"Trip to Jockey Hollow Cut Short", Day 19, Thursday, June 17,1976, South Mountain Boy Scout Reservation, West Orange, NJ...12.5mi

Destination: Jockey Hollow, Day 19,Morristown,NJ, South Mountain Boy Scout Reservation,West Orange,NJ...12.5mi , temp 90deg

The"  Massachusetts Mules" were always ready to go

The weather Summer of "76" in NJ was very hot and humid.  Temps were ranging in the high 80's into the 90's.Traveling with horses (and Mules) on a schedule was proving to be very stressful on the Teamsters and especially the larger Draft teams. Further complicating that was the fact that we were supposed to be stopping in certain places each night and there were crowds of people anticipating the arrival of the Wagon Train. The mileage was not calculated correctly which makes planing the day more frustrating. We all wanted to do the best we could representing our respective States and our Country but some days people had to make hard decisions based on the capabilities of their horses even if it didn't sit well with others. We were originally told that most days would be about 20 mi. which most horses should be able to do in in a day under normal circumstances.  With the heat, the hills and the mileage we were  becoming increasingly aware these were not normal circumstances. This particular day if we had continued the total mileage to Jockey Hollow would have been 34.5mi! This would be an on-going problem in the near future.

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Journal Entry :
Thursday June 17, 1976, Tulip Springs Area, South Mountain Boy Scout Reservation, West Orange, NJ ..12.5mi

   Last Night there were a few various meetings around the camp about mileage.  The  drivers of the big teams do not want to go more than 10 miles.  We will go 20-25 gladly. Today we are headed for Jockey Hollow National Historic Park, Morristown, NJ

 Roger had us stop after 12.5 miles at some Boy Scout Reservation in West Orange.  (We did not want to stop here at 12noon.)  Roger had us stop.  Paul Cabot,NH Teamster  & Lee wanted to keep going.  Lee Ritchie came by and  told us that he had found a place- only 4.5 miles from where we were that had swimming pool & showers had we kept going. 

  Dawn & Tom kept going  with our truck today and ended up in Morristown not knowing that the Train had stopped early. Lee and Ranny have gone to see what is to happen now.  ( All the rest of camp will now have to come back to us. We would be staying in West Orange for the night.)

 Sandy said Chubby got cut today.

 It is 7:15 and I must go the Thursday bitch session.  These bad days seem to be happening on Thursdays now.

Stan's take on the day !!  Remarkably similar story :

Stan Bashura's Journal for 6/17/1976
 As the days grew hotter and the traveling distances from one encampment to the next got longer, this day was the beginning of a stretch of days that took it's toll on Riders, horses and almost everyone on the Wagon Train! Unfortunately, many folks are upset and uneasy about the longer distances, and harsh words are being used by some who now feel we are traveling too many miles for no reason. Some folks opinions were that it was political, others felt we were killing time before heading into Pennsylvania. Whatever the reason is, our National Wagon Master, Roger Morse, feels that the horses are tired and leg weary, and they (the horses), as well as everyone on the Wagon Train needed an extra day off. Many folks agreed with Roger, as I did as well. There were a few who disagreed with the majority. In any event, we left Nutley, NJ at 7:00 am with the prospect of making a 28 mile trek to the next encampment at Morristown, NJ. We traveled 13 miles by noon time and Roger said that's it. We stop here! We were about 15 miles short of Morristown. Most felt it was way too hot and humid to continue. We found a park nearby and made camp. The park had no electricity or facilities, but we made good of it. There was a stream nearby, so we took the horses down and gave them a good bath. In the evening, a meeting was called and discussions about issues were rampant. Lyle Strickland and Robin Munroe stated they would like to set a 15 mile limit of travel in any one day. Many other of the Teamsters and Riders agreed with them, some did not. Lee Richie and Roger are constantly arguing over these issues. Many of us felt that there may be a lack of good communication and support at this point from the National Wagon Train Committee. All this unrest is really taking all the enjoyment, camaraderie and team spirit out of us. Our weekly "bitch" session is tonight, hopefully some of the issues will get resolved, and tomorrow will be a better day!