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“Lee the Horselogger” has been making news for years

Posted at 9:45 PM, Dec 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-02 17:08:46-05

Story by David Sherman, MTN News

Lee the Horselogger turned heads as he made his way through Great Falls on Thursday.

It wasn’t his first time riding through Great Falls, and his cross-country treks have garnered news coverage for years. Here’s a sampling, along with links:

Seattle Times, November 8, 2009: Have you heard of Lee? He’s made national and even world news for inching across America at 3 miles an hour in a horse-drawn covered wagon. A Ph.D.-dropout-turned-rancher, Lee Crafton started his pioneer odyssey three years ago. His Montana ranch was sold out from under him, so he took his life savings of $75 and a couple log-pulling horses and set off to see America. He has rolled and bumped to the East Coast and back, plus down to the Southwest. Seven thousand miles and stories later, he’s now in Spokane.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/lee-the-horse-logger-found-slow-wagon-shrank-tumor/

Des Moines Register, October 27, 2016: Lee Horselogger, his preferred name, spent 27 years working on a ranch in Montana where he said he spent most of his time outside anyway. Now a logger by trade, he has spent the past 10 years with a wagon and three horses crisscrossing the country. He’s traveled from job to job and on Tuesday he made a stop in Mitchellville on his way to his final destination in Alaska.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/life/living-well/adventure-iowa/2016/10/27/man-and-his-3-horses-cross-iowa-way-alaska/92797192/

Vinton Today, October 18, 2017: Lee, who prefers that people call him Lee Horselogger, is making his second trek through Iowa in two years. He was heading to Vinton, hoping to get permission to camp with his horses at the Benton County Fairgrounds. His last trek through eastern Iowa took him to Highway 20 and 63 last year, when he was making his way to Alaska.

https://vintontoday.com/news/lee-the-horselogger-rides-to-vinton/

Wild Indiana, February 6, 2016: Lee the Horselogger is the only name he uses, abandoning his surname, something he hopes to make legal within the next year. At the age of 55 he has no plans of slowing down. He is making his way to Minnesota where he will earn money pulling logs with his horses before moving on to Alaska where he hopes to travel before settling down.

http://wildindiana.com/lee-the-horselogger-just-passing-through/

Butler County Times-Gazette, September 18, 2012: He said he got his true education in life rather than school. Those experiences included being in poverty, which he called a blessing, as well as backbreaking labor, working horses, running sawmills, caring for the ranch in Montana, and living without electricity, running water or a vehicle half of the time.

https://www.butlercountytimesgazette.com/article/20120918/news/120919107

The Daily News, February 11, 2010: Lee — who declines to use his last name — travels the country with his horses and homemade wagon. He’s heading toward Seattle on Friday, covering 12 to 25 miles a day. From Seattle, he plans to ride south to San Francisco and then north again to Alaska.

https://tdn.com/news/local/news-photo-lee-the-horselogger/article_d2a91988-1799-11df-b90b-001cc4c002e0.html

You can keep up with Lee on his YouTube channel and via Facebook.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwZvh0dHjWAytY4DlSpc1CA

And here is video from his 2009 journey through Great Falls:

Only in Montana! Check out "Lee The Horselogger" – and be on the lookout for him in/around Great Falls today and/or tomorrow! http://bit.ly/39fA9M

Posted by KRTV Great Falls on Tuesday, September 8, 2009