Four Comedians and a Snake River Wagon

As I walked into the Mall, I could see the Snake River Stampede Wagon, front and center in all its olden-day glory. In strange contrast right above it was the Burlington Coat Factory sign, and surrounding the wagon was the newly remodeled decor of the Mall.

The wagon seemed out of place. But then again, maybe not. Something I hadn't paid attention to as I walked in were a group of four senior gentlemen, seated in the lounge area on the comfortable chairs. At least two of them were wearing caps that told me that they were military veterans. After taking several shots of the wagon, I thought it might be nice to put them in the foreground. So I asked them if I could take their picture, with the wagon as a backdrop. I wanted to make sure that all four of them had agreed, and it seemed that they had... but one of them, after looking more closely at the finished photos, seemed to be gesturing in a rather 'unfriendly' way in a shot or two; perhaps he'd been an unwilling participant after all.

I got their names....but am still not sure if they are real or fictional. Ralph Barnum. (One of the men who I'd come to know as 'Lee' told me that it was 'like the circus' Barnum). I turned to Ralph and asked him if that were true. He nodded solemnly and assured me that yes, that was his family. Hmm. The 'unfriendly' gesturer said that his name was 'Homer Hogshead'. I said that this sounded like an alias. Lee once again piped up and said that it certainly was an alias; but they couldn't tell me his other names...they were ones he couldn't repeat.

"I don't want my name in your writing," 'Homer' told me, "You see, I need to be anonymous..."

"D'ya know why?" Lee chimed in, "Because he's WANTED, that's why!"

I turned to 'Homer' and asked, "Is your picture on a poster in the Post Office?"

He assured me that it was. He said, "The F.B.I. knows my whereabouts."

I smiled at him and told him that I thought this was the case with most of us, nowadays.

"He wants to be 'wanted'," Lee said, "If you know what I mean...!" Lee was, I'm guessing, referring to those of the female persuasion. I wanted to laugh out loud, but didn't. These guys were quite the comedy act.

Lee told me that his last name was Archer.

"You know, like the 'bow and arrow'?" He had a story for every name.

When they learned that I was interested in the Stampede and cowboy-types, of course they all became cowboys, or claimed to be.

"That one there," Lee said, pointing to the man seated near him, who gave only the first name of 'Vern', "He's a real cowboy. And Mr. Hogshead over there...you see that cane? That isn't an ordinary cane...that's his stick horse, that's what it is."

I suppressed more laughter. These guys were a riot. I asked them if they hung out at the Mall every day.

"Yeah," Ralph said, "We're here just about every day," and then he added, "...or somebody else is...."



A visit to the Snake River Stampede Wagon, and free entertainment. You just can't beat that with a stick.....or a stick horse.

Copyright (c) 2010. Amy Larson. All Rights Reserved.