Man fixes up 100-year-old wagon

For five generations, the iron wheels of the Murray family wagon aided in hauling hay and wood.

The worn wagon retired on the family farm in the mid-1960s, where it rested for decades before Lonnie Murray decided he couldn't let it end up in a scrap yard.

Instead, he pulled it out and repurposed it into a modern covered wagon - complete with a pullout picnic table and awning.

It was a tricky project, though.

"There's no blueprints for this wagon," Murray joked.

The unique undertaking started with a shovel.

Murray had to dig the wagon out of the ground, as it sunk a couple of inches down over the years of sitting on the property, located on Two Mile Road, rural Brainerd. A few stray bolts had to be unearthed, as well.

He set up the 100-year-old wagon in his Oak Lawn Township yard about five years ago.

With a lot of missing pieces and no idea on how to build a covered wagon, Murray turned to the Internet.

He was missing a very important first piece: the axle, which he finally found a year ago from an acquaintance in Little Falls.

Finally, Murray was able to start piecing together the wagon.

Using pictures for reference, the wood seemed to piece together easily.

"It was straightforward and simple," he said.

Five-year-old Hailey Murray, the sixth generation to ride on the family wagon, even helped her grandfather hold boards during the assembly process.

Most of the wood came from recycled pallets. The seat came from a butternut tree Murray had cut down from his yard.

The trickiest part came when Murray had to steam and bend hoops to hold up the canvas on top.

"That was the hardest part, trying to make the canvas fit," he said.

Murray, of course, had to add a couple of his own personal touches, like a pullout picnic table and awning to stand over it on the wagon's side, as well as two storage boxes.

The covered wagon stands about seven feet tall.

The original tailgate hangs in Lonnie Murray's garage, still holding the small, metal 1914 license plate that shows the wagon is allowed one horse.

It cost about $500 to fix up, with about $400 of that going toward the canvas.

Lonnie's father, John Murray, used the wagon as a kid to haul hay and wood on the farm. Lonnie himself used it for a few years to complete his childhood chores.

John's not sure how the wagon got in the family; he just remembers it always being there at chore time for his dad, his grandfather, great-grandfather, and so on.

"It's good to see it being put to use," he said. "It shouldn't be forgotten."

So why build a covered wagon? Why not, Lonnie Murray says.

Murray has always been a crafty guy, having assembled his own dogsled and many other smaller projects for the The Crow Wing County Muzzleloader's Club, which he's a member of.

A covered wagon just seemed to fit.

All that's missing is the horses to pull it, which Murray says he won't get. He'll stick to the trailer.

Murray likes to take the covered wagon to area rendezvous, fairs and others events. (The next event is the upcoming rendezvous in Pine River) He takes it on family camping adventures.

"It draws a crowd," he said. "You hear a lot of stories from people and their experiences with covered wagons."

He'll give a ride every once in a while, but not a lot of people can handle the bumps. There are no springs and no padded seats.

"You can feel every rock," he said.

Looking forward, Murray will likely add more features to the wagon.

But for now, he'll just enjoy it.

"I'm glad we're getting some use out of it," Murray said. "And I'm glad I don't have to use it any more for chores."