Werner Wagon Works
By Lynn Telleen
Reprinted with permission from the Summer 2006 issue of The Draft Horse Journal, www.drafthorsejournal.com

The son of a horse farmer, Don Werner grew up near Powhattan, Kansas, in the extreme northeast corner of the state. Some of Don's fondest childhood memories include accompanying his father to the fields to pick ear corn by hand. Don would ride in the box wagon as his father shucked and tossed the ears against the bang board.
 Not venturing far from home, Don married and settled in Horton, Kansas, a small community located, incidentally, on the historic Pony Express route. There, he and his wife Connie raised their two kids and made a life for themselves. He was first employed as a “bull hauler” trucking cattle to Omaha. During one trip back from Nebraska in 1984, his truck–part of a convoy of four–was literally struck by a tornado. Don's truck was actually sucked up into the twister, then dropped next to two of the others. "He doesn’t know to this day how he got into the sleeper but when the truck came down he was wrapped up in the mattress of the sleeper," recalls Connie.
 After this, Don decided that he needed to point his wagon in a new direction, so he enrolled in trade school to become a commercial electrician. Upon graduation, he went to work for a company in Kansas City, a 2-hour drive one way. There, he stayed employed for twelve years until the winds of change blew once again.
 During a trip to Branson, Missouri, in the fall of 1987, the Werners observed a blacksmith working on an old wagon at Shepherd of the Hills outdoor theme park/theatre. It was one not unlike those Don's father used, bringing back many youthful memories and rekindling his affection for those old horse drawn wagons. While watching and talking with the blacksmith, Don commented that he had always wanted one of his own. Realizing that Don had a real interest, the blacksmith invited the couple to come back the next day to see the wagons and buggies they had in the storage sheds. "We had the privilege of going behind the scenes and learning more about the shows that are put on at Shepherd of the Hills," says Connie. "The blacksmith suggested that if we were truly interested in the art of wagon building and wheel building, that we should visit the Amish settlement near Springfield, Missouri." The next day, that is exactly what the couple did, spending about eight hours just talking and visiting with the Amish craftsmen.
 The passion for wanting to build his own wagon became an inspiration to Don for learning the trade. "He went to a lot of sales and talked with the older gentlemen who had actually used wagons to farm with," Connie states. "He crawled over, under and inside old wagons to learn how they were built. He studied manufacturers such as John Deere, Studebaker, Peter Schutler, etc. He sent for blueprints from different places, using the Smithsonian and Bird-in-Hand Museum, as great sources of information. He had not yet learned the art of wheelwrighting, so our first set of wheels for the box wagon was bought from Doug Hansen, one of the best in wagon building. Doug was also a great help and inspiration." Don did complete his own wagon the following year–a box wagon, no less.
THERE HAS TO BE
AN EASIER WAY!
 "In 1992, I worked for an area hospital," says Connie. "Sherry McCoy worked for another in Council Grove, Kansas, through which we became acquainted. Ironically, Sherry's husband John was also a wagon builder. Sherry informed me of an upcoming wagon show in Marysville, Kansas, sponsored by Ken and Arleta Martin, historians of trails and pioneer living. Upon informing Don, we ended up taking his first wagon to the show. The McCoys brought their stagecoach and we both won first place in several categories. Thus sprang up a lifelong friendship involving countless trips to the Waverly Midwest Horse Sale in Iowa.
 "Shortly thereafter, we learned of a wagon train to be held in the virgin prairies of north central Kansas, traveling in the ruts of the original Oregon Trail," Connie recalls. "Accompanied by the McCoys, we left our home with a team of Percheron draft mules, Sara and Sadie, and supplies for the trip. We traveled three days by ourselves before reaching the wagon train. While on the trail, maintenance was continually done on the wagon. Every 30 miles, the wagon had to be jacked up and the wheels removed to grease the skeins. Upon our return, Don and John put their minds to finding a way to build a maintenance-free wheel. John had the expertise to make the insert in his machine shop and Don had the expertise to make it look authentic to the old hubs and axles." Thus, was born the “Real McCoy Hub Inserts," which John manufactures at his Four Mile Carriage & Machine Shop. Werner Wagon Works is the exclusive dealer.
 After that, "Don graduated from the 'School of Hard Knocks'" Connie continues. Word of his work made its way across the country, bringing more projects from wheel repairs to entire wagons. Doing the work part-time, along with being a full-time electrician became harder to handle.
 In January, 1998, Don was contacted by Lynn Leasure & Associates of Utah about the possibility of constructing six covered wagons to be used at the National Oregon/California Trail Center in Montpelier, Idaho. The project needed to be completed by August and a seventh wagon was needed for the Pioneer Sugar Company in Michigan by June.
 Don accepted the wagon order, but something had to give. He'd been doing all of his wagon work after hours and on weekends, so he took a leave of absence from his job, hired some part-time help and immersed himself in the project. Working round the clock, he was able to meet the deadline and deliver the last two wagons himself. The electrician's union never received dues from Don Werner again.
 Ever since, the Werners have been building all types of conveyances: coaches, prairie schooners, buckboards, spring wagons, chuck wagons, Conestoga wagons, colonial wagons, mercantile wagons, double box wagons, army escort wagons, Concorde coaches and more. Their growing list of customers includes living history farms, museums, companies looking for a unique means of advertising, the honor guard at Fort Riley, Kansas, and all sorts of individuals who want to participate in wagon trains, chuck wagon races, cook-offs and parades. And some clients actually use the wagons on farms and ranches.
 The Werners recently restored several box wagons bound for Fairbanks, Alaska, where they will be used for farming. Three years ago, they also sent an authentic 1770 colonial wagon to Martin's Station, a premier living history site situated in Wilderness Road State Park, Ewing, Virginia. Connie says, "We had to do some extra research to build this wagon, as the period of its origin was earlier than any we had ever built. The colonial wagon is a precursor to the Conestoga–more primitive. For example, the brakes are engaged by pulling a rope instead of the lever mechanism on the more modern wagon."
 Though the Werners' customers stretch across 40 states and Canada, none of their projects have traveled farther than one wooden wheel made for the city of Independence, Missouri, and presented to its sister city of Higashimurayama, Japan.
 Work keeps lining up. Werner Wagon Works will be working closely on two major projects taking place in Kansas to preserve and share western history. The first, Wild West World, is a $26 million family entertainment theme park scheduled to open May 5, 2007, in Park City, Kansas. It will become the state's only theme park, and, more pertinently, the only one in the world with an entirely western/cowboy motif. The park will feature some 25 rides, various skill games, food concessions, gift shops, craft and artisan shops and music. A sister attraction to the Prairie Rose Chuck Wagon Supper and Hopalong Cassidy Cowboy Museum in Wichita (two of the fastest growing attractions in the state), Wild West World has secured the services of the Werners to build a Concord stage coach.
 The other exciting opportunity involves Old Abilene Town, an 1870s western-themed attraction receiving a $20 million restoration and expansion. During the late 1800s, Abilene, Kansas, earned the reputation as the “wickedest and wildest town in the west.” This booming cowtown, located at the end of the historic Chisholm Trail, originated as a crude frontier village of about 300 residents in 1857, growing almost overnight to a city of 3,000 with the largest stockyards west of Kansas City, more than a dozen saloons, gaudy night clubs, gambling houses, thriving mercantile businesses and hotels. Abilene’s most famous resident at that time was “Wild Bill” Hickock, town marshal in 1871. The Werners will play a consulting role in regard to the facility's many wagons and various other historical projects.
THE HUB
 Connie Werner is more than Don's wife of 40 years. She's an integral part of the business, doing the painting and detail work, plus handling all of the paperwork. Her enthusiastic interest in American history gave rise to a spin-off of the business ... period reenactments. It was a natural when she started offering the service, which involves her transporting a covered wagon and related authentic gear to schools, community events, shows and various private venues. Hers is an educational presentation that teaches about the experiences that the pioneers had on the many trails they traversed across America.
 "History has always been a great interest of mine," she says. "Ever since I was a little girl sitting at the feet of my paternal great-grandmother. She'd tell me tales of traveling in wagon trains and of seeing Abraham Lincoln in person. Members of my family have fought in every war back to and including the Revolutionary War. There are great storytellers in my family and our history has been traced back to the 1630s. My maternal grandmother traveled in a covered wagon to Colorado. As a girl of 10, she was responsible for two younger siblings during the week while her parents worked in the valley close to Steamboat Springs.
 "Don developed an interest in history when he started researching the wagon and its early manufacture," she continues. "With my obsession in history and his passion for wagon building, it became a natural fit for reenacting and sharing the heritage of our forefathers and history of this land.
 "I believe that we need to remember where we came from and reacquire the passion of opportunity in our blood as our ancestors had. We need to remember the history of the building of this country by our forefathers and mothers, who had a dream to make life better for us all.
 "We hope as people see our wagons, that it evokes images of them crossing the prairie or of a stagecoach delivering its passengers to their destination after a long journey on dusty and dirty roads, or of chuck wagons accompanying the cowboys on cattle drives."
THE FINISHED PRODUCT
 As both a wheelwright and wainwright, Don is a certifiable rarity. Excluding the Amish, it's been estimated that there are only five or six such craftsmen in the U.S. that build all of their products from the ground up. What this means is that he is fully capable and competent of building any kind of historically accurate wagons and carts, authentic wheels and much more.
 Werner Wagons have been featured in movies such as "Ride With the Devil" and "In Search of the Oregon Trail." Their vehicles have been seen in numerous parades, featured in Kansas Country Living, Kansas Heritage, Farm Show Magazine and the book, Wheels Across America. Many of their wagons have traversed the original Pony Express, Oregon, Santa Fe and California Trails, some have been highlighted in historical reenactments and others still are housed in museums around the globe.
 The T.V. show "Extreme Makeover-Home Edition" called once needing a chuck wagon delivered to California within seven days. "Of course we scrambled to find a good used box wagon which could be converted by simply building the chuck box," Connie recalls. "We even had extra help lined up, but when we called back the next day, wouldn't you know it, they were over budget!"
A NEW VENTURE
 "As far as we know," states Connie, "There is currently nobody building his or her own brand of wagon, as did John Deere, Studebaker, etc. With this in mind, we decided to build our own 'Werner Farm Wagon.' It will be a limited edition of 50, of which we'll retain the first. Each wagon, beautifully constructed out of the finest woods of the types used in original farm wagons and pin-striped by a local artist, is numbered on the front of the rear axle and on the bottom of the box. The wagon is also marked with the Werner name on the sides of the box, the front and rear axle and the back of the seat. When you buy a 'Werner Farm Wagon,' you will receive a guarantee and a letter of authenticity. At this point, we are finishing the process of establishing the registered trademark." The first showing of the wagon took place at the 2006 spring Waverly Midwest Horse Sale.
ROLLING ALONG
 Grateful for the opportunities afforded them, Don and Connie Werner are most impressed by the folks their enterprise has brought them in touch with. "We believe that we have met some of the best and most interesting people in the world," they agree.
 If you find yourself in northeast Kansas, stop in at Werner Wagon Works for a visit. You may be surprised at what you might learn about America's western migration. You might also find out about the trials and tribulations of those journeys, what types of supplies they had to carry, weather conditions they had to endure or how long it took them to get where they were going. In the very least, you're likely to find out about the historical wagons that our forefathers used. Of course, if you're not much of a history buff, Don might be willing to tell you about the inside of a tornado.