FRIENDSHIP WAGON TRAIN

It may have taken on a twist of the wild old west, but it was a week-long charity horseback riding and wagon event passing through rural Steele County and other counties across southeastern Minnesota. The time: 2026.

Horses and covered wagons traveled the back roads from Cannon Falls on June 19 before ending eight days later in New Richland. On June 24, they camped out at the Steele County Fairgrounds in Owatonna before hitting the road the next day across County Road 18 to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church at Meriden and ending that night in Waseca.

It’s affectionately referred to as the Friendship Wagon Train, which was created 38 years ago by John Davis of Byron. In the early years, he rode for Camp Courage before splitting away to the Friendship Wagon Train in 1990.

As he nears 80, Davis is still a part of the effort coordinating this year’s ride of 12 wagons, 13 riding horses and about 50 horse lovers. He comes up with the 135-mile route which changes every year. Horse riders use the slow-paced, 3.5-mile-per-hour journey to appreciate the countryside that rural Minnesota offers.

But they’re not doing it just for the riding. They are crossing southern Minnesota to raise awareness and donations for Special Olympics Minnesota. They raise up to $35,000 every year. Davis said in the past they had raised funds for more localized camps, but they like Special Olympics because it reaches a broader audience statewide.

The Special Olympics foundation provides athletic opportunities for children and adults with intellectual and physical disabilities.

“This is important. I have to do something right in life,” Davis said referring to collecting donations for Special Olympics. He is also involved in a large sleigh ride event for Special Olympics in Rochester every year along with Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson.

But Davis admits age is catching up to him.

“I’m going to be 80 and I’m wearing out,” he says wearing bib overalls and leaning on the special truck stocked with water for the horses and Porta Potties. 

Riders come from as far away as Louisiana and Tennessee. Others live in states closer, including Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Illinois. There are also several from Minnesota. 

Cole Ulrich of Albert Lea has been taking part in the wagon train for the past 25 years. “It’s a family tradition,” he said, noting that he considers all the riders part of his family. “The whole wagon is a family train. We love each other very much.”

“This right here,” Ulrich said as he hugged another rider, “it’s the friendship. We’ve known each other forever.”

Ulrich added, “We love to ride.”

Michael Cunningham of Fairview, Tenn., couldn’t agree more. He has been a part of the Minnesota wagon for 23 years. “It’s the friendships we make,” he said. “At home (Tennessee) we have much better riding, but it’s the friendships.”

There were as many as 66 wagons and 1,500 riders back in 1990 when the wagon train began, according to Davis.

While on the route through Steele County June 25, the wagon train pulled into the Rick and Darlene Ebeling’s Century Farm for a break. “This is awesome,” Darlene Ebeling said. “Once in a lifetime. They love this. It’s their bread and butter.”

After leaving the Ebelings, the wagon train continued west to St. Paul’s Lutheran where the church ladies provided them with lunch. For Davis, being at Meriden touched a sweet memory when the wagon train camped overnight there one time back in the early years.

Jolene Gundermannn of Waseca reflected on her 40 years of riding with the different trains. When she first began, she didn’t even own a horse. “We used a borrowed horse and slept in a station wagon,” she said, noting today she owns three horses and has been riding with the Waseca County Sheriff’s Posse for 31 years.

She laughs about how they said after the first year, they would never do it again. “I don’t know why we keep coming back. It’s a lot of torture on us,” Gundermann said.

Now she can’t think of doing anything different.

“Just the fun of being together with the people,” she said. “We meet people from everywhere. It’s a great time.”