The Saga of Windwagon Smith

The Little Magic

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00:00 [Music]

00:28 [Music]

00:47 In Kansas land at the start of the trails that led to the Golden West,

00:54 the Oregon Trail and the Santa Fe were the two that were known the best.

01:00 Here in the town of Old Westport, the windswept trails begun.

01:07 But most of the time all the folks down there just drowsed in the Kansas sun.

01:14 Yippee-aye-yay and a yo-ho-ho get along, yes, swabs get along.

01:20 From the rolling free or the long prairie just a-hoi-hoi.

01:29 Steady as she goes.

01:32 [Music]

01:41 It sailed into Westport in a cloud of dust, down Main Street and past Quincy Store,

01:47 and then Hole 2 at the Star of the West started making a tack for shore.

01:53 Ahoy there, mate!

01:55 Bellied a voice from the dust as an anchor dropped over the side.

02:00 It neatly furled round the hitching post and the prairie schooner was tied.

02:05 The folks edged closer for a better look and were amazed at what they saw.

02:10 Boy, it's a carvered wagon, Conestoga type, but there ain't no auction to draw.

02:16 The difference was built above the top.

02:19 A deck ran from stem to stern.

02:22 A mast was rigged with a tattered sail and a tiller the wheels did turn.

02:30 Avast, me hearties!

02:32 The town folks stared and said nary a word, then pushed out Mayor Crumb.

02:38 He cleared his throat before he spoke.

02:42 Howdy! Where be you from?

02:44 Avast there, lubbers! I'm Captain Smith and I've sailed the seven seas.

02:50 Now I've cruised to the west and I intend to sail the lone prairies.

02:56 Well, your clothes don't look like nothing we've seen, but your wagon's the type we approve.

03:02 With no auction or horses to pull the darn thing, must be the wind makes 'em move.

03:07 You guessed it, me hearty.

03:09 But now let's go the talk. Well, I see what your galley holds. I haven't had chow for over a week.

03:15 My innards is furled and foaled.

03:20 He seated himself in the star of the west and yelled an order or two.

03:25 That's for some grog with biscuit and beef.

03:28 Lordy gawk was buffalo stew.

03:30 Served by the mayor's daughter, a beautiful craft was she.

03:35 With hair like a Zanzibar sunset and eyes like a blue-green sea.

03:46 She swayed with the grace of a schooner and had the lines of a full-rigged ship.

03:52 Captain Smith most swallowed his scuppers and his heart did a hornpipe flip.

04:00 Uh, uh-huh, uh-huh, um, my, go take a walk.

04:06 The captain me has got business, and business is just man talk.

04:15 Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, ah, where was we at?

04:20 Oh, yes, about that wind wagon.

04:23 A question I'll clearly state.

04:25 Yes, I know you don't use any critters, but will the bling thing haul freight?

04:31 You can bet your last blinkin' barnacle.

04:34 Freight is just ballast, you know.

04:37 Her hold will hold a full cargo, and in Kansas the winds always blow.

04:44 The prairie is just like the ocean, only greener and drier, you see.

04:49 And the billowing waves of buffalo grass make sailing quite easy to be.

04:55 Now take the course chartered here on the map that leads down to old Santa Fe.

05:01 Oxen and wagons take almost two months.

05:04 I'll sail it in 14 days.

05:08 Now Jake Schaefer was one who could figure things out, so took pencil in hand with a pad.

05:14 He scratched down some figures and added 'em up.

05:17 That's a quarter of the time he got.

05:20 I'll write some more figures and push 'em about.

05:23 But that's four times the profit, plan C.

05:26 We could build a whole fleet of wind wagons.

05:29 Yeah, look at the money we'll make.

05:32 But they should be bigger and larger inside.

05:35 Then we'll make twice as much, don't you see?

05:38 Keep to it, you lovers, and stand by a while.

05:41 So happens I have the charts here with me.

05:44 He unfurled the plans of a super wind wagon where everyone could see.

05:50 Mates, I'm ready to organize the Prairie Clipper Company.

05:57 They all signed up and formed a board.

05:59 They shook hands with each other a while.

06:02 And monies were paid for keels to be laid.

06:05 Hit them out into quarter five.

06:10 They laid out the keel of the super wind wagon.

06:16 Worked on her day and night.

06:20 White oak and hickory were used in the ribs.

06:25 Birch for the wheels, just right.

06:33 Wind wagon met Molly each night after work on the unfinished deck that was free.

06:38 As they sat 'neath the moon, he'd tell her tales of life on the bounding sea.

06:46 Molly's father was one who frowned on such things.

06:49 You could see he was bad as a crow.

06:52 He said to his daughter, "Molly!"

06:55 Oh, dear.

06:56 "Get for the house. I've heard about sailors, you know."

07:04 Then came the day the wind wagon was finished.

07:07 What a sight for everyone's eyes.

07:10 Her 12-foot wheels had hubs big as barrels, and her mast seemed to reach the sky.

07:16 The wagon tongue ran up to the deck as a tiller it stood in good stead.

07:21 A tobacco store wooden Indian was used for the craft's figurehead.

07:26 So beautifully fitted and greased it was, she'd move with the touch of a hand.

07:35 And they rolled her out to the edge of town,

07:42 accompanied by the Westport band.

07:51 Molly got set to christen the craft.

07:53 Mid cheers and a toot of a horn,

07:56 she took dead aim on the wood Indian's head and broke a jug of old Kansas corn.

08:10 The board of directors were set for the voyage, and Miss Molly led them up to the hold.

08:15 When her father said, "Molly, go take a walk. This cruise is for men," she was told.

08:25 Admiral Wind Wagon Smith mounted the deck and whacked the bell eight times o'er.

08:30 Then looked in the hold that was fully packed and yelled,

08:34 "All ashore that's going ashore!"

08:38 Now he unfurled the mainsail down to the deck, then grabbed the long tiller pole.

08:44 The sail bellied out in the Kansas breeze, and the wind wagon started to roll.

08:49 She headed down the Santa Fe trail, she picked up speed in the breeze.

08:56 Down below the directors sat, trying to control their knees.

09:02 Trotting a squat through the buffalo grass, the clipper sailed along.

09:08 Wind Wagon Smith was so pleased with his craft, he started to sing his song.

09:14 Yippee-yi-yay and a yo-ho-ho on our maiden voyage we sail.

09:19 We're on our way to Santa Fe, and we're really a-blazin' the trail.

09:27 I calculate we're going 60.

09:30 60?

09:32 Coyote reef dead ahead.

09:37 Bacon carriages hard aboard.

09:40 Engines?

09:42 Rig for off-sea.

09:47 Fasten down the hatches.

09:54 Stop this contraption?

09:56 If you don't stop, we'll sue.

10:00 Let us off! Let us off!

10:03 Okay, you swabs, hold on to your seats. I'm gonna bring her about.

10:08 He pushed on the tiller and turned back toward town, the sail angled out from the mast.

10:13 Then he pulled on the handle to straighten her out.

10:15 Lo and behold, the wheels, it stuck fast.

10:19 Smith pulled and tugged with all of his might, but his efforts were all in vain.

10:24 She sailed in a circle two miles wide.

10:27 The board was still raising cash.

10:34 Now each time the wagon sailed past the town, a member or two would jump out.

10:40 Like rats abandon a sinking ship, they'd hit running and tumbling about.

10:53 Here comes another.

10:55 It's his honor, the mayor.

10:58 When wagon Smith was now all alone and bowed, "I'll go down with the wreck."

11:04 Then his eyes did pop as the hatch cover opened and Molly climbed out on the deck.

11:10 She tacked to the stern and hoved to at Smith's side.

11:13 "I was hidden," she coyly did say.

11:16 "Well, shiver me timbers and furl me jibs. You're the wind wagon's first stowaway.

11:23 Now you better get off, 'cause I can't steer, and I'm afeard her seams will rip.

11:29 We're in for a blow from that hurricane."

11:31 "My captain, don't give up the ship."

11:34 Just then the old Kansas twister hit, with a howl like a wild Cherokee.

11:42 She sun-fished and bucked and the wheels did shake.

11:47 Then the tiller broke itself free.

11:50 "I can steer her again, and we'll ride out the scales."

11:55 He fought the storm without rest.

11:58 The wagon sailed out on top of the blow as the twister headed due west.

12:03 The old wind wagon wasn't heard of again, except in tales old timers told.

12:19 They saw a wagon amongst the clouds when the sun set turned to gold.

12:29 She'd be a-sailing in the painted sky, they'd swear, on a buffalo hide.

12:39 Wind wagon Smith was a-steering this rig with a beautiful gal at his side.

12:49 The yippee-i-yay and the yo-ho-ho were sailing along on high.

12:57 Just Polly and me or the lone prairie on our wagon way up in the sky.

13:06 On our wagon way up in the sky.

13:15 [music]

13:24 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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