying power of the Bonanza theme song (I was at a Blue Man Group show and they played it!), that is one beautiful and haunting tehme song that I am trying to get as the ringer on my cell phone! (And I will have to tell everyone what it is!) Set in Medicine Bow, Wyoming, it is the story of a ranch foreman who had no name, only know as "The Virginian" and based on the novel of the same name by Owen Wister. A novel that was basically the first of the western genre to be published. It was based on a trip he made to Medicine bow to do some hunting. And not written here, just based here. In the early days of cars, this was a stop on the Lincoln Highway. Now, although not the favorite cowboy star of my youth (that honor belonged to Little Joe Cartwright himself, Michael Landon), I must admit as I got a little more mature, The Virginia did make my teenage heart do a few little pitty pats. But the do-star, Doug McClure, as Trampas was more my style. I always liked the one that were a bit more fun, more reckless, and a times The Virginian himself was just a little too 'establishment'.
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| There is proof I was there, my dirty pick up is right there on the right! |
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| Lincoln Highway marker |
When I made the reservation for dinner, Sharon (from TP) was going to come with me, and first she didn't want to stay (it would have been about a 3-4 hour drive to get here) and wanted to go back to camp, and then she changed her mind and wanted a room, and we found out there were none available. Then, of course, she just crapped out on the whole thing, she was fluctuating even before I stopped working there. So, I pulled into town, figuring that I was going to have to sleep in my truck.
But the gods of luck were with me, and when I got to the hotel, and met up with that Sharon, my waitress friend from before, I asked if there might be a cancellation. She took me to Vicky, the owner and person I had been talking with on emails, and I asked if there might be a cancellation. She asked how many, and I said, just myself, and she told me that yes, she had one room for one person. Don't know if she was holding it back or not, but I jumped on that one! So, room # 10 became mine! At $40.00. What a deal.
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| My room |
Now, let me warn you if you choose to go to MB and decide to take lodging at the Virginian Hotel. It is an old fashioned hotel. You get a nice room, with period furnishings. And that is about all it is. No private baths, sorry folks, there are shared baths on the floor. So, if you need to go to the bathroom all night long, I suggest you wear your PJ's. And no air conditioning units in the walls, open the windows, and, as I did, you also open the transom over the door. If you don't know what those are, think a little window that opens up on a rod over interior doors to allow air near the ceilings to circulate. What you will find are comfy beds, lots of pillows, clean surroundings, and personal touches, like books, lace and colors. I like my room! It was at the end of the hall, and yes, I walk to the center of the building for the baths, but no one would be walking by me all night long. Oh, and if you want to relax in bed watching the big screen TV, plan on doing it in the bar downstairs, those aren't in the rooms either. But you will get really good cell phone service, even for my prepaid Tracphone! Internet, well, frankly, I never even gave it a thought while I was there, it just did not seem necessary to waste my time on the Internet. So I have no clue. (I actually found out later that they have pretty good Internet here.)
There was a bit of a glitch with keys, seem they just made up a bunch of new ones and had not checked them first, and mine did not work without way too much effort, as did a few others, so someone went and made me up a new key while I waited around. Which I was grateful for, since I planned to have a few cocktails that night, and I could just see myself having a discussion with the door to get in after that! And bought myself another tee shirt while waiting for the new key.
So, if you are the 4 or 5 star hotel kind, I suggest you keep right on going, or stop in Cheyenne and don't even bother, (heck, I dont' think Cheyenne has any 4 or 5 star hotels either!) but if you want funky cool, you have come to the right place! I LOVED this place, heck, I loved the entire town, such as it is. And it really is very small. Population 250 people maybe? Vicky the owner and I joked later on about star ratings of hotels, and she suggested that instead of stars, there should be 'spur' ratings. On that scale, I think The Virginian rates at least 4 spurs. I suggest the spur rating system must depend on cool, historic value, and homi-ness. It's got all of that in spades, as well as really great food at good prices, and people who have great personalities and are fun and willing to serve you. Heck, I think that's now 6 spurs, don't you?
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| These guys wanted to be in my blog - if someone recognizes them, please tell me who they are |
Well, the dinner with James Drury was slated for 7pm. So I spent some time getting freshened up, dressed in my finest cowboy digs, put on my really great Charlie One Horse hat, and donned the Lucchese's, both of which hubby bought me for my birthday this year.
I went downstairs to see what was going on, and found them finishing up the set up for the dinner. Took me a while (and some help) to find out where I was sitting, (place cards were the postcards of the hotel) and looked over some of the stuff that was set out for sale that related to James Drury. Things like photos, tee shirts, and recently released boxed sets of The Virginian TV Series. Plus, I talked to lots of people. Heck, if anyone knows me, they know I talk to everyone. I met the former owners of the hotel, I met local 'dignitaries' friends of them, relatives of them, all very friendly, all more than willing and somewhat thrilled to talk to a woman from Massachusetts.
I want to say it was about 5:30 or so when I looked up to see James Drury coming through the bar towards the restaurant, and I briefly shook his hand and stated it was a pleasure to meet him. He was very friendly and personable. It was good to see him walk in under his own power.
OK, that sounds really bad, but in my first visit to the hotel a few weeks back, Sharon the waitress and I discussed wanting to meet him, and her comment was that she would be really disappointed and hoped that he didn't come in with a walker. She stated that she was close to his age, and really did not want the memories of the TV show ruined by some 'old guy' coming. I totally understood where she was coming from. It is difficult enough to deal with your own aging, but to have the heros and heart throbs of your youth now paraded out as really old people with the frailties of age right in your face, this can really cause you to get depressed, at least! You would rather have the fantasy of what was and the memory of what they looked like 40 years ago than to know what they have become.
So, other than a limp and him being short, (maybe he always was, heck, I dont' know) and being 77, he looked and acted pretty good for an old guy! He planted himself on a banquette in the corner of the dining room and started signing autographs, and posing for pictures with people.
Now, just to let everyone know, the way most of these things work with aging stars, pick any star, be it TV, movie or sports, (except for musicians, you still have to pay them to play) they are usually paid an appearance fee, and they make their money selling stuff. That can be anything from tee shirts to photos, to, as in this case, autographs. In other words, you want something signed, it will cost you. And in James Drury's case, that fee was $20.00. If you wanted the 8 x 10 photo with an autograph, it was $20.00. You wanted the DVD with a signature, that was more, of course. You wanted him to sign your hat, $20.00. You can hate this if you want, but that's just how it goes. The reason I tell this story, is that there was a guy in the bar who was upset because he wanted him to sign just a piece of paper for a friend of his. And he was ticked because it cost $20.00. I asked him if he paid it. He said he did, but that he thought it was ridiculous, because he was not buying a photo. I asked the bartender if the above comments were the case, that he got an appearance fee and it was up to him to make whatever money he could on stuff, and that was confirmed.
So, if you go somewhere and find this is the case, don't get all upset. Either you pony up the fee or you don't, but figure it as this: it's someone trying to make a living on whatever they have to make a living on. Try to get a ball player to sign a ball. It will cost you quite a bit at one of those 'official' signature sessions.
Anyway, I digress.
I did go find Sharon the waitress to tell her that Jim had arrived, and told her that there was no walker in sight! She was laughing quite hard at that.
So, I joined the Que for the official signing. I took one of the classic photos of him in his heyday, and heck, so what if he doesn't look like that anymore. That's how I choose to remember him. Several of the people in front of me were taking photos of themselves with Jim, and I volunteered to take the pics so that all four of the group in front of me could be in it. I did laugh when Jim said that photos with him did not cost! (So, just as a warning, I bet there are some stars that charge for that too!)
I got my signature, and the nice people I had just photographed repaid my courtesy and snapped a couple of Jim and I. Funny, I must look like I know what I am doing with photos, and yes, Franklyn and i did earn our living doing that before, but Jim picked me as knowing what I was doing with a camera, and kept having people hand me their cameras to get pics. However, I think what really is the reason that happens is because I carry a Nikon SLR digital. Not the most expensive or even the latest model, but I find that most people only carry one of those little point ant shoots, and I guess that having that camera hanging on my shoulder must look like I know something. And, heck, I am willing to snap a few quality photos for people. At least I know they will get a good one!
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| Guess who? |
I also could not resist getting a tee shirt that read "Virginian Posse" Heck, how many other opportunities would I have to get another one? Pretty unique in itself.
As it got around to 7, we all started to gravitate to the "Back 40" as they call the room they do events in, and found our seats. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased to find that sitting across from me were Lonnie and Marv, one of the couples I had met previously! Lonnie was dressed in her finery, and Marv was dressed as a dandy from the period of the late 1800's, early 1900's.
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| Lonnie & Marv |
Now, again, being the 6 spur hotel that it is, the feast at The Virginian is not what you would expect at the Four Seasons, nor were the decorations. It was imply decorated on the tables with things like red, white, and blue sparkly things, and colored papers. Seated to my right was "Big Pete" from Laramie, and to my left was Tim, who was here for the class reunion, and his wife Linda across from him. Big Pete told us that he worked as a welder in Laramie. Big Pete also seemed to want to know quite a bit about me too. In fact, he seemed to think it was very important for me to teach him how to properly pronounce "Massachusetts" which, for some reason, people west of the Mississippi seems not to be able to do. They do not seem to be able to do the 'choose' and turn it always into a 'toots'. He seemed to not be as friendly when Lonnie told him I had a husband back home! And since I did not hide my wedding rings, he obviously either wasn't looking or didn't care until it was pointed out.
Well, now to the feast. Salad. Just your generic tossed salad with oil and vinegar type dressing, but a good portion and crisp. (And if you ever had one of those warm limp salads at a banquet, you can appreciate this!). Rolls and butter, which were VERY good rolls. Then the dinner came. A large dinner plate, heaped with sliced beef with gravy, parsley mashed potatoes, and green beans with mushrooms and bacon. It was a BIG portion. And, I must admit, some of the best sliced beef I have had in a LONG time. This beef was tender, and there was absolutely NO FAT on the beef! Heck, usually this type of meal is a low budget affair, slided beef sometimes being a not great cut of meat, but not here! This was quality food and plenty of it. I was impressed! But in case you haven't figured it out by now, I was impressed by just about everything at The Virginian Hotel! Dessert were cupcakes. Good cupcakes. Simple fare, but very filling and yummy. I did something that I rarely do at one of these things. I cleaned my plate. I did not leave anything I cut off on the side, because I did not cut anything off, there was nothing to discard!.
There were the usual 'dinner' things while we ate. A host who got up and said all sorts of nice things, talked about how the hotel was 100 years old, and why this night was special and then talked about all the accomplishments of our special guest, James Drury, and his TV and movie roles, and presented him with a plaque. OK, I should have listened better, I have no idea what the plaque was for, something to do with cowboys and TV and stuff. Then Jim got up and said all sorts of nice things about how great it was to be here, and I could tell it was heartfelt, heck, he seemed like a pretty honest fella, and this place made his career, and so, I would be pretty glad to have it here and be here if I was in his place. Heck, anyone should be thrilled that 40 plus years after starring in a TV show that people would still want to come and see him because of that role, and those people would number a pretty large amount!
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| Jim, saying thank you |
Then my friend Marv got up and told the story of the hotel, how his ancestors put up the money to build the hotel in 1911, and how they ended up owning it several times in it's existence, mostly from repossessions.
There was a full slate of events happening this weekend. They had events targeted toward returning members of the former high school, which had closed several years ago. They had meet and greets, and music under a tent outside and fast draw competitions, and a community tag sale, and the museum was open.
So, I guess people want the history of the Virginian Hotel, and why this 100th Anniversary weekend was occurring.
Back in the late 1800's a Philadelphia lawyer (that in itself is an oxymoron) by the name of Owen Wister came west to Medicine Bow to go hunting. MB at that time was a booming town. It had the Union Pacific Railroad stopping there, and was a hub for hunters coming in and for the shipping of cattle to the stockyards in Omaha. Ranches were booming in the area, the amount of cattle going out was huge. Teddie Roosevelt himself was one of the people who came to this area to hunt.
At the time, the town was booming, but also a bit of a classic western town. There was a hotel of sorts here, but not the one you see today. Seems Wister thought the hotel (which was more of less on the site of the current one) was such a dump and has all sorts of critters in it, both two legged and 8 legged or so, and so he ended up sleeping on the counter in the store across the street, where the museum now sits. But he got the idea for his novel, and later wrote the novel "The Virginian" about a soft spoken ranch hand, that became the first of Western genre and launched a whole bunch of western writers. OK, the novel is kind of tough to plod through. It is, dry, to be kind. And discussions of it in Medicine Bow kind of all went along those lines. They might not like it that much, but they love it. Heck, it made them.
MB went dormant when the cattle and ranching industry left, but it became a major stop along the old Lincoln Highway when car travel became the new thing. The Lincoln Highway was one of the first highways and routes, and went from New York to San Francisco. The route basically followed along what is now Route 80 east to west. There were other stops in the area along the Lincoln Highway, amount those that tree growing in the rock that I talked about in a previous post, and the cabin made out of the dinosaur fossils.
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| And original Lincoln Highway poster from way back |
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| The fossil cabin |
During that time frame, there was little accommodations for the tourists that were traveling the highway. So,in 1911, an enterprising man decided to build a hotel to cater to the tourists. Here the story gets interesting, since he could not raise the money through banks. Heck,there were none int he area, and any in places like Cheyenne could not see the value of a hotel in MB, so he ended up getting most of the financing from a local man. (Marv's ancestors.)
So, over the years, MB has gone through incarnations, after Route 80 was built and relocated 30 miles or so south from this section of the Lincoln Highway, the tourist trade died. MB has had it's ups and downs over the previous century, up during the mining days and down when they closed the mines, and it stills remains alive, with no industry, and little inhabitants, and no real jobs. Recently, the first wind turbines in the country were put in the MB area, since MB was deemed to be one of the windiest places in the US (I did not think MB was as windy at dodge City, Kansas, but what do I know? Maybe I was there on some quiet days.) Also, there are some mining industry that has sprung up again. But the school is no longer, and without the hotel, there would be a big ghost town in MB. However, the town of MB is actually named as one of the ghost towns of Wyoming. There are some 'former buildings' here, but if the citizens of MB have anything to do with it, this will never be a ghost town. The enthusiasm that the residents have for this town is high, and the desire to keep this town alive and to preserve it's history is fierce.
So, as Marv will proudly tell you, (or he could be bragging, it really does not matter) throughout the years, his family has repossessed the hotel several times. The first was from the original guy who built it, and his family has run in during those interim times, and then found a new manager, buyer, whichever. He is pleased that the current owners are doing so well and promote the hotel as much, because as he jokes, he probably won't have to buy it back!
Marv told me a story, which was borne out on Saturday when I went through their museum. Some time over the years, Owen Wister built a cabin in Wyoming. Over the years, the cabin was abandoned, and started to disintegrate. The word went out that it was to be either torn down or burnt down. Well, in stepped Marv (his family sure has a history of preserving this town!) and started a movement to preserve this cabin. to raise funds to preserve the cabin, to dismantle it and move it to the center of town and reconstruct it and renovate it, he came up with the idea of 'selling' logs in the cabin to various people to 'adopt.' This campaign was successful, and the reconstructed cabin stands proudly in the center of town as part of the museums. Yes, there are parts that still need to be finished, but a piece of local history was saved from destruction, and that is all that matters.
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| Owen Wister cabin |
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| The bedroom, a work in progress, with the labels showing |
As someone who lives in a town that is big on keeping their own history alive, and being the sister of our town's official historian, I have an appreciation for anyone who strives to keep their town's history alive, be it big or little history, and to save the local treasures. When you think about the little things that some town's celebrate as the only thing that a town can hold as their heritage, being a inspiration and backdrop for the first western novel is a big claim to fame for a town. I salute all you citizens of Medicine Bow for your efforts and I was proud to help in the little way I could to keeping your heritage alive!
On Friday night I enjoyed listening to the man who was telling ghost stories on the second floor sitting area of the hotel, just down the hall from my room. If you read my previous posts, and the time I traveled through here a few weeks previous, you know that I believe the hotel is haunted, and felt something in the Owen Wister room. (Number 1) The hotel admits it is haunted, they claim it is a man who was a former owner. I met several people that night who claimed that they had seen things in the hotel, and a few people who wanted to say they were seeing things right at that minute. OK, that I was not buying, for as we were sitting and listening to tales in that sitting room, this included the guy who said that the hallway in front of my room was very cold (it was quite a warn night), that one of the doors to a room on the right in that same hallway opened and closed by itself, and that he saw a face in a second floor window later one when we were outside talking. I felt nothing that evening, and nothing kept me awake that night (other than the periodic freight trains that run through here and their whistles, but even that got to be routine and I slept through them later through the night), and no one I talked to was visited by anything from another world.
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| My non haunted hallway |
The person who was staying in the Owen Wister room was the woman who was the assistant for James Drury. I did ask her on Saturday morning if she had any experiences in the room and she said she had not. heck, everyone was telling ghost stories, so I told her mine. She did not seemed to be effected by it. Some believe, some do not.
I had some wonderful conversations with Jim Drury's buddy, John Lindquist. This gentleman was a horse person from way back, and told me that he started his career riding horses at, of all places, Suffolk Downs in Boston! As a jockey. He also spent quite a bit of time in the movies, and since he is not a famous star, I am assuming that he was an extra, wrangler, or stunt rider. John is a HOOT! He had an incredible sense of humor, and was also a wealth of knowledge of horses, and movie history. He was hanging with another friend, who's name I have forgotten, but I enjoyed talking to these two guys and swapping stories.
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| That's John on the right, crafting some tales |
They came up with one of the best phrases I have ever heard: "It's all about the story." Heck, it is. That is one thing I have always been involved in: a good story. You must also remember, that the story can always be made better with a great delivery! John had good stores, and great delivery. His wife, Judi, had a very dry sense of humor, and the someone who has spent a lot of time with a 'charactor', which her other half defiantly is. Heck, I wanted to take John home! He was a treat and someone I will remember fondly for a long time.
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| Judi Lindquist, James Drury, John Lindquist |
After the dinner, I did spend a few minutes in conversation with Carl Ann, his wife. I was kind of surprised when I asked how they had met. She stated that a friend had asked her is she wished to meet James Drury, and she responded that she had no idea who he was! She had never watched The Virginian on TV. Of course, at the time they met (1979 vintage) the show had been off the air for something like 8 years. She joked that when she looks at the series today, it just does not seem like it is her husband. She stated her children don't even think it looks like him! Ah, how time changes things, huh?
Well, other than the special events this weekend for the anniversary, I would bet the rent that nothing really happens on a typical weekend in MB. But the bar and restaurant of the hotel was hopping this evening. They had a small band playing under a tent outside and, being from New England where the liquor laws are vastly different from the West, you could take your cocktail and walk outside, and pretty much walk all over outside with it. No one cared, no one stopped you. This was a hoot for me, since you can't walk around here in public with a drink! There were a large group of locals that occupied the bar, and everyone was friendly! Some lamented the wooden boardwalk that used to be in front of the hotel as a great place to sit, talk and have a drink. Again, we have the Western people who were thrilled to meet this Eastern Cowgirl! And, yes, everywhere in the country, men of all ages flirt outrageously, and everyone who knows me knows I love to firth back And heck, as I get older, I enjoy any young guy who flirts with me, no matter what the reason, whether of not they are even remotely serious! Who cares, I just love that it still happens!
Oh, let me tell you the story of my cocktails. I drink margaritas, in case you have not figured that out by now. I traveled with a bottle of tequila and polished off a bottle of mixer during my trip, but not the tequila. So I ordered a margarita, and got a ration of shit for it from the bartender. OK, not serious, but this is pretty much a 'shot and a beer' place, and spending the time to make something like this on a busy night, I know (as a former bartender) is a pain in the ass. So I gave him a ration of shit back. Including challenging him to come behind the bar and make it myself. I almost thought he was going to let me! As it was, he was not that good at it, and so I was razzing him about being skimpy on the tequila. (This was serious, I doubt he put a full shot in) And I want to say that they have taste, because they were pouring Quervo Gold here. So, the owner grabbed the cocktail shaker from the other bartender, and said he would make it, and grabbed the Quervo bottle, then he turned his back to me and was pouring. That was on purpose, because I know he was going to try to 'get me." (I had been talking and laughing with the owner several times this day). One of the women at the bar who could see better than me turned to me, and was laughing, and said 'do you know how much he's pouring?" When I said no, she said that he had probably put about three shots in the glass. Then he even threw it through the blender and poured the entire thing in a big beer glass. I sampled, and proclaimed it delicious! And it was. The bartender told me that he wasn't going to make another frozen one for me, and the owner said, 'don't worry, I will.' and then asked for $4.00. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) $4.00 for 3 shots of Quervo gold? What a deal! Over the rest of the night I had a total of three of these beauties. Left nice tips and enjoyed the banter more and more. And stayed sober, even after all that tequila.
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| Some original art, Doug McClure as Trampas on left, James Drury as The Virginian on right |
I took to my comfy bed about midnight, even though the place was still hopping. I could have easily stayed up for several more hours, but I also knew that I would be leaving the following day, so I figured that I should do it without a hangover.
I slept quite well. Like I said, the area I was in was a quiet corner of the hotel, the other end would have been busy as it was over the bar area, no spirits visited me, I opened the window to it's fullest, the transom to it's largest, and other than that freight train that took a bit getting used to, ended up sleeping quite well. By the way, the train comes through every couple hours. First one comes in one direction, and within about 20 minutes, one will go by in the other direction. All day long. You go, Union Pacific. And some of these are fairly long trains too.
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| About every two hours these trains come through, but never stop |
The next morning I was up maybe around 8 or so, feeling quite good. I spent a few minutes talking with Tim, by former dinner mate, who told me that he had been up well past 2 or 3, and having quite a few cocktails, as well as a bit of a hangover. As a former citizen of MB, Tim told me a few things that the average tourist would not know: MB has no police force. The classic Western town with 'no law.' I had to chuckle about this. Because there is no crime really in Wyoming. But Tim told me that there were 4 cops sitting in the dining room area of the hotel most of last night drinking coffee. Plain clothes, most likely county or state. Heck, I would bet this is the biggest thing that was going on in the area for months! Tim also told me that there were some great places to go see in the area, and even Lonnie and Marv told me of a few, which would have meant me staying for at lest two or three more days, which at this time, I do not have. If you want more info on the town, check the town's website: www.medicinebow.org.
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| A view of Medicine Bow |
I take a walk to visit around the town. OK, not a huge hike, but I visit the graveyard across the railroad tracks. I pass an abandoned building, that at one time must have housed some type of business, and a fallen down wooden building. and walk up a dusty dirt path with horse prints on it, to the local boot hill. Or, as it is called here, Trail's End. There are very few 'modern' graves here, most are very old, from the beginnings of the town.
One thing you will find if you look up Ghost Towns in Wyoming, you will find Medicine bow on several of these lists. They point to abandoned and falling buildings as examples of that, but this town is NOT a ghost town.
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| A shuttered building |
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| A former building, now collapsed |
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| The town's cemetery |
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| Hoof prints on the way to Trail's End |
And I am struck by several things in this graveyard. 1. there is a prairie dog problem in this area. There are burrows all over the graveyard, an it is clear that the little buggers are burrowing right through the remains of former citizens. 2. From the lay of the cemetery, there is probably a lot of unmarked graves, some are even outlined but without stones. 3. the vast majority of the inhabitants of the graveyard are children. I guess this is a good example of how difficult life was in the early days of the west, not to mention just the nature of life 100 plus years ago. Many of the stones were for babies that did not survive their first day on earth, or were still born. Some lived only days, some a few years. I am struck by the tragedy of one family: approximately one year apart, they had a stillborn baby boy and a stillborn baby girl. Childbirth was one of the most common ways a woman died in the past. And since conditions were hardly sanitary or comfortable, babies were very susceptible to death, and since women did not receive prenatal care, it could easily been understood how babies could not develop properly.
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| Two still born children, born one year apart |
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| And the graves of the parents that buried those two children |
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| A grave of a former citizen, who no one knows |
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| A sad end - time and nature, takes it's toll |
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| The Union Pacific streams through, viewed from Trail's End |
On my walk back to the hotel, I photographed the Union Pacific train as it came blasting through MB.
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| Union Pacific streams through town |
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| She goes through with some speed, enough to shake the ground and blow your hat off! |
The parade was to begin at 9:30 am, and I decided to grab some breakfast before that. Let me tell you, this place has no idea about reasonable portions. I asked for a small breakfast, like one egg over easy, a couple sausages, and maybe a small amount of hash browns. I was asked if I wanted toast, and I said no. So what did I get? Two eggs, 4 sausages, and enough hash browns to sink a battle ship. So here I look at this plate, and so I ask, 'can I take this outside?' And the answer, was 'of course.' So out I go to the curb to wait for the parade with my breakfast on a huge china plate, and real silverware. Where I promptly have great conversations with others waiting for the parade, who I told my West versus East riding story, (and was told that wasn't true) and was offered suggestions on where I could find a job.
Now, MB's idea of a parade and yours are probably different. This is a small town parade. The older convertible which is holding the parade grand marshal, James Drury, has hand made signs on the car,
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| Grand Marshall |
a model T,
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| Rodeo Queen |
three girls on horseback that proclaim they are rodeo queens,
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| A cool spray on a hot day |
and the town's fire truck, spraying everyone with water. (Which I am very good at avoiding.) A flat bed hauling Arapaho Indians in full costume dancing,
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| Arapaho Indians from the Wind River Reservation |
As James Drury came riding by in the parade, he pointed to me and said: "I have your story for you!"
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| Jim's got a story! |
I will explain. The night before, right as things were winding down at his autograph session, and people were just talking, I asked Jim for a story. Now, what I love to do to people I want to get info from, or from 'famous' people or people with history, or with life experiences, is to ask them to tell me a personal story, or a story of a adventure or an episode in their life. When I asked Jim, it kind of knocked him for a loop, it was clear no one had ever asked him that question, because he wanted to know what I meant. As I told him, something must have happened at one time in his film career, something funny, interesting, unique. Everyone has a story to tell. He said to give him some time to think on it and if I was there on Saturday, he would try to come up with one. I told him I would be there, so when he noticed me and told me that from the parade car, I replied that I would be by to get my story.
By the way, I could not finish my breakfast, and even joked with a couple guys to offer to share it with them! So glad I refused the toast! It probably would have been 4 slices.
One of the events that I enjoyed watching was the quick draw competition that they were having. Men and women separate contests. And I have to say I was quite impressed that someone could draw and shoot in something like 2.3 seconds and even hit the target! In other words, you need to be fast AND accurate! This is a big deal around this area, and some Canadian champs were even in this competition.
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| The men compete - would you believe 2.3 SECONDS? |
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| The ladies take their turn |
I was very impressed when they started the competition. It began with The National Anthem, sung by a local girl who had a hell of a voice and hit all the right notes the right way, a prayer and the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE!
I found out that out in the West, everything starts with the National Anthem and a prayer. Heck, I swear if they were digging a ditch they would sing the National Anthem first, and then ask God to bless the people working in the ditch. Anyway, as I watched the crowd during these opening ceremonies, all the men had their hats off their heads and their hands over their hearts. Yes, out West they take their patriotism seriously.
Everyone got into the events here, little kids came dressed to be gunfighters, with their pistols strapped to their little hips. Men and women cheered everyone equally.
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| Two little gunfighters practice |
I spent a few minutes talking with one of the elder Arapaho Indians. They were from the Wind River Reservation, and were to perform later in the day. Regretfully, I was not going to stay that long, even though I really did think about spending another night. But it was interesting to hear him talk with pride about his Valley and the interesting things about it. As you recall, I was just so awe inspired by the Valley as I went through it. This elder told me that one of the most interesting things about The Wind River Valley and the area around here is that there are rivers that run in all four directions of the compass in the area. Which is pretty interesting in itself. He also told me that the costumes that they wore area ll hand made by themselves. And they are beautiful works of art as themselves. The feathers, the colors, just beautiful.
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| An Arapaho Elder |
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| These costumes are hand made |
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| Authentic and detailed |
I was impressed with the laid back attitude of the Hotel staff, I asked when check out was, and Vicky's response was 'whenever you decide.' She said the room was not needed, so I could take my time moving out. Man, what a treat compared to the big chains who will charge you extra if you don't get out early, or the places that start trying to get in to turn your room while you are taking a shower in the morning! I didn't abuse the privilege though, but what I great thing to not have pressure from your hosts!
I wandered to the MB museum, which is housed in the old train depot building, which seemed to be the busiest it has probably ever been in the entire time it has been open.
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| The old railroad depot, now the museum |
Now, this is no Smithsonian. this is a small town, local museum. The things in this museum are of interest to them. Items that relate to the Lincoln Highway. A collection of local brands, which are the metal things that cowboys used to heat in a fire and press against the hide of a cow to brand them with their ranch identification. Railroad items, clothes donated by locals, a collection of pens. Ok, I don't get that either, but it means something to these people, and that makes it cool.
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| A pen collection, and some lighters too |
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| A collection of local branding irons |
I am sure some people reading this blog will think that the citizens of and the Town of Medicine Bow are probably some of the biggest hicks they have every heard of, and there may be many pairs of eyes rolling upward. Those people would be wrong. These are honest, small town folks that look out for each other, know each other, care about each other, their town, their own little piece of the world and want to see that continued forward. They delight in what they have locally and in their own lives. Their methods may not be mine, but I respect them. The things that are important to them may not be what's important to me, but I think they should protect them as fiercely as I would protect what I love. And I found these people sweet, wonderful and I had some of the best times I had in the entire State of Wyoming in Medicine Bow. The only way my time in Medicine Bow could have gotten any better is if The Virginian Hotel served that buffalo burger that I had in Cody. Now, that would have been heaven!
The Owen Wister cabin is part of the museum complex, and you could see the work in progress on the saving and restoration of this piece of history with the numbers marked on the logs, and the plaques showing the name of the rescuer of that log on it. And this is neat cabin. I could live there. It was comfy, and a lot bigger than you would think it would be. Put in a nice modern kitchenette and a bath, and I would move in there.
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| The main room of the Wister cabin |
So I mosied over to find out if James Drury was free enough to tell me his story. So here is the tale:
Jim was working on a movie called "Ten Who Dared." This is a movie about Civil War Major John Powell who was the first to travel the Colorado River and up into the Grand Canyon, and based on Powell's 1869 journal. The stars of the film were Brian Keith (played in many westerns, and that ridiculous TV sitcom about Buffy and Joey and Mr French) and Ben Johnson, who was a cowboy extraordinaire, as well as starred in so many really good moves. Jim played Powell's brother. He stated that the weather was very cold, and they were stepping into ice on the sides of the river while filming. He also stated that they were being lodged in these concrete block buildings. Another person on the film was Stan Jones, who started out as a Park Ranger and rode rodeo, and was a singer and songwriter. He wrote songs for John Ford and Disney films. However, he will always be known for his most famous song: Ghost Riders In the Sky. So there is the set up for the story Jim was to tell.
Seems he was having a 'few' cocktails and went back to his concrete bunker home one night in a bit of a 'haze' (my editorializing, he said he was drunk.). And proceeded to play with his brand new Ruger 357 Blackhawk. Which proceeded to discharge, where it went through the concrete wall of his room, and struck the pillow a few inches from Stan Jones' head, and sunk into the floor under his bed. The punch line: "I almost made my own Ghost Rider In The Sky!" And he stated that was the first and the last 'accidental discharge' of firearms that he had been involved with. Ok, I liked the story! But I like guns, and Ruger's are my favorite guns! Heck, I was on the pursuit of finding a western holster and belt for my Ruger single six, which I did do in Cody. (anyone who comes over can see this - it's cool.)
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| Two old cowboys, swapping stories and telling tales - - - -(Jim and John) |
Part of the events were geared to kids, like games, and face painting, and there were some street vendors selling everything from craft type things to tag sale stuff. And even though there were more fast draw competitions, a street dance to come, and more events to celebrate this 100 years of a historic hotel, I needed to start moving East.
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| No, not mine, but pretty neat! |
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| The Virginian's gun - now permanently encased in the bar of The Virginian Hotel |
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| Me and The sheriff under the 'official' sign. OK, the joke is that since they do not have local law, he stated he was appointed sheriff that morning. Works for me! |
I did so with hugs from Vicky, and a complementary bag of ice to keep my Diet Coke chilled. And a promise to send them my blog so they could read of my impressions.
So, all you great people of Medicine Bow - here it is - any errors are my own, and I really don't think that tequila effected me enough to screw things up too badly, did it? Any suggestions, please feel free to comment. I enjoyed you all, and as they say, if I can't see you in the future, I will see you in the pasture. But I do plan to put you on my 'to do again' list.
At noon, I pack all my things in my trusty truck, and point it Eastward, and watch a bit of my heart left standing by the roadway in my rear view mirror.
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| My horse is saddled and read to ride |
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| The station is in my rear view mirror |
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| And time to say goodbye |
