JUDITH DARLENE HAMMER

MAY 31, 1938 – AUGUST 8, 2023

Part 19 was published January 1, 2024, and can be found here.

Team of Horses

I always wanted a team of horses to pull different wagons and buggies in parades or on trail rides. The first trip Judy and I made was from Peyton to Calhan.

We borrowed a restored wagon from Paul Chisman, Brenda’s brother in Ordway. This trip was the beginning of the El Paso County Fair. We also had an afternoon rainstorm. It was the beginning of our many wagon trips. We had our team and wagon in the fair parade in Calhan for many years.

We bought a team of Haflingers from a guy near Calhan. They were kind of small, but very enthusiastic.

They had a big get-together in Eads to commemorate the Sand Creek Massacre. Tony and I took our team and wagon. There was a parade and activities on Maine Street as well as at the fairgrounds. We hauled people back and forth. Our Haflingers were very apprehensive. We drove them up and down the racetrack at the fairgrounds about thirteen times before we got them settled down.

There were two Indian tribes, Cheyenne and Arapahoe, there for the dedication ceremony. We were hauling some Indian girls to downtown. We drove by this big bus that had Cheyenne on the side. We asked the girls if that was their bus and they said “NO, We Are Arapahoe.”

There was a lady who held some State political office, and we hauled her and her elderly mother from the fairgrounds to downtown Eads. We were quite nervous. 

We had our team and wagon or buggy in the El Paso, Kiowa, and Cheyenne County fair parades for several years. Many times, it was just Judy and me. Sometimes we had grandkids. We hauled some of the Kiowa County cattlemen in the parade at least one year.

Judy usually rode with me on short trips. However, she and I went on a wagon trip in Nebraska and slept in the trailer a couple of nights.

Tony, Lauren, Leah, and I took our saddle horses, and an extra horse for one of the girls to ride. Tony and I had trained our two cow horses to pull a wagon. We took them to the Nebraska sandhills for a four- or five-day wagon trip. They were doing pretty good until we came to a real sandy road that went up a hill. The guy ahead of us had a team of mules. He unhitched and hooked on to our wagon in front of our team and helped them to the top.

That night after supper, the girls had fun ridding Tom and the spare horse around camp. Tom was part of our team. Moe was the other member, and belonged to Tony.

After the third day, we decided our horses had enough, so we went home after breakfast the next morning. That was the only wagon trip Tony went on.

Lauren and I took the buggy with the new Haflingers on a wagon trip in northern Kansas. It was beautiful pristine country. We went through two or three small villages that were very neat and clean. Those who were home brought their lawn chairs out and watched us go by. Lauren said, “I feel like a celebrity.”

I know Lauren, Leah, and I went on other wagon trips, but can’t remember them.

Branson Missouri

After we moved to Wild Horse, Brenda’s parents, Paul and Carol Chisman, told us about Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. We really enjoyed the Blue Grass Festivals. We went several times. We took our friends, Darrel and Yvonne Shallenberger, and we enjoyed the music very much.