|
HOLE IN THE WALL TRIVIA
RELIVING THE OLD WEST-BUFFALO NATIVE WATCHES
AS ‘HOLE INTHE WALL GANG’ THRIVES.
Little has changed since 1975 when Bill Jones helped bring
back to life the new and inproved Hole in the Wall Gang.
“We still ride for three or four days, there’s still music
around the campfire. There’s still a 24-hour bar,” said
Jones, now 84.
Hole in the Wall-the desolate, rugged, awe-inspiring red
rock formation south of Kaycee-is the alleged hideout of
famed Wild West bandits Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid, though historically, it has never actually been
proven.
But in 1975, determined not to let facts get in the way of
a good story, Jones, a Buffalo native, got the idea to pay
homage to the area and the legend that still lives there
today. It began in a bar in Denver when a friend of his,
Denver Post columnist Red Fenwick, said he had always
wanted to see Hole in the Wall. He said, “It’s in Utah,
isn’t it?” And Jones said, “No, you mossback, it’s in
Wyoming.”
Thus began the pilgrimage to the site and it has continued
every year, including last weekend when the group gathered
in Kaycee and rode into the area for a special weekend.
“There were 12 of us at first,” said Jones, who said last
weedend’s group featured 50 people, many from Denver and
some from, of all places, Hollywood. “We’re trying to
retain the history of the Old West. We try to honor the
history, the cowboys and his ways.”
Jones said 50 was the maximum number allowed on the
excursion.“We’re trying to limit the number to 49, but
we’re one over. It’s pretty exclusive. There are guys
waiting in the wings to join, but you don’t want too many.
It loses its tenor.”
The group leases 50-60 horses, ride in and set up camp in
the same place they always have-at Poker Creek. There is
still only one way in and one way out and the group still
camps under the stars for five nights, relishing what life
must have been like 100 years ago. “There’s no women in
camp. No gambling and no guns. It works out pretty well.
And it’s not a journey for the faint of heart,” Jones
said.
Jones recalls numerous injuries due to falls, including
one broken ancle and another participant who suffered a
punctured lung. “But he’s back and ready to go. Guys don’t
want to give up their spot.” Jones said.
Jones and Gordy Meldrum are the only two Johnson County
men who still make the trip and for Jones, a Buffalo High
School graduate, this has been another adventure in a
lifetime of adventures.
His family moved to the area in
1884 from Missouri and the ranch his grandfather began
still thrives in Mayoworth. He was a belly-gunner in WWII,
who was shot down over Austria and spent time in a German
POW camp. After retuning, he raised his family in Buffalo
and took a turn as a bronc rider before becoming a
freelance writer.
The Hole in the Wall gand is now made up mostly of Dencer
area residents and, to Jones’ bemusement, several writers,
actors and producers from Hollywood, who rearrange their
shooting schedules just so they can make to trip.
Two actors who try to make it every year are Bruce
Boxleitner, who has done a host of westerns over the
years, and Martin Kove from the TV series “Cagney and
Lacey” and the movie, “The Karate Kid”. Bruce Boxleitner
was kept away this year, though, due to a film project.
The outdoor aspect of the journey, Jones said, is what
appeals to the Californians. “The Hollywood guys love
sleeping under the stars.”
A bad hip and a stroke last December has limited his
ability to stay in camp as much as he wants these days,
but he gets up there as much as he can and he has no
intention of retiring from the group. “I’m going to do it
forever if I can, “ he said.
(Article taken from the Buffalo Bulletin, 24 Sep 2009, byChuck Carlson)
contributed by Kari.
|
![button[1]](../assets/images/autogen/a_button_1_.jpg "button[1]")
