Rural Heritage June/July 2025

Cowboy’s Last Ride

Larry has held a number of jobs over the years, always self-employed and running a business he owned. He's run a restaurant, dairy farm and house moving business. Those experiences served him well as he organized and orchestrated the outriders, teamsters, and truck drivers involved in moving the outfit every day. Just before dawn every day, Larry and Bruce Fraysur went out to scout the day's route and fill up the water tanks. Meanwhile a crew of three or four men fed, watered and brushed the four draft mules before harnessing them. They were led to the wagon where they stayed in place until it was

by Joe Mischka L arry Jollisant of Plantersville, Texas, has always wanted to take a long covered wagon ride across the Texan landscape. He knocked that item off his bucket list this spring when he took four mules, a Lindsey eight-wheel log wagon, 255 miles from Plantersville to Bandera, Texas over two weeks. The wagon was fitted with hoops and a canvas cover. Every night, Larry slept in the wagon on a sheet of plywood. Some nights the wind would rock the wagon so severely, Larry said he wasn't sure if it might tip over.

A few days before they started on their trip, Larry and some of his friends hooked up the mules and put them to the eight-wheel Lindsay log wagon for some practice.

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