Beyond the Bundy Ranch.

like most things in my life, the idea of me going to Bunkerville, NV. was a spur of the moment thing. It was my opinion that the situation there was a pivotal time in American history. When people made contributions to get me there to report what I found, I knew that it was important to them as well. So I left Ashville NC and headed west. 2250miles west.. I wasn't in a huge hurry to get there for several reasons. One, I knew that this would be a long term situation and two, I didn't want to be there with thousands of "kooky Lou's.
As I approached exit 112 on interstate 15, I was anticipating law enforcement, cameras and traffic counting devices.. I found none of that. What I did find was a new $2million interstate interchange in the middle of nowhere. There is currently no good reason for that interchange to be there. I can only speculate as to why that interchange was built but you can bet that someone convinced the state DOT that it was needed to develop the area... Three miles south of I-15 on state route 170. As I rounded a downhill curve I knew I had arrived at the protest site. American flags, caution tape, traffic cones, six large RVs, 20 portable toilets and 15 people milling about. I pulled in and the first person I encountered was quite the Dude. A jovial Californian of about 75 yrs young. His wardrobe choice told me that he had never bothered with reading a fashion magazine. He wore a colt 1911 on his hip and a badge on his chest. The badge read "Brothel Inspector. Nevada City, California". An intelligent character who gave me the lay of the land and his life story.. I used the excuse of needing to set up my camp to separate myself from this man. I made camp on the bank of the Virgin river under the highway bridge.
the next morning as I took a stroll along the river, I came upon the tent camp of Buddy Cox and his 16yr old son, Chris.. More Californians. they had been there sense the day of the standoff with the Feds. They told me of everything that they recalled and we discussed, at length, the misinformation that the media was putting out.. We spent the rest of the day and well into the night together.. Good people. We went to town shopping and I saw him buy the dinner meal for 100 people. We were unloading the food supplies at the improvised kitchen when I started meeting all the people on location.. The man in charge of the kitchen had to tend to his son who was suffering from a heat stroke so I became the camp cook. This allowed me to talk with everyone. And this is what I learned.....