By Sara Hacking
A flashback to pioneer days appeared Friday on Highway 10 when Lee "the Horse Logger" Crafton, 46, drove a covered wagon pulled by two draft horses through town. Hundreds of passersby in fast-moving cars, trucks and semis whizzed passed the conveyance reminiscent of a gypsy wagon.
"I'm out seeing the world and having a great time doing it," Crafton said about his slow-plodding journey.
Wadena was another mile-marker on Crafton's cross-country trek from East Glacier, Mont., to the Boston, Mass., area.
"I'll be there when the wagon hits the Atlantic Ocean," he said.
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He plans a stop in the Bronx, N.Y., to visit his childhood sweetheart.
"[We're] going to get together and spend every day doing things we enjoy doing up in New England," he said.
After a "couple months R-and-R with the critters" on the East Coast, Crafton said he will head down to the Gulf Coast, then California and then Alaska. He expects the trip to take several years.
A diagnosis of lymphoma responsible for a large growth in his throat inspired his trip, he said. He started out with $75, two Suffolk Punch draft horses, two Great Pyrennese dogs and a homemade wagon loaded with supplies.
The vehicle is constructed out of an old hay wagon with panels bowed over a frame he built. Plastic tarps and cement blankets provide protection from the elements.
Crafton's old-fashioned transportation was welcomed with some old-fashioned hospitality by Wadena residents.
"Everyone is friendly and nice," he said about the people in Minnesota he has encountered.
Crafton said he was especially grateful for the lodging for his wagon and horses at the Wadena County Fairgrounds and warm meal arranged by Mike Burcham, vice president of the Ag Society.
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"He made my stay in Wadena really great," he said. "It's just the regular hospitality of Minnesota from what I've discovered."
