On the Bozeman Trail: Pioneers at heart

The silence of the sunny summer afternoon is bro ken by a distant low rum ble, and to the south, the white canvases of prairie schooners move steadily, but slowly closer.

Harnesses jingle, wheels rumble, and outriders flank the wagon train of 10 prairie schooners and three carriages. These are con temporary pioneers going 100-plus years into the past.

The 30 or so pioneers fol lowing the old Bozeman Trail from Fort Laramie, Wyo., to Virginia City are getting a true taste of the Old West: There have been runaway teams, wagon crashes, broken wheels, trail-weary horses and oxen, panoramic views, vis its with the Crow Indians, and new friendships that will last a lifetime.

The wagon train left Fort Laramie on June 11 and is expected to arrive in Virginia City Saturday.

Wagonmaster Ben Kern, of Evansville, Wyo., and trail boss Rod Henderson are leading the six-week trek. Kern is a seasoned leader — over the past 20 years, he's traveled the Oregon, California, Mormon and Pony Express trails.

In mid-July, the wagons were circled for two days at Absarokee, southwest of Billings, with horses and mules corralled outside the circle and white teepeestyle range tents set up within.

George Miller, 91, of Absarokee, a veteran of many wagon train expedi tions, is the oldest partici pant on the Bozeman Trail expedition. He drives a team of Percherons hitched to his prairie schooner.

“ It's hard work,” he said. “ You have to feel from the lines what the horses are thinking. You have to watch the terrain. You have to watch their ears, head and body motion. You listen for how they breathe, see how they're getting wind.”

Helping George with the driving are Mikel Cameron, a psychotherapist from Buffalo, Wyo., and Nick Shrauger, a retired Montana State University electrical engineering pro fessor from Bozeman.

Bozeman Trail travelers are from all walks of life from throughout the nation. A core group of 30 people is making the entire trip while others, with wagons, on horseback or as walkers, have come and gone as their time allows.

The expedition's day begins when trail master Henderson blows his bugle (at 4 a.m. on this particular day). By 6 a.m., the 10 prairie schooners, three surreys, and 10 outriders moved out. Townsfolk and travelers cheerfully greet ed each other en route. As they traveled along Montana Highway 78 past the Thompson ranch, Tim Thompson and his 12-yearold son, Blake, joined with their prairie schooner and team of American Saddlebred horses.

It would be a long day — 27 miles to the next camp — with more than 12 miles of the route uphill. It is impor tant not overwork the ani mals. Horses and mules can't be expected to pull a 3,000-pound wagon uphill without resting.

From there the wagon train moved across prairie country, where vistas are wide and grand — the land where buffalo roamed, the deer and antelope play. The rugged Beartooth Mountains form a backdrop for the caravan and the Absaroka range rose to the west. The train moves 2 to 4 miles per hour.

As it passes buffalo wallows, abandoned homestead cabins and stone cairns marking the Bozeman Trail, ante lope, deer, song birds, and hawks are seen. The smell of the sage is pungent. This portion of the trail is one of few areas where the wagon train will travel away from roads, traffic and other trappings of modern society. It is easy to be transported back to the 1860s.

The campsite on the Terry Turlin Ranch near Reedpoint comes into view at the bottom of a steep grade. Wagons are circled and the work of setting up camp begins. Men water and feed the livestock, women begin setting up tents and tending to other duties. The evening is spent visiting, eating dinner and being entertained with music and poetry by cowboy poet/writer Gwen Peterson and friends.

Storm clouds threaten and a cool breeze comes up, but by 9:30 p.m. stillness settles over the camp. The sound of raindrops falling on the tent or canvas covering their wagon soothes weary travelers to sleep.

They need their rest for the next day's journey.

— Pat Hansen, of Avon, is a correspondent for The Montana Standard. She can be reached at phansen(at)(at)black foot.net