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Wagon train travelers twist their travails into entertaining tales
Lloyd Warr, left, Joe Adams, center, and Glenda Adams enjoy taking wagon train rides throught the West. Joe builds the wagons they use, and they often take their dog Bandit with them. Pulled by mules, the wagons provide considerably more comfort than packing into the backcountry. [Photo courtesy of Joe Adams]
By Dianna Troyer With his trademark humor, Joe Adams turns travails like a twisted knee, an overturned wagon, and tornado warnings with 70 mph wind gusts into entertaining tales as he recalls his 40day, 400-mile covered wagon trek from North Dakota to Montana. Last year, the Paul, Idaho resident and four friends drove their four mulepowered wagons along the same trail General George Armstrong Custer followed 135 years ago. They left Fort Abraham Lincoln on the Missouri River in North Dakota on May 17 and arrived at Little Big Horn in Montana for a reenactment of Custer’s historic defeat on June 25-26, 1876. “We loved everything about it: the challenge, following a historic trail, being outside, working with the animals, being with friends with the same interests,” Joe says. “The trip was about five years in the making: mapping the route and getting permission from landowners to camp along the way.” The trek is among more than two dozen memorable odysseys he has undertaken with friends since 1995. “We’ve traveled along the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails and seen the back roads of Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, California, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, West Virginia, and Wyoming from a covered wagon,” says Joe, 75, a mechanic, who owned a tractor salvaging and refurbishing business in Paul before retiring in 1999. “Wagons have rolled over, and we’ve had broken breaches, tongues, axles, and wheels on our trips. Yeah, isn’t it great experiencing the good ole pioneer days? We’ve learned to always carry spare wheels,” he says, laughing. Joe usually goes on his odysseys with Lloyd Warr, 77, a buddy from high school, who retired in 1999 from supervising a local welding shop. Their handyman skills are often needed on their treks to make repairs, which they take in stride. “A wagon trip slows down the pace of life and lets you appreciate it more,” Lloyd says. “We usually take the dirt back roads because it’s easier on the mules’ shoes than the asphalt roads.” Joe’s wife, Glenda, jokes, “If we went any slower some days, we’d be going backwards.” Joe relies on his 20-year-old draft mules Jenny and B.J. and 4-year-old Dee, while Lloyd takes his quarter horse mules, Bucks and Bandy, 20, or Bill, 5, and Ben, 6. (Continued on page 12)