Wagon Train
Documentary Crew Joins Ingomar Wagon Train for Montana Stock Growers’ Association 125th Year Celebration
When the Ingomar wagon train pulled into Miles City for the 125th Anniversary of the Montana Stockman Growers Association last Friday, June 12th, 2009, they were accompanied by a Neon Lines video crew from the Mojave Desert, who were taping the final segments for a documentary on Eastern Montana cowboy poet Owen Badgett. The crew, producer Linda Lou Crosby and camera operator Hart Broesel, got some great video and photos along the way.
Heavy rain had diverted some of the planned participants for the Ingomar wagon train, but Owen Badgett, Morris Ware, John Benson (with his wife Pam as an outrider) and Jack Hinnaland (with his wife Deb as an outrider) took their teams from the John Biery Ranch all the way to Miles City. Morris looked at the wagon ride as a way to work a lesser experienced team and be ready for the big parade down Main Street Saturday, June 13th. “
The Ingomar wagon train did experience some pretty good rain and cold wind at the beginning of their ride, and it had rained hard for a couple of days before the event was to begin. “The gumbo was pretty deep so we stayed mostly on the roads,” said Badgett. But the final two days of the trip were perfect weather for the teams and the camera crew. Once at the fairgrounds in Miles City, participants enjoyed a steak dinner courtesy of Albert Newman, Daphne Kuhlman, and his NNN Ranch crew, and a hearty breakfast before the parade.
The Owen Badgett documentary has been in the works for ten years, which allowed producer Linda Lou Crosby to fully experience Eastern Montana hospitality, picturesque scenery and working cattle ranches up close. The documentary is due to be completed this coming October. The plan is to premiere the documentary at the Lone Pine Film Festival, in Lone Pine, California October 9-11, 2009, and a Miles City premiere has been discussed with Kelly Reid who honchoed the logistics of the three wagon trains that rode to Miles City for the Montana Stock Growers’ Association event from various parts of Eastern Montana.
Badgett, a cowboy poet and storyteller with three published books to his credit, “Made of Iron”, “Rawhide and Velvet”, “A Deep Seat and a Faraway Look”, now lives in Ingomar, MT. Badgett, born and raised in Eastern Montana, cowboyed for the NNN and M_ Ranch over the last 14 years. “There is nothing quite so spectacular as Eastern Montana,” said Crosby. “ The term ‘Big Sky’ means a lot more to me now. And the friendships and neighborliness of the people of this state, not to mention the camaraderie and stories that surround ranching and cow work, provide a setting beyond compare.”
The Ingomar Wagon Train
Jack Hinnaland & His Team
Owen Badgett with His Buggy Pulled by His Mules Ghengis & Attila
Camp at the Miles City Fairgrounds