REAL MOUNTAIN MEN and GAS-A-MATS..

Sometimes, funny incidents or situations are the unexpected. They just happen and are perfect. When I lived in Montana between 1976 and 1982, we had a small cottage with I acre in the hills above Hamilton. I had done various jobs to make a living. One of the first was at a Log Home Building Co. I worked in the maintenance area mostly servicing chain saws, welding and repairing other equipment. However, before that I ‘peeled’ logs used for building the log homes. It was a very tough job and all was done outside in any weather. All the logs had a bark of sorts that had to be peeled off down to the bare wood. This was all done with a two handled draw knife. It was good exercise. The men who did this came and went. Occasionally, even a woman worked a while.

There were 2 of the peelers who actually lived in caves up in the hills. The older one, Kurt, about 30 or so, was a real live hermit. A true mountain Man. Never talked to anyone much. Just worked and got his pay and left. Just like a dan’l Boone. He carried a long Bowie knife that could almost whack a 2 x 4 in half. He had contempt and disdain for the other younger “cave man” named Dustin. Justifiably so, I thought. He was a “wannabe” but he was giving it a run for the money, at least. Well, there are other interesting stories there between them and about them, I am sure. However, while working there, I had noticed an old white ford station wagon accumulating a thick coat of dust in the parking lot. Under the dust, it didn’t seem to be in bad condition. It was there every day in the same spot. At the time, we only had a 1961 ford pick-up that we moved here from Colorado with. I asked around wondering who owned it. It looked abandoned. Come to find out, the “wannabe”, Dustin owned it. I asked him if he ever drove it. He said no. I asked if it ran and he said he didn’t know. He said he didn’t need it living in a cave up in the hills. I asked what he would take for it and he thought and said “maybe 75 dollars”. For the sake of bartering, I said “How about 50 dollars”. He said “okay”. And that is how I got my second car. He even had a title to it which was a shock.
It really was not a bad car. It needed cleaning and a lot of work but usable. It even had a heater which my truck barely had. The one irritating thing was that the driver’s door was missing one hinge. I had to get into it through the passenger side. One day, I needed to get gas. This was back when they had those “Gas-a-mat” stations. The pumps were right in front of the window where the lady sat and took your money and gave you a coin, of sorts, and you put it in a slot at the pump and then you pumped the gas. This particular day I pulled up in front of the window and not thinking, I opened the driver side door and it fell off with me standing there holding it by the handle. I looked at the lady and she began laughing so hard “I thought I would pee my pants”. Those were her words. I walked up and put down my money and said “It’s ok, That happens all the time”. One of those moments that could never be duplicated. I eventually got some hinges at a wrecking yard and fixed that problem.