But Officer, the Car was Parked

If you owned a cab company what business would you most like to share space with?  In the late 1970’s I worked for the Stabler Cab Company in Miles City Montana.  Population close to 8,000.  The cab company was owned by brothers who had been in business for many a year.  

The office space for the cab company consisted of an old metal desk, dispatch equipment, black rotary telephone, notebook, desk top calendar, and a couple of chairs.  There was a short wood railing (fence) that was maybe 10 X 10.  The opening  had a half door that swung on its hinges. It took up the front corner of the Bison Bar.  There was a window that you could see out of in front of the desk. The juke box was situated right beside the railing against the outside wall.

When business wasn’t busy you could visit with the customers seated at the table near you.  It was a great spot for people watching.  The 1940 vintage neon sign still works and hangs outside the bar.  The cabstand is now gone.  It was sold and moved to another location, then sold again.

I worked as a dispatcher for the cab company.  My job was to take calls.  Contact a driver to pick people up and deliver them.  The company also provided a free wake up service.  You could call and leave your phone number and what time you wanted your wake up call.  Like many jobs it was hurry up and wait.  It would get real busy or be as slow as molasses.

I worked the swing shift 3pm to 11pm.  The drivers changed shift between 5 and 6pm.  I often worked with Forrest Ferris on the afternoon shift.  Then my boss Herman Stabler would come in and drive after 6:00 pm.  He told me lots of stories about the town.  He and his brothers did  a booming business until the mid 60’s when the local brothels closed.  He told me it was common to go pick men up at the airport and transport them to one of the brothels.  Now few flights come to Miles City .

I could still hear the country music songs in the back ground, bursts of laughter rang out and drinks slid down the wooden bar.  I remember the occasional clomp of cowboy boots, thudding their way across the wooden floor.  The din of the bar became muffled as I shut the front door and stepped out into the night.

Outside the street lights danced against the dark night sky.  The hot breath of summer grazed my neck, like a lover's kiss.  The lingering heat contrasted with the air conditioned bar.  The street light shown down on my LTD.  As I came closer I saw folded paper wedged under the wiper blade.  This is what I read -

           “Your car has been in an accident.  Please come to the Police Station.”  (Initials)

Accident!  How could my car be in an accident? No one was driving it. With a sinking heart I looked at my parked car.  It had been in a collision.  The back bumper had been smashed into my trunk. The trunk lid didn't budge when I tried to open it with a key.  Getting in I drove to the Police Station a couple blocks away.

It was about 11:30 when I walked up to the Police  Station Door.  I hit the intercom and waited to be buzzed inside.  I was definitely out of my comfort zone.  I explained why I was there.  The officer who left my note was gone. The night dispatch called the duty officer.  He handed me an accident report to fill out. I looked at it and then looked at him.

“Officer, what do you want me to do?”

“Please fill out the report.”

“I wasn’t there.”

“Where were you?”

“At the Bison.”

“Do you know Mr X?

“No”

“What were you doing at the Bison?”

“Working”

“You need to complete this report.”

“But Officer, my car was parked under the street light.  How could he miss it?”

“Obviously he didn’t.  You need to fill out the accident report.”

I was tired, cranky and not very patient, “That’s what I’m trying to explain.  I don’t know what happened, I wasn’t there.  My car was parked.”

Finally I showed him the note telling me to come to the Police Station.  The officer went through his notes and emphasized that the report needed to be completed.  At that point I surrendered and filled it out the best I could.  

When he read my completed report.  He looked at me and said, “the car was parked?”

“Yes, the car was parked.”

Mr X was the man who hit my car and the police informed me that he had no insurance.  I asked around town to see if anyone knew him.  Finally someone told me the name of his landlord.

I called the landlord and explained why I was looking for his tenant.  “He’s not here.”

“Do you know where I can find him?”

“Not yet. ”

“Oh?”

“Even if you find him odds are you won’t get anything.  He owes everyone in town. Including me.”

“That’s not good news.”

“I have someone looking for him.  He’s going to try and pursuade him to pay his debts.”

Naive me, “Do you think you will have any luck?”

Laughter. “Little lady, he’s going to get a beating.  Do you want me to have him add a couple of wacks for you?”

Heavy sigh, “No that probably won’t do much good.  Thanks anyway.”

“What did you tell the cops about your car?”

“I told the officer it was parked!”  

I heard his laughter as he hung up.

Then the Car Was Air Born

The green LTD had a valiant soul.  I know it was a machine made of metal and glass.  I got the car shortly before I graduated from MCC (Miles Community College).  My younger sister was living with me so she could attend school in town.  Mom came home on weekends.

But like many siblings, relationships were marked with arguments and quarrels.  Rita was 14 and I was 20.  I am sure I was BOSSY like only an older sister can be.  I tried hard to make her follow MY rules.  She often rebelled.  She was quick to point out that I was not her mother.

Just before graduation the discord reached a crescendo.  I had not gotten much rest.  In fact the three days before graduation were marked with about 2 hours of sleep a night.  Mom and Rita both attended my graduation.  Mom left afterwards.  She had just started a job cooking at the Medearis ranch for the summer.

After Mom left, Rita took off with some friends and hid from me.  It took me until early morning to find her.  I don't remember all the words.  I do remember yelling, "Pack your things.  I'm taking you to Mom."

After Rita packed.  She and a friend got into the car.  I drove the 50-60 miles out to the ranch.  I fought sleep most of the way.  I remember taking a short nap after we got there.  We all sat down to lunch.  That was when we met Big John and his sons.  Big John stood a little over 6'4", his voice was deep I think he was in his early 60's.  He didn't suffer fools easily.  Clyde his oldest son was in his mid to late twenties, then there was Johnny, Jeff, and Billie was 16.

My mother loved to cook and no one left that table hungry.  When she returned the next summer.  I was visiting and Johnny was moaning about gaining weight.  Mom informed him he was free to leave the table whenever he wanted.  His retort was that all of them had spent the whole winter dieting.  These were young men who worked hard physical labor all summer long.

Shortly after lunch Rita's friend and I headed back to Miles City.  Government Hill outside of Miles City has been the scene of many fatalities.  I remember most of the drive back.

I remember being at the top of Government Hill.  The next thing I remember was Leslie yelling, "Wake up Ruth!"

I remember laying on the brakes.  I glanced at the speedometer and I was doing over 90 mph. I remember thinking, OMG both windows are down.  Neither of us are wearing seat belts.   I have about a quarter of a tank of gas. Then we were air born.  Brakes aren't very good when cars fly.

The embankment we went over was probably in the neighborhood of 75 - 100 ft.   It was like a huge hand caught us in mid-air and dug us into the side of the hill half way down.  The car kind of shuddered when we came to a stop.

I remember feeling relief as I took stock of our circumstances.  The car hadn't rolled.  We didn't end up in the creek.  I tried to open my door but couldn't get out.

"What do we do?"

"Try getting out your side.  My door won't open."

Shortly I heard crunching gravel,  rocks smacking against each other and quick footsteps.  When I looked around I could see a couple of cars above us, and people trying to get to us.
Shelley was able to get out and started up the hill.

Soon my rescuers got me out and I walked to the top of the hill.  Not only were there two cars but going the other direction was a flat bed semi.

Someone asked Shelley which vehicle she was with.  "The one down there."

I heard a gasp.  Then someone else said, "That much shift in weight should have sent you kids rolling.  Where's the other person?"

"It was just the two of us in the car."

"Oh!"

The trucker said he had a CB radio in his truck and would call the highway patrol for us and a tow truck.  He did.

One man I'd never seen before said he would stay.  He looked old.  I guess in his 50's. Gray hair.  Thin not much taller than me, maybe 5' 6".  He was wearing a cotton short sleeved shirt and dress pants.  He wore glasses and his face was tanned.  But his hands were soft - not a rancher.

As the others left,  he looked at me closely.  His questions rattled me.

"Did you just graduate?"

"Yes."

"Did you just come from Dead Man's Road?"

"Yes."

"Did you just get your car?"

"Yes."

"Did your mother, just start a cooking job at Medearis'?"

"Yes. How do you know this?"

" I had lunch with John a few days ago.  Your mother had just started cooking there.  I remember she had a green Ford almost like yours."

"Oh"

"I can take you both to town."

"No the police will be here soon."

"Well I could take you."

"No.  I'm not leaving Shelley."

"I could take her."

"No the police will be here soon."  I remember noticing how pale he looked.

"You had a guardian angel riding with you today."

"I know."

"No I mean a real one.  I saw someone standing outside your car before we got to it.  Then he was gone."

"Oh!"

His voice rose and the last word squeaked, "No I mean really."

About that time the police officer arrived.  I remember getting in the cruiser.  He asked, "Were you drinking?"

"No.  I fell asleep."

"Do you have a driver's license?"

"Yes.  I'll get it."

"Where is it?"

"In the car."

"No. Leave it."

He wrote me a ticket and said I would need to see the judge.  The tow truck arrived and the driver was a friend from college.  He hooked onto the car, pulling it up the embankment.  When they got it up to the road I could see some plants hanging from the under carriage.

Bill asked, "Do you want us to tow it in?  Or do you want to see if it will start?"

"Let's start it."

The LTD started without a whimper.  I headed home with the tow truck following behind.

Lesley called her brother to come get her.  I called Mom and let her know I was ok.  She was upset and wanted me to go see a doctor.  Sheila knocked on the door about 10 minutes later to check on me.  Mom had called her.  I told her I was ok.

Mrs Dunn - a neighbor came by.  Looked at me and told me to go pack.  Her family was going fishing for the weekend.  I remember calling Mom and telling her I was going fishing and would be back in a couple of days.  I neglected to tell her I was going with the Dunns.

After the weekend I wanted to stop and get the paper.  The graduation pictures were supposed to be in it.  Mrs Dunn went and got the paper and came back to the vehicle.  I reached for it and she wouldn't give it to me.

"Ruth, its not a good idea."

I insisted.  The headlines talked about a fatality that happened the day after my wreck.  High school kids had been drinking.  They didn't make it down Government Hill.  Several died.  I was subdued after reading the article.

A week later found me again out at the ranch. Big John asked me, "Didn't they teach you anything at that school?"

"Yes sir.  They did."

"Didn't they teach you what a bed is for?"

"No sir, I guess they didn't"

He looked at me like I was the dumbest bunny he had ever seen, "Maybe its time you learned."

Clyde gave me a ride back to town.  We stopped where I went off.  He was surprised that even with the rain we had the car tracks were still visible.  My tires had sunk about 4 inches into the ground before the car went air-born.

I am sure my guardian angel took the wheel as we went over the embankment.

It Wasn't ALL My Fault

"You're the reason Mom sold Henry!" Rita angrily exclaimed.

"It wasn't ALL my fault!", I whined.

"If you hadn't taken Henry out and got lost and ended up in Baker,  Mom wouldn't have sold it."


Henry was a 1960 something Ford Falcon 4 Door Station Wagon.  I don't remember what year  exactly. I'm guessing it was between 1965-1968.  It was blue and white.  It was the car Mom drove.  It was the car Rita used when Mom taught her to drive, when she was twelve.

Mom was teaching in a one room school miles from town.  She decided that Rita should know how to drive.  So she made a track behind the school.  Taught Rita the basics and let her practice.  Rita loved that car!

The night in question, I had come home from work and was really upset.  Gene, my boyfriend came over.  He suggested we take a ride.  So I told Mom we would be back in a little while.  He drove and headed out of town.  We had been driving a long time when I said we had better get back.

He suggested taking a short cut and turned on an unmarked dirt road.  We drove for quite a distance when we thought we saw a fire burning up ahead.  You could see yellow and orange lighting up the sky.  Strangely there was no scent of smoke in the air.

I remember several Y's in the road. I kept hoping we would see lights or perhaps a sign.
We finally realized there was no fire out of control.  It was a huge harvest moon slowly rising in the night sky.  That was when Gene admitted he didn't know where we were, or which road led back to Miles City.  So he kept driving.

I had left the house without my purse, without my drivers license, without any cash.  When I asked him if he had any money he said no.  Nor did he have his driver's license.  I checked the ashtray for change.  There was a quarter and a nickel.

The gas gauge was plunging towards empty.  The thermostat was moving towards hot as we drove into Baker.  Later I was to learn we had traveled through part of the Custer Forest (few trees in that section).

We stopped at a motel to use the phone.  I called collect.  Mom answered the phone.  She sounded relieved to hear my voice even as I explained that we were in Baker, Henry was acting up, and we had no money but we were heading home.  Gene asked her to call his mother.

Gene popped the hood of the Falcon and tried to see what if anything he could do.  The motel owner took exception to us being in his parking lot.  A police cruiser swung by to see what the problem was.

I explained that we were having car trouble, needed water and were headed back to Miles City.  I was quick to tell the officer our plight.   I wanted to distract him from asking us for our licenses.  He told us to follow him and we could get some water at the Fair Grounds.  We did.

The water was in a trough for the horses.  There was a can nearby that we used to dip the water.  The police officer waited while we drew the water.  He followed us to the city limits as we drove away.

Gene pointed Henry home and I prayed that we would get there.  We had about 80 miles to go. We didn't quite make it.  Henry started making choking noises, he jerked and jagged almost convulsing as the needle dove below the E.  Gene pulled to the side of the road and we waited for morning.  We waited for help to arrive.

My Mother had contacted a friend for help.  Leon, and his wife, Sheila and my mother brought gas. Henry happily headed home.

Ted Dale was a master mechanic.  He kept Henry running.  Parts were not always easy to come by so he often manufactured the parts himself.  Almost always when Mom came to town, Ted's repair shop was one of her stops.  Ted died in November 1976.

Mom decided that she needed a more reliable form of transportation.  Someone sold her an olive green 1973 Galaxie 500.  A week later she found an olive green 1974 Ford LTD.  She helped me purchase the LTD.

Sadly, I don't remember who she sold Henry to.