Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Incident on the Yellowstone Trail (1922)...And...

A story my Grandfather wrote in 1978 and later submitted to numerous magazines, this one Antique Motorcycle Magazine.



Gramp's first bike, he and younger brother posing in their riding gear


Gramp on his Dual/Sport/Touring/Stunt/Off-Road/Commuter/Snow machine  HD


Gramp on his Dual/Sport/Touring/Stunt/Off-Road/Commuter/Snow machine HD
 (You can just see the pipe in the ground holding the bike up......he was such a prankster .... those winters in Wisconsin 'did' things to people)


Gramp on his Dual/Sport/Touring/Stunt/Off-Road/Commuter/Snow machine HD
(giving his dad a ride)


Mr. E. Fuller, a friend of Gramp's


1922, near Vananda, MT....the young babe with the large hat would someday become my grandmother.


Gram in the car with 2 friends


Gramp rode his Yamaha's into his early 90's.....until Gram found out that he'd fallen one day turning around in the road.  The bike then remained in the garage but he had strict orders not to start it.

When he wasn't riding, working in his garden or spending time in his wood-heated garage/shop, he liked this chair and his two 4-pawed "friends", Trixie and Brownie.  I've got the fondest memories sitting next to him on the davenport, perusing old highway maps, scrapbooks and train timetables from days when Gramp had "ridden the rails" and his knowledge of locations revolved as much around the rail connections as it did around the highways.

Sitting next to Trixie, the Senior Dog...


And Brownie, the Upstart, doing tricks; Trixie trying to keep her dignity, in "her" spot in the corner....



7 comments:

  1. Wow, you really have long history of motorcycles in your family.

    I enjoyed all of the old the pics, but especially the pics of your grandpa with his beloved pooches.

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    1. Trobairitz, we did get started very early and hopefully I'll be part of taking us past the 100 year threshold.

      Gramp loved his pups, no doubt about that. I've always admired and been envious of his lifestyle. After running around the country, seeing lots of mayhem with returning Vets from WWI, he settled down in Wisconsin, carried rural mail and was very satisfied to put down roots. His RFD Route duties had him home most days by early afternoon and his multiple vegetable and flower gardens reflected his time spent nurturing. They grew almost all of their own food and he kept his garage almost too warm with wood starting in late August :)

      There was forever a twinkle in his eye.

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  2. What remarkable photos! Treasures!

    "Those winters in Wisconsin did things to people" - and those winters still do things to people- just less wholesome, let's say.

    I'm from a four wheeled family, car nuts, but I had a mini-bike as a kid. Come to think of it I still don't have much more speed with the Metro!

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    1. Martha, thank you. It's truly hard to believe the photos and records dad's side of the family kept and took care of.

      As far as winter goes, I'm thinking that quite possibly WE are doing things to winter. After all, winter's been here a million years; we lose patience with it and expect it to be more obedient, adapting to our whims and desires.

      A mini-bike, huh? YOU were one of the cool kids. Only the cool kids I knew had mini-bikes and cool very much escaped me. In our Jr. High Industrial Arts class, one of our Big 9th graders actually built his own copy of a Honda Mini-Trail. As far as we were concerned, he was going to be the next Henry Ford. By high school, I think he was lucky to avoid prison....he maybe should have started with something more challenging early on.

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  3. Coop:

    Your family is certainly a pioneer in motorcycling. No wonder you know so much about them having grown up with Gramps. It was nice to have all these saved articles to look back upon

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast

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    1. Bob, even witnessing the photos and stories, I still have to stretch to imagine what it was really like almost 100 years ago. My RFD Post http://coopdwaycorner.blogspot.com/2012/01/35-years-of-rfd-in-wisc.html shows roads that were almost not made to use. Some of us seek them out today....Gramp would have given anything for a purchased 4WD high clearance vehicle w/power steering, auto. transmission and heat.

      I've got one more Post that goes back to the first half of the last century and yes, it involves that generation of Coop's. After that, I'll mostly stick to the LAST half of that other century or this new, much-improved one.

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