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Show Recall Story of 'Windwagon Windwagon ' ' ThomasWho Thomas ThomasWho ThomasWho Who Built the Queerest Vehicle Vehide That ThatEver ThatEver ThatEver Ever Traveled the Santa Fe Trail : II BYELMO By ELMO CLl\1O CLl 1O \ SCOTT WATSONReleased WATSONEcieSsed WATSON WATSONBclNned ' New5paper Newspaper Uolo UoIo tXisio i ' iT ) ( BclNned Released EcieSsed by Western 'm'HINK mHINK ' -T T - ' HINK of the Santa FeTrall FeI Fe FeM THINK M I Trail Trall and you think of ofwagons ofI olwagons _ I _ wagons goriSWagonS goriSWagonScreaking - _ "wagonscreakIng ' "wagons wagons "wagonscreaking " ( creaking up long prairIe prairIeslopes prairieslopes prairieslopes rolling rol1mg down downhills downhills downhills slopes , . wagons hills , . wagons grindingthrough grInding grIndingthrough grindingthrough through heavy sand , . suckingthrough suckmg sucking suckmgthrough suckingthrough through sticky mud , swishingthrough sWlshmg swishing sWlshmgthrough swishingthrough through tall grass , wagons wagonsWIth wagonswith wagonswith WIth locked wheels plungIng plungIngdown plungingdown plungingdown down steep river nver banks , wag wagons wagoris wagons ons oris snaked through clmgmg clinging clmgmgqUIcksands clingingquzcksands clingingquicksands qUIcksands quzcksands , or jiggling JIgglmg over overrIbbed overribbed overribbed rIbbed sandbars rough as ascobblestones ascobblestones ascobblestones cobblestones , wagons hauled hauled3 ) ard by painful pamful yard up theforbidding the theforbIddmg theforbidding forbIddmg forbidding rocks of the RatonPass Raton RatonPass RatonPass Pass , two slow miles a daywagons day , wagons corraled corralecl against agamst the theattack theattack theattack attack of treacherous red redskIns redskins redskins skIns , wagons broken down downabandoned downabandoned downabandoned abandoned , stranded by the theloss theloss theloss loss of animals ammals stolen by raid raidmg raidmg raiding mg savages , wagons burned burnedin In prairie fires , wagonswarped wagons wagonswarped wagonswarped warped and shrunken by theheat the theheat theheat heat and drouth Wagonscrammed Wagons Wagonscrammed Wagonscrammed crammed with rich nch furs fursMeXican fursMexican fursMexican MeXican s silver ver , gold bullion " Thus writes Stanley Vestal m in mhis inhis mhis his hook book The Old Santa Fe FeTraIl FeTrail FeTrail TraIl published publJshed recently by the theHoughwn theHoughton theHoughton Houghwn Houghton Mifflm MJfflm Miflim company of Bos Boston Boston Boston ton and the first chapter in m that thatvolume thatvolume thatvolume volume of interesting mterestmg i ) arns is de devoted devoted devoted voted to the story of what v.hat vhat . wasprobably was wasprobably wasprobably probably the queerest vehiclesthat vehicles vehiclesthat vehiclesthat that ever traveled over that trailThe trail trailThe trailThe The scene of this true story 15 is 15laid islaid islaid laid in Westport Wootport Mo the eastern easterntermInUS easternterminus easternterminus termInUS of the trail and is de deSCrIbed described described SCrIbed by Mr Vestal thusOne thusOne thus thusOne One spring sprmg day m in 1853 the thecltJze"1s thecitizeis thecitizeis cltJze"1s cltJze1s citizeis " of that frontier townere town \\ere ere v w \ . ereamazed ere ereamazed ereamazed amazed to see a light vehIcle vehIclesteermg vehiclesteering vehiclesteering steermg steering down the street drIven drIvenby drivenby drivenby by the wind wmd which v.hlch vhlch . filled its whitesail white whitesail whitesail sail Horses reared and ranaway ran ranaway ranaway away women Bomen \ omen and children chJldren fledinto fled fledmto fledinto mto into their houses dogs scuttledfor scuttled scuttledfor scuttledfor for safety and the men of West Westport Westport Westport port stood with open mouths mouthswatchmg mouthswatching mouthswatching watchmg watching that strange craft come comesaIlmg comesailing comesailing saIlmg sailing mIts inIts in m inIts Its pilot lowered the sail saillocked saillocked saillocked locked his brakes and rolled to toa toa toa a stop before the entrance to the theYoakum theYoakum theYoakum Yoakum Tavern He dlSem disem dlSembarked disembarked disembarked barked and the startled citizensgathered cItizens cItizensgathered citizensgathered gathered to inspect his bark andquestion and andquestion andquestion question him himNavigator hImNaVIgator himNavigator Navigator of the PrairIeThey PrairieThey Prairie PrairieThey They learned that his name namewas namewas namewas was Thomas that he had come comefrom comefrom comefrom from somewhere somev.here somevhere . . east and that thathJS thathis thathis hJS his sole cargo consisted of a com corn compass cornpass cornpass pass a.ater a water \\.ater .ater \ \ . ter butt and a carpet carpetbag carpetbag carpetbag bag He walked like a seafarIng seafarIngman seafaringman seafaringman man and the > ) suspected that he hewas hewas hewas was tattooed under his faded fadedmonkey fadedmonkey fadedmonkey monkey jacket Was he a whaler lad he ever a ? ' could not riot tell for Thomas wastedfew wasted wastedfew wastedfew few words in m telling tellmg of himself himselfHe himselfHe himselfHe He announced that he had come comeas comeas comeas as the Navigator of the Prames Prairies Pramesand Prairiesand Prairiesand and invited mVlted them to join Jom JomIth \ with \\Ith Ith sith him himand himand himand and form a company to engagein engagem engage m in the Santa Fe trade ' In Yoakum Yoakurn s Tavern lead ng rig ngcItizens rigcitizens ngcitizens cItizens split a bottle with h mwhile m mwlule mwhile wlule while he div dl\ dl dis dlerted \ erted them by explaining e\.plam e.plam e .plam plam explain e.plamIng explaining \ . Ing his plan He proposed tobuild to tobwldwlth tobuildwith bwld-wlth bwld wlth build-with build with - with their backing backmg-a backmg a backing-a backing - a fleetof fleet fleetof fleetof of large praine prame prairie clippers to carry carrycargo carrycargo carrycargo SpaniardsThe SpamardsThe cargo to the cussed Spamards Spaniards The advantages of wind power powerwere powerwere powerwere were numerous according accordmg to the thenautical thenautical thenautical nautical stranger Speed econo econom econom econoTO m } freedom from the expense of ofbUymg ofbuying ofbuying bUymg buying feedingdraft and the trouble of feeding draft animals ammals freedom to leave leavethe leavethe leavethe the Trail along the Arkansas Rlv Ray Rlver Rayer River er ( since smce there would be no ammals am ammals aminals mals inals requiring requll"mg requllmg " water ) and sail onthe on onthe onthe the high lugh prairies by compass Westport compassWestport placefor was the outfitting outfittmg place for all travelers bound west Jt it Jtould itwould itwould \\ould ould would \ \ be easy to ha\ ha has hae \ e the wagons wagonsbuilt wagonsbwlt bwlt built there Injuns Irijuns would be bescared bescared bescared scared of the strange craft And Andthere Andthere Andthere there would ne\ ne neier neer \ er be any lackof lack of ofwmd ofwind ofwind wmd wind to drive themAU them themAll All AU of which wluch sounded perfectly perfectlylogical logical But according accordmg to MrVestal Mr MrVestal MrVestal Vestal there were skeptics m In thecrowd the thecrowd thecrowd crowd who suspected that therewas there therewas therewas was a catch somewhere m in thescheme the thescheme thescheme scheme cleverYankee cl'verYankee clverYankee proposed by this cl'ver clver " ' Yankee They scoffedat scatTedat scoffed scatTed at his Idea Ideaof ideaof ideaof of building bwldmg what they derisively derisivelyreferred derisivelyreferred derisivelyreferred referred to as a drylandnavy dryland navy By navyBy gum they weren t going gomg to toput toput toput put any money of theirs thell"s thells " in such sucha suchd d a crazy proposition propositions I ' Proved It Would SailBut SailBut Sail SailBut But Thomas wasn t d scouraged scour scouraged scouraged aged by their skepticism Justto Just Justto Justto to prove that his lus plan was prac practicable practJcable tJcable ticable he announced that he hewould hewould hewould would sa sail his h1s queer craft to Council toCouncil Grove-I50 Grove I50 Grove-150 150 Grove - - 150 miles away- away awayand awayand away awayand - and then come back and make makethem makethem makethem them eat their words about hiswmdwagon hiswindwagon his hisvindwagon v/indwagon v indwagon wmdwagon windwagon / As he left town townIn townin townin In a cloud of dust and lumbered lumberedoff off across the prairie they were wereqUIte werequite werequite qUIte "ure ure cure " ; ure that they would never neversee neversee neversee see him again agam But they werewrong were werewrong werewrong wrong for in m about a week hereturned he hereturned hereturned returned bringing brmgmg with him a letter let letter letter ter tiom flom horn a man who ran a blacksmith black blacksmith blacksmith smith shop at Council Grove as 'S S 'Srt ' rt . - . . .r- .r . - " .rA .e- .e . .eT - ' _ _ _ : T - , c _ aa-l aa l - ; ' 4 r i - - - : - - - - - - cd----- cd cda cdA : - - - - - , a A 'CLIPPER CLIPPER 'CLIPPEI CLIPPEI ' OF THE TIlE PRAIRIE PRAIRlL ' ' - ' described this artIcle artIclewas articlewas articlewas Almost as strang-e strang e strange - as the windwag-on windwag on WlDdwagon windwagon m an was the vehicle conceived by the imaginative ImagmatIve writer of one of the thepoIlu1ar thepoiular thepopular poIlu1ar poiular mckel rockel novels of 50 years ago Shown above is es the illustrationon illustratIon on 011 the cover of No 87 of \ ' , ol 01 IV of the Frank Reade Library whichbore which whichbore whichbore bore the title tIUe ' Frank Reade Jr s Clipper ClJpper of the Praine Prame Prairie or , FightingApaches Flghtmg Fighting FlghtmgApaches FightingApaches Apaches in m the Far Southwest " This TIllS ' praine praiTle prairie clipper chpper seems to tohave tohave tohave have been a cross between a modern war tank and a trailer The Thehvmg Theliving Theliving hvmg living quarters had an observation platform on the root roof and a good goodsIzed goodsized goodsized sIzed cannon mounted forward It was propelled by steam on oncaterpIllar oncaterpillar oncaterpillar caterpIllar tread " wheels "heels heels heeIs and had a ram like hke projection from the thefront thefront thefront front with which that intrepid mtrepld hero Frank Reade Jr , ran down downbuffalo downbuffalo downbuffalo buffalo and impaled them ' proof that he had actually been beenthere beenthere beenthere beenthereThe there thereThe The former skeptics were sere \ ere nowconvinced now nowconvmced nowconvinced convmced convinced that he knew knewhat \ i\hat i hat \\hat sshat \ hewas he hev.as v.as vas \ \ . as talking tallang about and they theyagreed theyagreed theyagreed agreed to finance the construc construe constructIon construetion construetion tIon of a supermdvagon super \ wmdwagon \\md\vagon md vagon smdsagon \ They TheyorganIzed Theyorganized Theyorganized organIzed the 0\ 0 Os 0eriand O\erland O erland \ eriand erland Navlga Naviga NavlgatIon Navigatiori Navigation tIon tiori Company and the stockhold stockhoid stockholders stockhoiders ers included mcluded some of the most mostpromment mostprominent mostprominent promment prominent citizens of Westport Westport- WestportDr - Dr J 3 W Parker the leadmg leading leadmgphysIcian leadingphysician leadingphysician physIcian Attorney J J Mastin Mas Mastm Mastin tm tin Benjamin BenJamm Newson Nevson Nesson , the Indianagent Indian Indianagent Indianagent agent Henry Sager Thomas WAdams W WAdams WAdams Adams and of course the m in mventor inventor mventor ventor Windwagon Wmdwagon Thomas ThomasA A Huge Wagon ShipUnder Ship ShipUnder Under h s tin diiection dnectIon ection there was wasbUilt wasbuilt wasbuilt bUilt a huge praine prairie schooner 25 25feet 25feet 25feet feet long and with a seven foot footbeam footbeam footbeam beam mounted on four bIgwheels bigwheels big | wheels each 12 feet m in dIameter dIameterThe diameterThe diameterThe The sides < ; Ides of the wagon wagonhlch whichformed \\hlch hlch shich shichformed \ \ hlchformed formed the cabin cabm of this thJS shipof ship shipof shipof of the plains plams rose to the top ofthe of ofthe ofthe the wheels and above it was thedeck thedeck the thedeck deck Toward the front was a atall atall atall tall mast which carried carned only a amalnsa amainsail amainsail malnsa mainsail but mstead instead of the front frontbemg frontbeing frontbeing bemg being the prow pro\\ pro pross proas \ as it is JS or a sea seagomg seagoing seagomg gomg going vessel the tail tall gate of the thewagon thewagon thewagon wagon was the prow and the thetongue thetongue thetongue tongue of the wagon was brought broughtup up and over the stern to serveas serve serveas serveas as a tiller Came the day when shen v . hen Wmdwagon Wmdwag on was ready to demonstratehis demonstrate demonstratehIs hIs land leviathan levJathan It reqUJred required reqUJredtwo requiredtwo requiredtwo two yoke of oxen to haul it out outon outon outon on the open praine prairie Then the thedirectors thedirectors thedirectors directors of the company-who company who companywhoaccording companywhoaccording company - whoaccording according to Mr Vestal had hadfortIfied hadfortified hadfortified fortIfied themselves at Yoakum Yoakurn s sbar sbar sbar bar barwent -went went - went aboard That is 15 all allof allof allof of them d d except Dr Parker ParkerBVJdently ParkerEvidently ParkerEvidently BVJdently Evidently he decided decJded that his hJS professional pro professlOnal professional fesslOnal fessional services might be needed need needed needed ed before the voyage was overand over overand overand and he wanted to be able to sup supply supply supply ply them So he mounted his fa favorite favorite favorite vorite mount a mule and pre prepared prepared pared to follow the bold navlga naviga navlgator navigatar navigator tor tar Cap n a Thomas who mounted mountedthe mountedthe mountedthe the deck hoisted hOJsted his hlS sa sail and andreached andreached andreached reached for the tillerA tiller tillerA A strong wind was blowing blowmg and andas andas andas as it Jt began to belly the huge sailI saJl sail saJlthe sailthe I IA the wagon ship got under wayGradually way wayGradually wayGradually Gradually it picked UD up soeed speed and Dr Parker had to put the gadto gad gadto gadto to his mule to keep up with It ItCap itCap itCap Cap n Thomas passengers were weredelighted weredelighted weredelighted delighted . when the wmdwagon windwagori wmdwagonstarted windwagoristarted windwagonstarted started thus justifying their faIth faIthm faithin faithm m in its navigability and arid reassurmg reassuring reassurmgthem reassuringthem reassuringthem them that they hadn t invested m in msomethmg insomething msomething somethmg something that would prove to be bea bea bea a failure But as its momentum momentummcreased momentumincreased momentumincreased mcreased increased they began to be a littlealarmed Ilttk little Ilttkalarmed . alarmed and anti as it went careeningover careenmg careening careenmgover careeningover over hill and dale they becamefrightened became becamefrightened becamefrightened frightened It was going gomg so fastthat fast fastthat fastthat that they didn dldn t dare jump out outas outas outas theybegan as they wished to do So they began to yell to the skipper sklpp'r sklppr skippnr " ' to toslow toslow toslow slow his craft downWintiwagon down downWindwagon Windwagon Wmdwagon Wintiwagon however was wasfiguratIVely wasfiguratively wasfiguratively figuratIVely if 1f not literally hterally on onthe onthe onthe the crest of the wave due nartiv partlv Dartlv carjohe to the stimulation of thecarg the -carg carg - carjo cargohe he had taken on at Yoakum Yoakuri-i Yoakuri i - s barand bar barand barand and partly to the heady wine ofsuccess of ofsuccess ofsuccess i success Instead of heeding heedmg |
