Just passing through Lodi

Ron Dakotah has been roaming the countryside throughout the West for 34 years. He goes wherever his spirit takes him, in a covered wagon pulled by three horses.

This week, his spirit took him through Lodi.

Dakotah, 68, says he's traveled more than 80,000 miles — all in his wagon — since 1984.

He said he believes in roughing it and his mood can range from warm and friendly to somewhat cantankerous and cranky.

His destination on Wednesday was Linden, and he plans to eventually end up in Turlock to buy another horse.

Born in Minnesota, Dakotah grew up in North and South Dakota before serving in the U.S. Army. So why does he roam the country?

"I was married three times," he said while stopping on Live Oak Road, southeast of Lodi. "My third wife ran off with a bus driver. That's why I started doing this."

Ron Dakotah has been travelling the country by horse-drawn wagon since 1984. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

So where does he go? Anywhere he wants, as long as it's rural and he doesn't block traffic.

The most recent leg of his journey began in Bend, Ore. Dakotah decided to head south because he didn't want to spend a cold winter in central Oregon. After reaching Grants Pass, Ore., Dakota traveled to the coast and then along Highway 101 from Crescent City to Highway 20 near Ukiah. He then went east across the north shore of Clear Lake to the Central Valley.

The California Highway Patrol got his dander up a few weeks ago for issuing him his first citation in his 34 years of exploring the hinterlands. An officer in Willits cited him for unsafe horse riding on a highway.

Dakotah notices the different ways people drive in various states. In California, he said, people will drive 60 mph in each direction and pass him on the road, but in Oregon, for example, they stop behind him like sheep, he complained.

Dakotah said meeting people is the greatest part of his lifestyle, but he isn't looking for female companionship after his three marriages.

"I got four offers since I left Grants Pass," he said.

They weren't marriage offers, he said, the ladies wanted to travel with him on the wagon. He was amazed at how each woman would dump all their personal problems on him.

A slender, rugged-looking man with a short, gray beard, Dakotah prides himself on being self-sufficient. His "home" has wall-to-wall carpet, solar panels and food. He tows a small trailer behind the structure with tools and feed for his horses.

He has three horses towing his estimated three tons of home and trailer — Ed, Yuma and Monty. A fourth horse, Contino, walks on the side of his covered wagon because he's a young horse that Dakotah says he rescued in Idaho. Ed and Yuma are from South Dakota, and Monty is from Montana.

Dakotah came to Lodi on Tuesday from Flag City.

Dakota's MySpace page

Despite his fierce independence and nowhere to call home, Ron Dakotah has a MySpace page.

He swears he has nothing to do with it because he doesn't know one end of a computer from another. But while traveling through Eureka in December, he met someone who offered to set up a MySpace page for him.

And if you must know, Dakota is a 68-year-old Leo who has the page looking for networking opportunities and friends. His occupation is listed as "Teamster."

The MySpace page says that Dakotah lives in Eureka, but he explained that Eureka is merely the home of the page's author.

To learn more about Dakotah, visit www.myspace.com/rondakotah.

News-Sentinel staff

"I'm not sure exactly what his goal is," said Tim LeBlanc, who with his wife, Leslie, fed Dakotah dinner Tuesday night and allowed him to spend the night at their cattle ranch at Alpine and Live Oak roads.

LeBlanc was headed to Lowe's in southwest Lodi when he saw Dakotah ambling along Armstrong Road. After he finished his shopping at Lowe's, LeBlanc saw Dakotah again and offered to let him camp out on his property.

"He's a very likable guy," Tim LeBlanc said.

So Dakotah did what he does every night — set up a portable electric fence and let the horses loose for the night. Each morning, he feeds the horses and checks their shoes and repairs them, if needed.

Dakotah said he normally doesn't like to spend the night as someone's guest like he did Tuesday with the LeBlancs.

"I don't want my horses eating their grass," Dakotah said.

He also doesn't want to stay where there's livestock because his horses won't get any sleep, especially if there are other horses. Female horses are worse yet, Dakotah said, because his male horses will desire them.

"You know what women are like," he quipped.

Dakotah is spending his last year on the West Coast. His heart is in the Midwest, "Where the grass is belly deep and grain is cheap."

Come spring, he will head to either Red Bluff or Redding and then head east. It should be smooth sailing once he gets to Susanville, he said, except for Billings, Mont., where he'll be forced to ride through town.

He likes the calm atmosphere Middle America affords, especially the Plains states. He plans to spend the rest of his days in the Dakotas and Montana while occasionally heading south to Kansas and Texas.

Dakotah has only been east of the Mississippi River one time — a trip to Kentucky. Never again, though. The roads are too hilly in the Bluegrass state, he said.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

4AStrongLodi wrote on Jan 23, 2009 4:05 PM:

" I think this is great! However, the fact that he's been doing this 1984 tells me he's not all there in the head. But, to each their own! "

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PAL wrote on Jan 22, 2009 5:38 PM:

" My granddaughter and I were excited to see him as he passed by our house. Started a discussion on the old west and covered wagons and that was the mode of transportation for long distances in the old days. Thank you Ron as I dont think you realize what you inspire as you go by. We all wish we could be like you. It may with other transportation, like a motorcycle or rv, but we would all love to just go where the spirit would take us "

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dogs4you wrote on Jan 22, 2009 2:12 PM:

" Looks like a traffic hazzard to me, hope he cleans up after his horse`s and stays off I-5 and 99. The CHP must know him very well. "

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skipd wrote on Jan 22, 2009 8:39 AM:

" nice story. i had the chance to meet him as he traveled through walnut grove. he is a likable person. and he is doing in a covered wagon that i want to do on a harley davidson classic. and i will definatly do it in the near future. "

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