Plodding Pioneers

Rinker Buck pulls into a Chevron station Monday evening, not to fill up, but to drop off a passenger. Buck and his brother, Nicholas, are traveling the Oregon Trail as closely as possible from Missouri. Jaden Glerup hitched a ride from the Sutton Creek Ranch, east of Baker City, to where her grandmother, Julie Barnes, met up with Buck.

By LISA BRITTON
For the Baker City Herald

Rinker and Nick Buck are living the pioneer dream, following the Oregon Trail from St. Joseph, Mo., to Oregon.

They’ve covered the 1,800 miles in a 19th-century Peter Schuttler wagon pulled by three Percheron mules.

Or maybe “bounced” better describes their trip, rolling along on wooden wheels covered in metal.

No shocks, no cushions.

“We went through really rough country in the Burnt River Canyon,” Nick said.

They arrived in Baker City Monday evening, and plan to stay for about a week. They’re staying about three miles north of town.

Rinker, 60, lives in Norfolk, Conn. He is a writer, and in February he signed a contract with publisher Simon & Schuster to write a book about the Oregon Trail.

“I became entranced with the Oregon Trail three years ago when I was in Kansas on assignment,” Rinker said. “I researched the trail and decided there was a great story to be told.”

The challenge, he said, was to decide on a voice for the book.

Then he thought: how about his own?

“I realized if I rode the trail myself, I had the voice.”

He asked his brother, Nick, 54, to join him. Nick lives in New Castle, Maine, where he owns horses and carriages. (He uses a carriage to run errands around town.)

“When he asked me to go, it took me 30 seconds to make my decision,” Nick said.

The Bucks grew up on a horse farm in New Jersey.

“We went to church every Sunday in a carriage,” Rinker said.

He also spends time with Amish and Mennonites who use horse-drawn transportation.

Rinker needed an authentic wagon for this trip, and he found one restored by Dan Werner in Horton, Kan. It has the original running gear, and some original wood.

The Bucks added the rearview mirror.

In the 1800s, wagon maker Peter Schuttler, Rinker said, became a millionaire with his wagons, which were built with interchangeable parts that could be assembled after shipping.

“The trail system was a huge generator of wealth for the American economy,” Rinker said. “It was the beginning of economic development.”

For his trip, he bought the wagon, a “trail pup” to pull behind, and three Percheron mules named Beck, Bute and Jake.

“They’re the biggest mules you can get,” he said.

He left Connecticut on May 6, and they hit the trail on May 14 from St. Joseph, Mo.

“St. Joe was created just for the Oregon Trail,” Rinker said.

They’ve followed the Oregon Trail as close as possible, and 500 miles have been in the actual ruts.

“We’ve done what they did, for 500 miles,” he said.

With a few modern conveniences, like a Coleman stove to heat food.

“We’re very willing to live on Hormel chili,” Rinker said.

One of those meals is most memorable.

“We ate Hormel chili con carne on a roof shingle,” he said.

When they started, the brothers decided they needed to average at least 20 miles a day.

“Our record day was 42 miles,” Rinker said.

The railroad was built along the original trail, and many highways were built right on top, such as the route of Old Highway 30 they followed from Durkee to Baker City.

Their wagon, which travels an average of 3 and a half miles an hour, attracts attention.

“The men wanted to give us steaks; the women wanted to know if we wanted a shower,” Rinker said.

At night, Rinker slept on a bed in the wagon, and Nick unrolled his down sleeping bag on the ground, in a barn, or under the wagon.

“Trail boss, trail hand,” Nick said, pointing first at his brother and then at himself.

They’ve dealt with rain, heat, thunderstorms, and long hauls with no water in sight.

They carried 100 gallons of water and hay bales in the trail pup for the mules.

“We needed enough hay and water to sustain ourselves and be independent,” Rinker said.

And they’ve had trials — they’ve replaced the brake pads  ten times, and reshod the mules five times.

The trail pup has broken three times, the last near Huntington.

Rinker was ready to ditch it there, but Steve Stacey rebuilt it nearly overnight — just one example of the kindness they’ve encountered along the way.

“That’s what’s made this trip possible,” Rinker said.

Traveling by wagon, Nick said, is a great way to see the scenery.

“People rarely get the chance to see the country this way,” he said. “You can say ‘look at that,’ and have 20 minutes to look at it.”

They’ve passed by — and through — lots of farm land and seen diverse growing conditions.

“It’s like a four-month farm tour,” Nick said. “We get 45 inches of rain a year (in Maine). It’s a completely different mindset. We drain fields.”

Now at the end of their trip, the Bucks have to sell the mules and the wagon, because it’s too expensive to ship everything back home.

Their destination now is Hells Canyon Mule Days, held Sept. 9-11 in Enterprise.

And Rinker’s work is not finished.

“There’s a lot of research I want to do in Oregon,” he said.

But they’ve completed their trip, all 1,800 rattling miles.

“It’s a writer’s dream fulfilled, to cross the Oregon Trail,” he said.