A "Tough Day",Day27, Friday, June 25,1976, New Lisbon State School, Four Mile,NJ....20mi

                            

Lee shoeing Bob Silva, Cathy upper  left with G

      On a wagon train you make do. The  heal was coming off Bob Silva's  boot , so Lee offered to fix it !    He  used horseshoe nails and put the heal back on the boot just like he would have shod a horse,with Bob in the boot , holding on to the wagon. Worked great and lasted to valley Forge !  
My sister Cathy is back with us now that school is out, she will go all the way to Valley Forge with us now.                                     
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Journal Entry:  Friday,  June 25,1976, New Lisbon State School, Four Mile NJ....20mi

   Tried to leave  Lakehurst at 7:20 am- we had to wait 10 minutes for them to unlock the gate so we could get out- in a foggy mist.  At 8am we had to pull over into a rest area to let the traffic go by. 

   Roger’s team is not feeling well so he is having them trucked and his horse  Blue will be trucked too and so Frank is leading the train We are one Rte 70 and there is room for the traffic but the cop will not let them by.  Tom is trucking G for us. Other horses and wagons are also being trucked. Pat is not riding today- Ranny is with us.

     8:30 we stop for a water break (ridiculous) (Not necessary) 8:50 we start again  Lee wanted some coffee so I went to a stand. While I was waiting someone yelled at me about jumping off a wagon.  They stop every hour for a water break but they will never stop near a store so we can get coffee or a paper.  

     10:02 we are stopping again for water,  It is a very nice breezy day but the pace is terrible.  NY has the Clydesdales up and all they do is jog.  10:21 we start going again. 

 11:10 we pull into a rest area for watering, rest & lunch.  Bob Silva is riding on the wagon now – he says we are going to a school for the mentally challenged.  This will be like a "Bus-man's Holiday" for me !  ( I work in the laboratory in the hospital at Ladd School a State School in RI which is also a school for the mentally challenged. I am on a six week leave of absence)

N.Y. is switching teams now, taking out the Clydesdales  and putting on the brown Percherons.

Lunch 11:10-12:10  I have been “driving” sense lunch and my hands are getting  sore.  The pace is worse now than it was this morn so at 1:15 lee started driving again.  

 1:20 we stop for water, 1:43 we start again.  

 2:30 we got in camp, later all of the residents were brought by for a visit.

 G’s temp is going up (105) so we keep wetting her down & using aspirin and the Penicillin that the vet gave us.  Her respiration at one point was 20 in 15 seconds. 

 Stan’s horses are sick too, one has a temperature of 105 and we are all waiting for a vet.  

 No vet came by dark and tomorrow most horses will be trucked.  

 

Stan Bashura's Ct Journal:

Here is the CT Wagons Journal Entry for Friday, June 25th, 1976.

With all the issues plaguing the New England Contingent of the Bicentennial Wagon Train Pilgrimage, the heat and humidity, long traveling distances, sick people, sick horses, lack of water stops, traffic, loads of spectators, I guess the realism of our forefathers who trekked across this Great Country of ours endured, would be somewhat proud of how we are dealing with these modern day hazards and obstacles.  Today we broke camp at about 7:15 am, leaving the Lakehurst Naval Station and headed for Lisbon State School Grounds in Four Mile, NJ.  It's cloudy but still humid.  The bugs down here are huge!  Really bothering the horses and us.  We are traveling Route 70 today which is a main highway. Lots of traffic to deal with.  We are traveling rather slowly today doing only about 4 miles in 1 1/2 hours.  I noticed that our horses (Jack and Colonel) are both coughing more and seem a little lethargic. A few of the teams were being trucked today because of sick horses.  Roger Morse, our Wagon Master, had his team trucked, and I also heard that the Rhode Island Wagon had their spare horse trucked because of a fever.  There is a lot on everyone's mind and we are all anxious for our next rest stop day which is supposed to be Sunday in Batsto Village in Hammonton, NJ.  We pulled into camp at the Lisbon State School Grounds at 4:30 pm.  I am very worried about our two horses (Jack and Colonel).  They seem to be getting worse.  We'll get them cooled off, wash them down and feed them.  Hopefully, they will be doing better in the morning.  Word going around camp is that a private rider's horse fell ill also, and the R.I. Wagons spare horse is getting worse.  Might be a long night for some.  We were told tonight by members of the New Jersey Horse Council that the larger draft horses (like Jack and Colonel) should not do any more than 20 miles a day.  Jack and Colonel are Belgian Draft Horses and are a little smaller than some of the larger breeds like the Percheron and Clydesdales being used on the New York Wagon. 

 

The Vt Wagon at New Lisbon State School