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Dakotah - The Drive Ends
Poet, Dylan Thomas wrote: “Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” On January 4, 2009, Dakotah’s journey came to the intersection of antiquity and modern-times when the California Highway Patrol (CHP) ended his passage beyond Highway 20, at the Northern tip of Lake Mendocino.On the previous day (January 3, 2008) Dakotah was stopped by two CHP officers as he was traveling southbound on Highway 101, just south of Willits, California. As Dakotah put it, “I have been traveling around the United States for over twenty-five years, and I have been in control of where I went; how long I stayed; and the choice to stay or go was up to me. Not this time…” He went on to explain, “I have never been stopped by the police in any state I’ve traveled; but, since I’ve come to California on this trip, I have been stopped seven times. And if you can believe it, I just lost my virginity (so to speak); I got my first ticket!” And so he has.Dakotah handed me the official yellow copy of ticket #52694 (given to him after an hour of cell-phone calls buy two CHP officers before they decided to escort Dakotah down a narrow six-mile stretch of Highway 101) that cited him for CVC – 21805 – Unsafe Horseback Rider. The problem is, Dakotah was not ‘riding’ a horse, he was ‘driving’ a team of horses; and one might say well, given that, after twenty-five years on the road, (and over an estimated 50,000 miles) he is still here.It seems with age, comes wisdom, as Dakotah was compliant; even to the point of having a CHP officer, sitting in his car, calling out orders over his loudspeaker of when pull over to let cars pass and when to start again.. “You’d think I had never done this before; that I just appeared out of the sky and had no idea what I was doing” Dakotah recounted. “They asked me where I was going, and I told them I was headed to Sacramento, California Valley area, via Highway 20 to Highway 29 around Clearlake. Oh, they told me that I shouldn’t go there. Highway 20 is ‘Blood Alley’, so they suggested I take another highway. But, when I looked at the road they suggested, I knew my horses could never make it up that way; it was too steep with no good place to camp. So I went on a road that was a sure thing.”It appears, by the actions of the CHP on Sunday, that their “suggestion” was a bit more than a suggestion. When the CHP officers saw Dakotah on Highway 20, they made him stop about three miles East of Highway 101, at the tip of Lake Mendocino. “I got a twenty-minute lecture from the female CHP officer who told me that they were there to arrest me for disobeying a direct order; so they made me stop until they could figure out what to do with me and my four horses.”I suppose that the story could have ended there; however, Dakotah had a guest-rider on board that very well may have turned this otherwise tragic turn of events into a glorious day.
An internet media company (Johnson Digital Media www.johnsondigitalmedia.com ) in Ukiah, California launched an effort to broadcast video in the public interest called, www.ukiahvalley.tv . Tamara Drake, the online correspondent, produces stories of community interest for web-broadcast, which include Board of Supervisor meetings; and today, Tamera was sitting at the right-hand of Dakotah as the CHP pulled him over.“I watched what was going on and thought that maybe my video camera might intimidate them; or at least make a difference” Tamera explained. “…here is this really sweet man, who stops to talk to people when they approach, or let their kids pet the horses; he even let’s people come inside his wagon (his home). I just knew I had to do something when I realized they (CHP) were not going to let Dakotah go any further, so I got on the phone to former Willits Supervisor, Hal Wagonet, and he set the wheels in motion…” And the wheels turned quickly.Within thirty-minutes, local horsemen and women came to the aid of one of their own. Spencer Brewer and his wife Ester Siegel; along with John Tilley and Alvin and Sally Tollini formed an armada of horse and flat-bed trailers with which to deliver Dakotah and his team to a wagon-friendly route.Mind you, this act was carried out without hesitation or calculation of the personal cost of time and money for the 120-mile round trip. With camera rolling, Tamera captured the event as the convoy of trucks, wagon, and horses continued southeast on Highway 20, past the resort town of Clearlake Oaks, to the hill and canyon transition area where northern California meets arid central California and Highway 16.
The U.S. Department of the Interior, through the Bureau of Land Management, set up a Cowboy Camp Trailhead near the intersection of Highway 16 and Highway 20 and Dakotah found a surrounding that mirrored his mode of travel. Thanks to the kindness of strangers, Dakotah was back in control of his destiny in fewer than two hours after the saga of this day began, and is once again pointed east to Sacramento.
The journey ahead is just less than one hundred and sixty miles; approximately a ten and a half days journey (depending on the weather and the availability of water and grass for his horses) before Dakotah will arrive at his winter location near Turlock, California.I asked Dakotah how long he intends to drive on and what is his end-game? He waxes philosophical for a moment, “…this ain’t something I’m ‘doing’, I’m living my life in the manner that I have chosen. For me, this ‘is” my life, so to answer your question, I guess when I’m dead, I’ll stop.” My son wants me to settle back down and maybe train horses for a living, or buy and sell them too, but I am not one to sit for long, so I don’t know”I can not say for certain, but having spoken to Dakotah’s son I believe, if asked how he would write the epilog to his father’s life, he might recite the last portion of the Dylan Thomas poem:
“And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”Drive on Dakotah.Other stories about Dakotah can be found here:http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/dakotah-drives/2008/dec/03/dakotah-is-alive-and-well/ http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/dakotah-drives/2008/dec/07/dakotah-drives-part-2/ http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/dakotah-drives/2008/dec/14/the-heart-of-dakotah/ http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/dakotah-drives/2008/dec/21/inside-dakotah/ http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/dakotah-drives/2008/dec/23/a-dakotah-christmas/ http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/dakotah-drives/2008/dec/31/dakotah-a-place-in-time/ http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/dakotah-drives/2009/jan/01/willits-redux/
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5 January 2009
at 10:29 p.m.
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Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…
Suspenseful!And “Whew, thank goodness!”Charles, you had the there for a few minutes, you devil.
5 January 2009
at 10:31 p.m.
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Logan72 (Alia Ahmed) says…
Wow! Charles, please let Dakotah know that I'm learning from him (via your blogs) every time you write about him. I'm not nearly so gracious when pulled over by law enforcement officers, even though there was no doubt more probable cause in my incidents than in his. Dakotah seems to have mastered the ultimate in mindfulness. His journey is the story, not some endpoint or final destination.
5 January 2009
at 10:33 p.m.
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Logan72 (Alia Ahmed) says…
By the way, your photographer has outdone herself this time. That first photo is breathtaking. :~ )
5 January 2009
at 10:36 p.m.
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cybercme (Charles Edwards) says…
Thanks to you both, MD and Alia.I hope you didn't mind the “hook” so much, but I was at home talking to Dakotah on the phone as he was telling me of the situation, and I felt soooooo helpless being 140 miles away.Alia, I agree with you too; his journey is the story; but there is more coming. I have but touched the tip of this iceberg.More to come as I unravel the story, but it is a love story that spans almost fifty years, two continents, a first love, and a son Dakotah didn't meet for forty-plus years.I get goosebumps when I think of what has been laid at my feet, and feel so honored to be this vessel.Best to you both.Charles
5 January 2009
at 10:38 p.m.
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cybercme (Charles Edwards) says…
Thanks! She is something else for sure.Gotta love that woman; oh goodie, I do love that lady!:-)
5 January 2009
at 10:51 p.m.
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Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…
Yes Charles..about that hook.They say we have a finite amount of adrenaline in our bodies..so in a few years, when I run out, I'll be emailing you asking for mine back!lol
5 January 2009
at 10:58 p.m.
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cybercme (Charles Edwards) says…
Hey, MD;Too funny, dear lady.I'll skim the top a bit and keep some on ice for you till you need it. :-)
6 January 2009
at 5:42 a.m.
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tangential_reasoners_anonymous (Anonymous) says…
“… this ain’t something I’m ‘doing’, I’m living my life in the manner that I have chosen. For me, this ‘is’ my life, so to answer your question, I guess when I’m dead, I’ll stop.” Living in the moment… “I'll sleep when I'm dead.”
6 January 2009
at 9:49 a.m.
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cybercme (Charles Edwards) says…
May we all do the same as Dakotah, TRA. Live now, and figure it out as we go along.Or, as I once heard Chuck Swindol say, “…be a human being and not a human doing”
8 January 2009
at 7:22 p.m.
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tangential_reasoners_anonymous (Anonymous) says…
“…be a human being and not a human doing”,;-)That gem was worth all the mining I've done here.Thanks for the alerts, Charles.Thanks for all the imagery.
8 January 2009
at 7:36 p.m.
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justbegintowrite (Ronda Miller) says…
Charles, this was an absolutely spine tingling story with pictures. Very well written. I felt closely connected to Dakotah on his journey…that is a sign that this piece was written in a wondrous manner…and I agree that the photographs truly helped tell the story. To spend a night at, “Cowboy Camp” under the stars, among the horses, listening to Dakotah's breath as he sleeps..to feel the quiet peace of surrounding nature and know that our lives progress much too quickly….too little time to journey alone.