Cancer leads to a simpler path

There have been challenges along the way, but the Montana man has endured.

THE VINDICATOR

By REBECCA SLOAN

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

KINSMAN — Everybody’s heard the adage, “Take time to stop and smell the roses.”

Lee “The Horselogger,” a Montana man who’s traveling across America in a homemade covered wagon, expresses it a little differently.

“Just learn how to say ‘Yee haw!’” he proclaims as he sits in the shade outside the wagon that’s been his humble home on wheels for nine months. “That’s what this [cross country] trip is about — learning how to say ‘Yee haw!’ Life is short. Enjoy it.”

It may sound like a corny cliché, but Lee — who wants to be known only as “The Horselogger” — means it from the bottom of his big, eccentric heart.

After he was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2005, Lee, 46, decided part of his cancer treatment would include a trip across America — a pilgrimage where he could see the countryside and savor each day in the slow lane.

“People get caught up in the rat race of daily life and instead of living life, it lives them,” said Lee. “I’m doing something I love and am happy doing it.”

Facing challenges

Of course, roughing it in a covered wagon without running water or electricity has its challenges.

Since his Aug. 9, 2006, departure from East Glacier, Mont., Lee has passed through North Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana and endured blizzards, blistering heat and severe thunderstorms.

He’s been drenched by the spray of passing tractor-trailers and has shivered through subzero nights with only a propane heater for warmth.

When Lee began his journey, he had only $75 in his pocket, and he has relied on kind-hearted folks along the road for meals, a place to park his wagon and hay for his team of horses — a rare pair of Suffolk Punch draft horses named Max and Tom.

“I’ve gotten a lot of help from people at fire stations along the way,” Lee said, “And from good people everywhere. There have been so many people who have been willing to help me on my way.”

Lee pulled into the fire station in Kinsman on Monday evening to let his horses rest.

“Everyone here has been very cordial and friendly,” Lee said of Kinsman. “I feel safe here.”

When the horses are ready to go again, Lee will continue eastward until he reaches the Boston area, where he will reunite with his childhood sweetheart, Nancy.

After picking up Nancy, Lee hopes to continue into the Deep South and onward to California and eventually Alaska.

“I hope to be in Alabama by Nov. 1,” he said.

Keeping company

Besides the trusty team of draft horses, Lee also keeps two Great Pyrenees dogs, Katie and Kerr-Mutt, for company.

“The dogs are great company, although their barking often keeps me awake at night,” Lee said. “Great Pyrenees like to warn and protect their human, so they like to alert me about everything.”

Since his Montana departure, he’s been the subject of numerous newspaper articles and has been featured on several television broadcasts, including CNN. A Web site chronicling Lee’s journey urges people to spread the word about his trip and to prepare for his arrival as he passes through their town. The site can be found at leehorselogger.com

Lee stresses that his journey is not about selling anything or raising awareness for any cause. He’s simply living his life to the fullest. “That’s basically it,” he said. “I don’t have any other agenda. I’m just experiencing this journey and letting it unfold.”

Lee calls his cancer “a gift,” perhaps because it has prompted him to take his life by the reins — literally.

He has refused traditional cancer treatments and has relied instead on holistic medicine. He believes a careful diet and herbs have helped stop the growth of his tumor.

Background

Lee has always embraced the simple, natural life. He grew up on a tree farm in upstate New York where he cut firewood, planted trees and learned logging with horses (hence his nickname).

After graduating from high school, he went to college but left “degree-less but educated.” Eventually he moved to Montana and settled on a ranch where he lived a rugged life with no electricity or running water.

Although Lee’s bushy beard and rumpled clothing may give him the appearance of a backwoods bumpkin, Lee speaks with intelligence and awareness on a variety of topics including what it really means to be “rich.”

“This is all I have,” he said, motioning to the wagon. “And I consider having very little to be a blessing.”

Lee will depart from Kinsman by the end of the week. He plans to write a book about his journey.