Ellesworth Funk working fence Bodie Road,
Mono County, California April 1972
Jerilee, Rick, and I were on our way up a winding dirt road to the
iconic ghost town of Bodie when we came upon an early fifties Chevrolet pickup
packing a very homemade camper. It was so odd that we pulled over, got out, and
went over for a look. In a gully north of the road, we noticed a man
dressed completely in leather, wearing a six-gun and a straw cowboy hat. It was
kind of a time-warp experience.
The man climbed up the bank and introduced himself as Ellsworth Funk. We
started talking; I think he was pleased to have someone to say anything to, and
one of them was a cute girl to boot.
I asked him why he was armed. He said he was hired by a local rancher to
mend fences, and the gun was for rattlesnakes. As he climbed into his camper to
get a cup of coffee, I asked where he got his leather outfit. He said he
made it himself ‘cause leather wore so well in his line of work.
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When he sat down in the doorway, I asked him if his underwear didn't
roll or bunch up because of the felt texture of rough out leather. He thought
for a minute and said, "What underwear? It must be . . . 10 yar or so
since I had any on.”
Jerilee, Rick, and I were on our way up a winding dirt road to the
iconic ghost town of Bodie when we came upon an early fifties Chevrolet pickup
packing a very homemade camper. It was so odd that we pulled over, got out, and
went over for a look. In a gully north of the road, we noticed a man
dressed completely in leather, wearing a six-gun and a straw cowboy hat. It was
kind of a time-warp experience.
The man climbed up the bank and introduced himself as Ellsworth Funk. We
started talking; I think he was pleased to have someone to say anything to, and
one of them was a cute girl to boot.
I asked him why he was armed. He said he was hired by a local rancher to
mend fences, and the gun was for rattlesnakes. As he climbed into his camper to
get a cup of coffee, I asked where he got his leather outfit. He said he
made it himself ‘cause leather wore so well in his line of work.
%2BCAMO671640%2BELLSEWORTH%2BFUNK%2C%2BWORKING%2BFENCE%2BALONG%2BBODIE%2BROAD%2B12%2BBLOG.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*)
When he sat down in the doorway, I asked him if his underwear didn't
roll or bunch up because of the felt texture of rough out leather. He thought
for a minute and said, "What underwear? It must be . . . 10 yar or so
since I had any on.”
+CAMO671640+ELLSWORTH+TRYS+TO+RMEMBER+WHEN+HE+LAST+WORE+UNDERWARE+11.5+BLOG.jpg)
I remember thinking as we were leaving, that I'd never met anyone who
seemed to live within his name so well.
