A Wagon Train of Gypsies

On the old Price and Wellington road, at that time, just before you entered the town of Wellington was a group of trees and, among these trees, several Gypsies were camped. They were traveling east in covered wagons. They had teams of horses that pulled the wagons, four or five saddle horses, a lot of dogs, plus several goats. Milk goats which they staked along the ditch bank and milked each morning and evening. They had a lot of kids from babies on up.

In addition to the animals named, they had a big black bear, which they kept chained to a tree. There was at lease one man and sometimes two or three people watching and keeping people away from the bear. They told us kids and everyone else, I suppose, that if we irritated the bear and if he got mad, the bear would break the chain. The chain wouldn’t hold him and it was possible the bear might kill and even eat us up! Well, us kids weren’t about to bother that old bear other than to look at him.

The Gypsies had signs up and down the road above and below their camp, plus the tree the bear was chained to, was just a few feet off the highway and in plain sight of anyone passing up and down the road. The bear was always pacing back and forth, to and fro. There weren’t many cars in those days and the road was plain dirt, but what cars, wagons, buggies did come along, all stopped to see the bear. He was the big attraction, and I am sure the first live bear this young squirt had ever seen, up to that point.

When the people stopped to see the bear, a big man named Tony, would lecture to the people about the bear. How he had caught him, where he caught him, how old he was. The Gypsy man, Tony, would show scars on his body proving indeed that Tony had had some real narrow escapes and harrowing experiences with the black bear. Tony, also, told the people if they would come to Wellington on a certain night down to the Norton store where there was a hard wood floor and plenty of space, he would make the bear roller skate. In addition to this, Gypsy Tony offered a very handsome sum of money to any man who would wrestle and throw the bear. I don’t remember how much money but a large sum. This was quite a challenge to a lot of men. Earn Milner was a big two hundred and fifty pound strong young man. A lot of the fellows about town tried to get him to try the bear, but he wouldn’t. They also tried to get my dad to wrestle the bear. Dad also refused.

The Gypsy man, Tony, said he would wrestle the bear, but would prefer to wager a sum of money in favor of the bear, against any man, no matter how big or how professional the man was. Tony was wanting to bet his bear could throw any man. When people stopped to look at the bear, the Gypsy women, especially young ladies in their teens, would mingle among them and try to get the people to let them read their palms, tell their fortune. I sure would eye these Gypsy girls dressed in their bright clothing, etc. The men too wore pants tucked into boots, a wide sash about their waist, plus a turban about their head. They were a strange people to all us kids.

Every day as we passed the Gypsy camp, going to work up to the farm, was quite an experience to a young boy like me. Dad stopped only once that I can remember and walked over to look the bear over. And, of course, the Gypsy women wanted to tell his fortune, also to get him to wrestle the bear. I, Dell, and Andy, would beg father, after we got home from the farm, to let us go up and visit the Gypsy camp. For a long time, Dad said, “No, those people mean trouble. I want you boys to stay away from them.” But he saw other kids about their camp, so finally, dad let us go to the Gypsy camp a few times.

The Gypsies told us the big man Tony was their king! And I suppose his wife was their queen. Anyway, he was their king and whatever he said for them to do they would do it. Some of the Gypsy kids, big boys and girls, and men and women would go from door to door asking for eggs, butter, bread, flour, sugar, all kinds of food, and I know a Mormon town, our religion teaches us to give, if we knew the truth, the Gypsies did real well!

Then, too, the women folks, always two together, would knock on every door. They had a lingo they would tell the people. They were gifted by a great power and for a dollar or fifty cents, they would like to read the palm of their hands telling their fortune, even, I am sure, promising good luck. Andy says two of these women came to our house. I don’t think mama would let them tell her fortune. However, Andy says they did tell mama there was going to be a big change in our family.

I remember one day, we were working on the farm, I believe piling hay. Some of these Gypsy women drove their buggy team up to the gate, left the team and one man in the buggy outside the fence. The two women came through the gate, started walking over to where we were piling hay. Dad said, “Keep working boys.” He met and talked to the two Gypsy women. I can remember this, I was real curious and I, Dell, and Andy were wondering if dad was going to let them tell his fortune. Finally, the Gypsy women left and dad came back to where we were piling hay. We asked, “Dad, did you let them tell your fortune?” Dad kind of chuckled. He said, “I gave them fifty cents to get rid of them! But I don’t believe and I don’t want you boys to believe in fortune tellers.” “Ya, but dad, what did they tell you?” “Oh, a bunch of junk,” dad replied, and let it go at that.

However, I and my brothers, Dell and Andy, can remember hearing dad say, “I might kick the bucket this fall!” That is one of the ways dad expressed it. Another phrase was, “Maybe, I’m gonna croak this fall.” I, Andy, and Dell always did believe the two Gypsy women did tell dad he was going to die.
Well, Dad didn’t believe in Gypsy fortune tellers and neither do I. But the Gypsy in a lucky hocus pokus guess, I suppose, hit the nail on the head that time because dad did pass away in November of that year.

We couldn’t wait for Saturday night to come because that was the night Tony, the Gypsy king, was going to wrestle the bear. Dad had told us we would all go and see it. Us boys couldn’t believe a bear could skate, roller skate, and wrestle a man. For us three young buttons, well, we just couldn’t believe it. Everyone was talking about it, and it was really going to be something to see! Saturday finally came, and working on the farm with dad and my brothers, it was an exciting and a very long day for me, just a button, still wet behind the ears. It seemed as though the day would never pass. But it did, and we found ourselves on a wagon loaded with loose hay headed for home and so we passed the Gypsy camp.

Sure enough there was the old bear chained to the tree close to the road pacing to and fro. Dad said, “No man alive can throw that bear. I want you boys to know that. That bear will weigh at least four hundred pounds and his strength is equal to a small horse. That bear will tear hallow tree logs apart to get wild honey. He can kill a big buck deer with one hard stroke of the paw. Can’t you boys see why no man will wrestle with the bear? You boys stop and take time to think. Tony, the Gypsy king, knows no man can throw his bear. That is the reason he is willing to bet a lot of money, even two dollars to one that no man can throw his bear. You boys don’t want to believe anything these people tell you. If they tell you something, come to me or to your mother and we’ll tell you if it’s true or not. Do you boys understand this?” We all answered, “Yes, dad.”

When we got home, Dad, Dell, and Andy unloaded the wagon load of hay. Dad would pitch the hay off the wagon up onto the stack, and Dell and Andy would place it about on top of the stack. When working in the hay, each night Dad would bring home a big load and stack it so we wouldn’t have to haul it in the winter.

The main road passed our house and we were just finishing supper, when down the road came the Gypsies. They had the bear loaded in a big iron cage on a wagon pulled by a team of horses. The harnesses on the horses were a bright white and red. The Gypsies were all decorated real pretty. Their king, the man Tony, was driving the team. All the Gypsies were following the wagon and a couple men were playing accordions. They marched up and down two or three streets doing this to attract attention before they stopped at the Norton store. By this time, every kid in town, big and small, was a following the Gypsies and I was one of them.

In spite of everything I had heard about them and the many stories, boy howdy, to me they were ok! And I just wished I was one of them. They didn’t have to work and every night there was music, dancing, and laughter in their camp. To a young squirt like me, I thought they were ok. In fact, dad said he thought he would give me to them!

At the Norton store, there were a lot of people. Us kids had to pay ten cents. Adults, I think, paid fifty cents, which in those days, was considered real high. I sat behind a heavy glass door on top of the counter. I could look around the side or through the top of the door which was glass. I mention this because of what took place later. Finally, the time came that we had all been waiting for. The man Tony, the king of the Gypsies, entered with the bear. He paraded around the floor a couple of times, then, he commanded the bear to sit on a little stool. Then Gypsy Tony lifted one of the bear’s back feet and put a shoe with a roller skate attached on the bear’s foot. While Gypsy Tony was doing this, the old bear growled! All the time, Tony kept talking to the bear, then, he picked up the other foot, the bear still sitting on the stool, and put the other skate on. All us kids watching, personally, I know this bear can’t skate.

The Gypsy man Tony took a hold of the lead rope. They had some kind of a chain halter on the bear. Tony now commanded the bear to stand and after a couple attempts, the bear made it to his feet. The people applauded loudly then the man began to lead the bear and the bear began to skate. Slowly at first, then faster and faster, as fast as the Gypsy man Tony could run around the store room floor went the man and the bear. It was wonderful and the people loved it. They applauded him again and again.

The bear had laid down. Now Tony commanded the bear to get up. After a couple attempts, the bear made it. Tony started about the room again, but this time in a figure eight and real fast. It was amazing! The bear was an excellent skater. No matter where Tony went or how fast, Mr. Bear was always there. When Gypsy Tony stopped this time, he stopped right by the door where I was sitting. He said there would be a fifteen minute intermission for him and the bear to rest before they wrestled. During this period, the Gypsy women were circulating among the people telling people’s fortunes and trying to get people to let them read their palms.

Anyway, this short horn, who doesn’t have enough brain power to pour water out of a boot, is sitting on the counter, behind the door, looking through the top glass part of the door, and what does this youngun do to show off, I begin to growl and to growl through the glass at the bear. The man Tony is talking to a couple men and paying no attention. He doesn’t know what is going on. Finally, that bear gets plumb fed up having me pull faces and growling at him. The bear draws back one paw and “Wham” he lets go at me. He don’t hit me, but he does hit the wood part of the door, which comes back against my legs with a bang making a lot of noise. Immediately, Tony and the two Gypsy men he is talking to grab hold of the chain. They are shouting and pulling on the bear to get him away from me.

They made a big fuss, much more than I think was necessary, making a big show. They took the bear to the far part of the store, then Tony came back and asked us kids what we were doing. I wasn’t alone, some of my friends were with me. We told Gypsy Tony we weren’t doing anything. In broken English, Tony said, “I a know a you a boys a do a some a ting.” Then he said it was a good thing the bear still had the roller skates on or they wouldn’t have been able to handle him.

The Gypsy man Tony, a Gypsy king in his own right, a master of showmanship, began to walk up one side of the big store hall and then the other side of the hall, saying, “I, Tony, king of the Gypsies, will bet one hundred dollars against forty dollars. Come on.” But no bets. “I tell a you, I, Tony make a bet one hundred dollars against a twenty a dollars a. What a you a say?” Everybody wanted big Earn Milner to wrestle the bear, but Earn refused saying the same as dad had told us kids. No man could throw that bear, plus they had just seen the bear skate and it was an excellent skating performance, therefore, by this time, the people had a lot of respect for the bear.

They Gypsy man Tony took off his shirt. He also slipped off his long pants. He was bare down to the waist and from the knees down. Then Gypsy Tony, proudly strutted around each side and end of the hall telling the people and showing his scarred body. I was just a button, still wet behind the ears, however, I’ll never forget the man called Tony. His body was a solid mass of scars. His one breast had been completely torn off, arms had been chewed. The calves of his legs were knotted and scarred. His back, no matter where you looked, that bear had left his brand. Gypsy Tony told how each time his people had nursed him back to life and of his determination to conquer the bear to be a real king, the Gypsies could be proud of.

Tony led the bear out to the middle of the hall. He then took the long lead chain off the halter, replacing it with a short rope which was braided. He commanded and the bear stood up his full height, the bear looked taller than Tony. They began to circle each other, then they closed in, the wrestle was on. They had each other about the body in what we would call, and this was, a real bear hug. Tony was grunting. You could tell by his muscles he was doing the very best he could to throw his bear! Then the bear picked Tony up and throwed him to the floor, not too gentle and not too hard. The bear was on top and soon Tony began to call out enough, enough! The referee, a Gypsy man, grabbed hold of the short rope. He pulled and hollered loudly and the bear got off Tony. Fall one was over in favor of the bear. The people applauded again and again. They liked the bear. Tony, the Gypsy king, was becoming more and more respected and appreciated. His customs and his system of living much different and yet in his own right and among his own people, Tony, indeed, was a king.

Fall two, they rang a dong, each from opposite sides of the hall, walked to the center of the floor and again, they circled each other. Then they took hold of each other’s arms, as though they were sizing each other up, then Tony and the bear fell to the floor, then Tony got a scissor hold around and just above the hips of the bear. Tony’s toes and feet were locked. Everyone thought Tony had a good hold, however, the bear merely reached down, took hold of Tony’s feet and easily pulled them apart. Then the bear was on top of Tony and, soon, the man began to holler, and fall number two was over and, again, the people applauded. They liked that bear!

Fall three was a little different. They circled each other, then closed in, this time, I believe, the bear let the man Tony get him on the floor. Tony, his body was glistening with sweat. There was no question but what he was straining and working real hard. This time, Tony threw the bear to the floor, Tony on top of the bear. They struggled a few minutes or seconds. Then the bear turned Tony over on the floor and sat on top straddling Tony, pinning the Gypsy man, and, again, made him say enough! Fall number three and the wrestling match was over. Three falls, all in favor of the bear. The people applauded. They were well satisfied with what they had just seen.

Dad gathered his three boys together saying, “It’s all over, come let’s go home.” And as we walked, he asked each of us, “Did you like what you just seen?” We each replied, “Yes, dad, we thought it was great!” Dad said, “Now you can see why no man wanted to wrestle the bear, because the bear has the strength of a small horse and the king of the Gypsies done a good job of training that bear!”

It is 1977 and the years have passed by. Thousands of times, the man called Tony, the king of the Gypsies, and his bear have passed through my mind. I know nothing about these people or how to choose a king, but to me, just a short horn and beginning to spread out in the world, Tony, the Gypsy, was, in deed, a king.

I do not believe in fortune tellers, the reading of palms. However, the two Gypsy women, who came to the farm, they read dad’s palm. He said, “I just gave them fifty cents to get rid of them.” However, I and my bothers, Dell and Andy, heard dad say a couple of times “I might kick the bucket this fall, or maybe I’m gonna croak this fall.” I and Andy have talked about this. He also remembers.

This about covers the territory. The Gypsies hooked their teams to their wagons and headed east. I’ll never forget the team with the beautiful red and white harness. This was the team that hauled the bear in the iron cage and driven by, none other than, Tony, the king of the Gypsies.