Those Booth Horses Again -

[Wild Bill]

This is for Jenny (a Texan, I believe),

I spent most of the 1960s on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon or over over the Rim.

I had a medical exemption for Viet Nam--I thought of the absurdity of that often as I swung a pick and shovel and wrestled with mules. But one does not argue with Army medical officers. I also missed all the anti-war demonstrations, the Civil Rights demonstrations, the race riots, and God knows what else, in the real world.

The North Rim was hog-heaven for a young fellow like me. We got to eat at the dudes' table which meant good food (the South Rim served day-old junk to employees) at $5 a day, waited for the bus loads of French Canadian school teachers to arrive each summer, dated Mormon girls, took weekend trips into Utah parks, stayed at my roommates' Mormon homes, got fabulous pay, got time and a half for forest fires, and lived like kings. I also met my wife who worked there for the concessioner, and later learned to shoe horses and mules.

I got my PhD in history and taught in college for 5 years, could not stand it, and went back to the ranch, so to speak, and spent the next 30 years as a professional farrier, and wrote historical books and articles in my spare time.

All in all, it was one of the best times of my life, to say the least.