"The Saga to Spruce Run", Day 21, Saturday, June 19,1976, (Predicted to be 27mi) Actual ...35mi

"A day on the Wagon Train"
 I was riding in the wagon on this day because G was being trucked. Only a few wagons were on the road and predicted to have a long hard drive on this day, so I decided to record the whole day.As it turned out the predicted 27mi turned out to be 35mi up, and over a mountain !

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Journal Entry: Day 21,  Saturday June 19,1976, Spruce Run State Park,Clinton,NJ

 (predicted 27 miles) Actual mileage.... 35!

     Five state wagons strong.  N.J., R.I., Vt., N.H., Mass.  We are traveling at a fairly good rate of speed this morn.  All the small teams, the mules & N.J. are on the road today. 
We only have two independent wagons with us today," Valley Forge or Bust" and of course "Tumbleweed"  We also have about 15 saddle horses traveling with us.All other wagons and horses are being trucked.

Alan Butler AKA "Tumbleweed" and his pony Stubby

    Tom is trucking G for us because she is still coughing. We have Breezy and Thunder on the pole.  We are going through the Town of Wyndham.  As we pass through they are giving all the wagons a Bicentennial Calendar.  This road is very b u m p y (Rte 24 W).  Just went by an old General Store (1786) with a lot of people out in front.  It looks like it is being used as a Museum.  Now we are stopping at a Fire House for water.  (9:05 am to 9:25 am) I am riding on the wagon today, Ranny is our only outrider today.  Pat LeClerc has not ridden for 3 days now.  We are now going up and down many hills and a man in Mendham told us there are that there are many hills between here & Spruce Run which is where we are going. 

The Tiger Lilies are in bloom all along the side of the roads. 

 The N.J. team is not doing well at all.  They just crammed us all up on a hill because they stopped on a long hill with no warning again and as we were stopped the Mass, N.H. Wagons & Tumbleweed passed us.  (By the way Roger is not with us and Frank Artsman from  N.J. is Wagonmaster for the day – Hence the screw ups.)  We are at the top of the hill now and he is trying to straighten the mess out.  Frank has asked up to go out front and the N.J. wagon is in the rear.  Another Hill is coming up.

10:22-  We are now pulling around an American Legion Hall to allow the traffic to move.  We are coming into Chester 10:42 and Frank moved the N.J. wagon out front again because the terrain is flat for a while and are also coming into a “donated lunch stop”.  Robin just drove by in his truck and told us it is 16 miles to from where we are now .

RI and NH Wagons heading to Spruce Run

11:15 We are now at Chubb Park for lunch for one hour.  We left Lunch at 12:25 with us out in front again.  (Dawn just met us at lunch-  She is going back to R.I. with her horse April ,because she is a very sick horse.( She will be back in a day with Curt. Our Wagon Train Baby)  We are on Schooley's Mountain and are now going down a very (1 mile) long hill, then up.  At the top R.I., N.H., Vt. had to wait for all the other wagons.  Now down again for almost a mile at the bottom.  We & N.H. had to wait again. 

 1:07-1:23 (Police stopped most of the Wagon  Train at the top of the hill to move more traffic.)  We let the Mass wagon have a rope-  They had to be held back coming down the hill because they still don’t have any brakes.

1:27 Roger just met us and said that it is 11 miles to the park where we will pick up the other wagons which means there is 16 miles to go for the day. He is in a truck.

1:32-1:36 Stopped again for traffic to go by.  We just had about a 10 minute water stop (1:55-2:05) now we are on a straight stretch so we will trot for about 3 minutes and we lost the whole train except N.H. so we started walking again. And then we (RI & NH) had to stop & wait again for about a minute or so for everyone to start catching up.

2:38-2:44 Had to stop again for traffic (truck went by and passenger said that we “lost a wagon”.)

3:14 Got going again after the N.J. wagon came up in front- for no reason and then they were told to get back in their place,  now the train was stopped by Police to let traffic go by, in two segments.  Again R.I. & N.H. and then all the others.  After we got moving again we trotted a little and lost some of the train again so we walked slow to allow them to catch up.

Roger stopped us at 3:17 - 3:49 (32 minutes) in front of Nicola’s Pizza in Califon.  (They gave us all pizza and soda.)  Vt. switched from Jig & Saw to Apps and Jersey team & wagon was trucked.  Roger told us to slow the pace, we were going too fast according to him.  He also said it was 6 miles to where the other wagons were waiting and when we could see a sign on the right of the road  “Hickory Farm” we should wait a long time.  We got to the farm at 4:10 and waited until 4:17.  At this point we are left with all light horses on the road because the N.J. team was the only heavy team and they were pulled.  We are now starting up a very long grade.  It was said to be 2 ½ miles up and it just might be.  (4:40-4:53) We waited at the top of the hill to rest the horses.  Micky came by and gave us all some ice cream.

Our team,Breezy and Thunder  , Mickey Robison and Frank Artsman riding

4:58  Bill drove by and said the wagons are waiting 200 yards ahead.  5:05 we met with the other wagons and were asked to rest (5:05-5:15) by the S.P.C.A.  Then we were ordered to take the lead into camp with the wagons that went all day.  We have a long steep grade to go down after the steepest hill now at 5:30pm, we are waiting for the other wagons. 6:30 PM we rolled into camp and into a tight circle.

Entering Spruce Run State Park,Clinton,NJ

We are the first wagon coming into camp tonight

Stan Bashura's Journal:

Sheila's Journal for on the road that day, justifies why some State Wagons decided to pull out and have the horses and wagons trucked to the next stop. First off, the travel distance for that day was a lot longer than originally thought. Some horses were 
 starting to get sick, probably from the heat and humidity.

 Here is the CT Wagon Journal Entry for both Friday, June 19th, and Saturday, June 20th, 1976: Friday: Broke camp and headed out at 8:00 AM. We are headed for Morristown, where we were supposed to have been at last night, but didn't get there because Roger decided to stop where we were. There is a building tension among the Wagon Train group. The heat and humidity is getting to everyone and the horses too. Hay and grain is in short supply, and the water stops are becoming less frequent. We finally made it to Jockey Hollow Park in Morristown, NJ, and camped there. But there is growing rivalry  amongst  the Teamsters and Wagons, and some seem to want to prove that their horses and drivers are so much better than others. Friday Night we finally had a big meeting at midnight. There was a major standoff between Teamsters both State and Independent Wagons. Most said no to a 27 mile day on Saturday without a days rest. A Wagon Train Field Manager from Pennsylvania came in and all the issues were discussed in length, and some the problems were solved. However, the horses are still getting sick and we don't have a vet traveling with us right now. The Connecticut Wagon Horses pulled up sick as well, so I decided to truck them and the CT Wagon to Spruce Run which was our next stop. I was chastised by many of the other Teamsters for that decision. I do not own the horses, and I am responsible to the owner (Kriz Stables) for the well being of their horses! Saturday's run was supposed to be 27 miles, but turned out to be closer to 40 miles! I am really getting very discouraged about all the friction between the Teamsters, both State and Independent and the riders too. Tomorrow, (Sunday) the trip is only supposed to be 12 miles so we'll see what happens when we get up in the morning