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Show SALT FLAT NEWS, JULY, 1971 s DEPUTY DUMP MEETS "Well, me, I catch a lot of people peo-ple from breaking the laws," the deputy told his visitor. Wondering what could possibly possi-bly happen in a dumpyard in the very heart of nowhere, I asked, "What type of laws?" "Mostly felonies," replied the deputy. "Felonies! What kind of felonies?" felo-nies?" "Oh, murders, rapes, robberies rob-beries ..." Thinking there must be a heck of a lot more action out in this dump yard than one would suspect, sus-pect, I asked, "Are there any specific cases or especially interesting inter-esting situations you could tell me about?" "Naw." Deputy Dump, otherwise known as Floyd Eaton, is a tall, slender, pistol-packing, badge-totin', badge-totin', 65 year old vagabond with no teeth. A former cowpuncher and drifter, Eaton gets his very appropriate nickname from his appointment (self or otherwise) to the position of "Deputy Lacy's Deputy to Guard the Dump" in Wendover. A dusty, bumpy trail begins at the "No Dumping Allowed" sign, snakes itself around and through the vast spread of corroding, disintegrating dis-integrating junk of Wendover's dumpyard and finally terminates at a strange wooden structure resembling re-sembling a house. A photographer and I followed fol-lowed Deputy Dump into his "house," where he hung his shoulder holster and pistol on a nail, tossed his hat on the table and said, "I ain't too done on my house yet." Glancing around, I wondered if he had even started. Discerning the inside of the house from the rest of the junkyard junk-yard was not accomplished without with-out difficulty. A sheet of plywood ply-wood resting on two sawhorses served as a work bench. An old coal stove, a kitchen table and a chair had been salvaged from the dump, and a sleeping bag on a mattress served as a bed. Flies served as wallpaper and also managed man-aged to cover any other surface not covered with junk. I kicked my toe into the dirt y floor and idly printed my name in j "" the quarter inch of dust on the taDie. -wny ao you nveout nere, Floyd?" NEWS photo by R. Menzies BY SUMMER HYMAS "One reason is that I moved out here cuz the rent is so doggone dog-gone high in town. I can live out here for $25 a month." "Who do you pay the $25 to?" "Nobody." I changed the subject. "Guess you don't get much company out here, do you?" "Oh yeah," said Eaton. "All the people from town come down here to see me." When asked how he liked Wendover, Wen-dover, Eaton replied, "Well, I'll tell ya. I like Wendover a lot, myself. The people up there are real friendly. I been here for seven years, and that's the longest time fermein one spot." "Where were you before?" "Oh, jist travelin' around, ramblin' around over the country." coun-try." He paused to light his pipe and then continued. "I'm a vagabond type, myself. Don't stay in one place too very long. Why, I been all over the world. Thar's only two countries in the whole world I haven't been in, Russia and Australia. I been in every state of the union, including includ-ing Alaska and Hawaii." "How do you travel?" "Horseback, mostly." Deputy Dump went on to tell about how he had become involved in-volved with the law. "When I was jist a younger kid, almost a kid, I joined up with the Cattlemen's Association, I was a range detector for a while." "Range detector?" "Yeah, range detector. It's a Cattlemen's Association man." "Oh." Somehow I missed the significance signifi-cance of the definition, but obviously ob-viously Floyd Eaton considered it sufficient and continued. "After the association disorganized, disor-ganized, I joined the International Internation-al Police. Most of the time I was chasm' somebody. I was up and gone chasm' somebody 'cross the country. One time I was over in the Orient for eight years. Chasin' a bank robber named Robert Nolan. Never did catch him. Chased him as far as Shanghai." "How did you become a deputy dep-uty here?" "Oh, I already was a cop, and Deputy Lacy just asked me if I'd help him out once in a while. I told him 'shore I would.' I'd help him out any old time he wanted. He especially wants me to take A CIHIAEVISIE WENDOVER, NEVADA: In the age of the ecological gotterdam-erung gotterdam-erung a few sparrows must fall, among them Floyd Eaton, known as "Deputy Dump" to the citizens citi-zens of Wendover, NevadaUtah, and the readers of The Salt Flat News. In a startling denouement, the Wendover equivalent of theJVEW YORK TIMES disclosure of the classified papers on the Viet Nam war, the bureaucratic officialdom of Nevada decided in its majesty that the dump in Wendover must go. As is the case with most bureaucratic bu-reaucratic decisions the human effects are customarily overlooked. over-looked. In this case it was the residency resi-dency of Deputy Dump, who for THE PRESS care of this here dumpyard. Keep bums away. He told me to go on ahead and might as well build me a house down here." "Do you ever find anything worthwhile out in the dump?" asked the photographer. "Well, it's accordance," was the reply, meaning it depends. "I pick up a lot of scrap metal, brass, copper and things. Sometimes I find old furniture once in a while. That thar stove over yonder come from the dump. You bet it works, too. That stove bakes real good cakes, pies, cornbread ..." I was absolutely delighted with Deputy Dump. I had already decided he was part of the "beautiful "beau-tiful pebple" in the world. "What is your favorite food, Floyd?" "I'm a vegetarian, me. I like cabbage, turnip greens, mustard greens, beans ..." Wondering who baked all those cakes and pies he had been talking about, I asked Floyd if he had ever been married. "Lady, I got more sense than that. I was born and raised a cow-puncher. cow-puncher. I'm jist like an old range horse. I learned to be rope-wise. When a lady's T)out to throw a loop, I wait 'till she tosses it, and jist before it falls, I duck." As we were leaving, I asked Deputy Dump what he did with himself all of the time. Floyd's pipe kept going out, and as he lit it again and took several draws, he looked at me with a twinkle in his eyes. "Most of the time, when I work, I'm a cowpuncher when I work." "What do you do when you don't work?" "Nothing," said Floyd in his typical slow drawl. "Me and work, we don't git along too good together. Oh, I ain't afraid of it. Why I can lay down there right beside it and go to sleep." NEW! INBOX REMINGTON ADL .223 $110 299-4504 ra tie wm more than seven years has made the Wendover dump his home, his major source of income, and the situs of his literary efforts. One of his major works, Queen of Blood, was published exclusively in The Salt Flat News, and comes to a spellbinding conclusion on page 8 of this issue. Since the word got out about Nevada's decision to move the dump, Mr. Eaton has been sought by interested reporters for some comments about the loss of his home. In an exclusive interview the Veteran Peace Officer and Re-cycling Re-cycling Specialist told THE NEWS that the closing of the dump brings to a close his relationship rela-tionship with Wendover and the SOFTBALL PRACTICE Contact Karl Larsen 571-2300 Inside medium security prison at Utah State Prison Games played Mon., Tues., Thurs., Fri., evenings & Sat. afternoon all summer 1960 CADILLAC HEARSE 40,000 MILES LIKE NEW RADIO & HEATER $999. BUSINESS ENTERPRISES Phone 756-3565 P. O. Box 334 American Fork Salt Desert Region. "I hear they're gon' tu put the new dump on the other side of Wendover an' yu can't get me ta live in Utah," Mr. Eaton flatly stated, "So I guess I'm just gon' tu retar to Arkansas an' do a little fishing, an' maybe some writing if a idea strikes me." Mr. Eaton's plans for an early retirement from successful success-ful public service may not reach immediate fruition. Of all the cars in the dump motorpool, not one could start on the road to the fishing fish-ing in Arkansas. You can be sure THE NEWS is concerned and will stay abreast of the developments concerning the plight of Deputy Dump. MUSIC COMPANY MARTIN An excellent selection of Martin Guitars Unsurpassed tonal qualities Fine craftsmanship For more than a century 65 South West Temple Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 Phone: 364-6518 ACROSS FROM THE SALT PALACE Computerized Accounting, Taxes and Managment Records Specialized Service for the Man with a small but growing business. P.O. Box 11717 272-0519 didl Where thousands of listeners enjoy concert music and news every day! |