Windwagon Thomas

Long ago, in the days of covered wagons, a little town called Westport stood at the edge of the great prairie. From there, long lines of wagons set off across the grass, pulled by slow, tired oxen.

One windy morning, the people of the town saw something very strange. A wagon came rolling into town with no oxen and no horses at all. Instead, it had a tall mast and a big white sail, just like a ship! The wind puffed into the sail, and the wagon zoomed along. Driving it was a man named William Thomas. Soon everybody called him Windwagon Thomas.

“The prairie is like a great green sea,” said Windwagon Thomas. “And the wind is free, so why not sail across it?” “Oxen are slow and they need food, but the wind never gets hungry!”

The townspeople liked this idea very much. “Let us build a giant windwagon,” they said, “big enough to carry lots of people and boxes.” So they all worked together, and they built the biggest wagon anyone had ever seen. It had wheels taller than two men and a sail as big as a barn roof.

On the day of the first ride, the whole town came out to watch. The bravest men climbed aboard, and Windwagon Thomas stood at the front. A strong wind came whooshing across the prairie, and the big sail filled up. Off went the giant windwagon, faster and faster!

But a wagon is not a boat, and that wagon had a mind of its own. First it rolled forward, then it rolled backward. Then it went around and around in big, wobbly circles. “Stop! Stop!” shouted the men, and one by one they hopped off into the soft grass. At last the giant windwagon rolled down into a creek bed, and there it stayed, stuck in the mud.

Everybody was muddy, but nobody was hurt, and soon they were all laughing. Windwagon Thomas just smiled and climbed back into his own little windwagon. “Never mind, the wind is still blowing!” he said. He raised his white sail, waved his hat, and zoomed away across the prairie. And nobody in that town ever saw him again, but some say he is still sailing out west, wherever the wind blows.