Scott Swanson
Wayne Beckwith is used to turning heads, so when he drove his rubber-tired road wagon drawn by four mules into Sweet Home Tuesday, July 3, he wasn’t surprised to see a reporter pull up – alerted by several people that Beckwith’s wagon was passing through.
Beckwith, 66, a retired school teacher from Dayton, was on his way to participate in an eight-day 4H Wagon Train that will start Saturday, July 14, at Tombstone Pass and follow the Old Santiam Wagon Road to Sisters.
He said he has participated in such events for about 17 years, last year in the Ochoco National Forest, and previously in the McKenzie River area and other sections of the state. The program, which celebrated its 30th year last year, started in 1980; some participants’ ancestors actually traveled to Oregon via covered wagons, according to news accounts about the event.
Beckwith said about 75 people are involved in this trek. They will do chores and take on necessary responsibilities to make sure the train reaches its destination, though meals will be provided by a camp cook and rolling restrooms are part of the deal, according to a calendar listing at oregonstate.edu.
Beckwith said he usually trucks his mules and wagon to the trek starting point, but this year he decided to drive from the McMinnville area. Other than a couple of unplanned days in Salem while he recovered from a bout of the flu, he said things have gone well on the trip, which he started June 25. He spent the night Monday at Larry Sommers’ house on Pleasant Valley Road and planned to spend a few days with another local resident, Frank Stutzman, before heading into the mountains.
He built the rubber-tired wagon especially for this trip, he said. A solar panel charges a battery that keeps a warning flasher, mounted on top of the wagon, going as he drives down the highway.
“The battery also powers a water Pik,” he said. “And I can charge my cell phone.”
His seat folds into a bed and he has two hens in a cage mounted under the wagon “for eggs.”
Beckwith said the response from the public is generally very positive.
“Most of the people are really nice,” he said. “You see the best side of humanity when you do something like this.”