Wheelchair Doesn’t Limit Buffalo Man In Making His Wyoming Sheep Wagons

George Clark is Scotch-Irish stubborn. When his dad told him he couldn’t build a sheepwagon because he was in a wheelchair, his response was watch me. Now he’s got a popular business crafting custom sheep wagons in the Bighorn Mountains.

RJ
Renée Jean

September 15, 20249 min read

George Clark talks about the ideas he's putting into an accessible sheep wagon that can be used by someone in a wheelchair.
George Clark talks about the ideas he's putting into an accessible sheep wagon that can be used by someone in a wheelchair. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)

BUFFALO — George Clark might get around in the world with a wheelchair, but just tell him he can’t do something and watch what happens.

“I’m Scotch-Irish,” Clark told Cowboy State Daily. “I’m very stubborn. If someone tells me I can’t do something, I’m going to do it.”

That’s how Clark, who has been in a wheelchair for about 14 years, happens to have a spunky little custom sheep wagon-making business in the Bighorn Mountains near Buffalo. It’s cranking out lots of dreamy throwback mobile tiny homes for the Wyoming prairie, as well as restoring older, historic sheep wagons to their former glory.

Clark has 13 wagons he’s working on now, and contracts for six more coming in from people who have discovered his shop.

Each wagon is a custom job, with whatever bells and whistles a particular customer wants. In fact, Clark considers figuring out how to engineer oddball requests his particular specialty.

“If you can think about something, we can do it,” Clark said. “I can’t quit thinking about things to build. That’s just how it works here.”

Welcome To The Wagon Yard

Clark has several wagons sitting in the backyard of his home, which looks out on the Bighorn Mountains, in various stages of completion.

“Anything you see rotten, we rebuild,” Clark said. “So, the brake system on this one is getting rebuilt, and the wheels are in the beginning stages.”

He also has plank after plank of lodgepole pine drying in a kiln he’s built toward the back of his wagon yard. That’s powered with a solar panel that Clark rigged up himself.

The dried planks are used to build custom features for his sheep wagons, like the pull-out table that’s generally always placed underneath the bed in the back of a sheep wagon.

He can also build custom boxes to hold rice, sugar and beans, as he is doing for one of his Amish friends, or for custom cabinetry. Not to mention the Basque-inspired mirrors that he places in each sheep wagon.

That’s included as a personal gift in the sheep wagons to thank customers for their business, Clark said.

All of the sheep wagons use sailboat canvas for the outer shell, the toughest natural breathable canvas he’s found. He’s also lately figured out how to construct an interior shell that includes insulation for those who need their wagons year-round.

Where The Magic Happens

The garage is where Clark has put his shop for the sheep wagon of the moment.

It’s not just a practical workspace, though. It’s a home for the spirit.

He has his own “wall of fame” with mementos passed down from family members that remind him not only who he is, but where he came from.

For example, there’s a hook hanging from a plaque crafted by one of his grandfathers in 1916. There’s a harness from another grandfather, as well as a hammer that gets used every day. There’s even an anvil from one of his grandfathers, set up on wheels so Clark can easily move it around wherever he needs it to go.

A ramp inside the garage leads to a platform that is just right for him to wheel himself inside a sheepwagon to work on its interior.

The platform even has “bumpers” on it, Clark said, at the insistence of his father.

“He said, ‘You gotta quit this. You’re gonna run off the edge,’” Clark recalled. “You don’t have any bumpers.”

At first Clark said he thought, so what?

“We rodeoed all of our lives, we got bucked off and stuff all the time,” Clark said.

But eventually he saw the wisdom of bumpers and added them.

“So I didn’t get chewed out any more,” he said.

  • George Clark talks about the oil field accident that changed his life, and led him to start building sheep wagons. His business is called Wyoming Sheep Wagon Company.
    George Clark talks about the oil field accident that changed his life, and led him to start building sheep wagons. His business is called Wyoming Sheep Wagon Company. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • George Clark's latest project is an accessible sheep wagon that he can use. It will come with electricity and a wheel chair lift, as well as hot running water for showers, and a small refrigerator.
    George Clark's latest project is an accessible sheep wagon that he can use. It will come with electricity and a wheel chair lift, as well as hot running water for showers, and a small refrigerator. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • George Clark rides down the ramp that leads to a platform where he accesses the sheep wagons he builds.
    George Clark rides down the ramp that leads to a platform where he accesses the sheep wagons he builds. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • George Clark is creating an accessible sheep wagon, which will include a bladder for water, stored underneath the wagon.
    George Clark is creating an accessible sheep wagon, which will include a bladder for water, stored underneath the wagon. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • George Clark shows a picture of the first sheep wagon he built.
    George Clark shows a picture of the first sheep wagon he built. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • The interior of the first sheep wagon George Clark built.
    The interior of the first sheep wagon George Clark built. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • George Clark talks about a photo of some sheep wagons he built.
    George Clark talks about a photo of some sheep wagons he built. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • George Clark by one of the running gears he's restoring for a sheep wagon.
    George Clark by one of the running gears he's restoring for a sheep wagon. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)

An Accessible Sheep Wagon

The wagon now in the garage’s shop space is for a personal challenge. About 10 years ago, someone asked Clark how he liked sleeping in his sheep wagons.

But he hasn’t actually ever slept in one — yet.

He soon decided that one day he’d build a sheep wagon big enough for a wheelchair, one where he can turn around and sleep on the bed if he wishes — on a king-size bed, no less.

His first challenge was figuring out how to electrify the wagon for anywhere he might take it to get his wheelchair up onto a platform and then into the wagon.

Technology had to advance a bit, and now it’s helping him with that little problem. Two solar panels, one on each side of the wagon, capture the sun to charge up a couple of batteries.

Given that there’s electricity, he’s also added a bladder for water and a small hot water heater so he can have running hot water for an outdoor shower setup, as well as a small refrigerator and a small sink to wash up.

There are two boxes inside the sheep wagon for seating, which double as a wood box. Those can be filled from the outside.

“For me, I’m not going to carry the wood up and do all that,” he said. “This way, I’m able to put the wood into the box from outside.”

‘I’m In A Wheelchair, Not Dead’

Clark’s business started because of old running gear sitting around in the garage that he had once used for draft horses. It was leftover from the ranch he’d owned before he was forced to sell out by an oil field accident.

People, his dad included, kept asking him, “What are you going to do with that?”

One day he popped off with, “I’m going to build a sheep wagon on it.”

His dad scoffed at the idea.

“You can’t do that,” he said. “You’re in a wheelchair.”

Well, that made the outcome a certainty in Clark’s mind. There would be a sheep wagon on that running gear one way or another.

“I’m in a wheelchair, dad. Not dead,” he told his father.

It took some time, and a little help from his wife Lori and a lifelong Amish friend he went to school with growing up. They helped him paint any areas he couldn’t reach, as well as certain other tasks that were physically difficult for him to accomplish.

Clark did all of the engineering and design work, though, as well as a lot of the custom woodworking.

“My granadfather was a cabinetmaker,” Clark said. “And my other grandfather was a logger and lumber man. I have a walnut desk here where one grandfather cut the walnut and the other made the desk.”

Clark’s first sheepwagon looked a bit like a cedar tiny home on wheels. Clark had a quilt custom-made for the wagon, too, the perfect finishing touch for the homespun look of the rustic cabin.

It was cool enough that other people who saw the sheepwagon wanted one, too.

Before Clark knew it, he had a real business on his hands.

  • One of several sheep wagons George Clark is restoring.
    One of several sheep wagons George Clark is restoring. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • A homemade wood-drying kiln, powered with a solar panel.
    A homemade wood-drying kiln, powered with a solar panel. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • Wood stoves in various stages of restoration for sheep wagons.
    Wood stoves in various stages of restoration for sheep wagons. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • Shed One and Shed Two, where tools and supplies are stored.
    Shed One and Shed Two, where tools and supplies are stored. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • George Clark also likes to do woodworking projects around the house, like these hat racks.
    George Clark also likes to do woodworking projects around the house, like these hat racks. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • These side spaces are where George Clark plans to place solar-charged batteries for an accessible sheep wagon.
    These side spaces are where George Clark plans to place solar-charged batteries for an accessible sheep wagon. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • The harnesses on the wall were his grandfather's.
    The harnesses on the wall were his grandfather's. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • The walls of George Clark's shop in Buffalo include inspiring quotes as well as mementos from family members, and pictures of John Wayne.
    The walls of George Clark's shop in Buffalo include inspiring quotes as well as mementos from family members, and pictures of John Wayne. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • A hook made by George Clark's great grandfather, who was also named George Clark, in 1916.
    A hook made by George Clark's great grandfather, who was also named George Clark, in 1916. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • These Basque-inspired mirrors are placed inside each sheep wagon George Clark builds as a thank you gift to his customers.
    These Basque-inspired mirrors are placed inside each sheep wagon George Clark builds as a thank you gift to his customers. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • These boxes were handmade by George Clark for an Amish friend's sheep wagon.
    These boxes were handmade by George Clark for an Amish friend's sheep wagon. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • Sailboat canvas makes a great cover for a sheep wagon. Insulation can be added for year round use
    Sailboat canvas makes a great cover for a sheep wagon. Insulation can be added for year round use (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
  • The woodbox has a built-in door that can be accessed from outside the sheep wagon, so it can be pre-loaded with wood.
    The woodbox has a built-in door that can be accessed from outside the sheep wagon, so it can be pre-loaded with wood. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)

When Stubborness Is An Asset

Clark has been Scotch-Irish stubborn all his life.

That might have frustrated family members from time to time, but ultimately it helped him get through the oil field accident that left him without the use of his legs.

That’s not something Clark likes to talk about. It’s a time in his life when he did a little of what he calls “faltering.”

Faltering, for most of us, is what happens in the morning when ambition hasn’t woken up yet and we hit the snooze button one too many times.

But for Clark, at that time, the faltering was about waking up to life itself.

He’d been forced to sell out of ranching, a profession that had once meant everything to him. He’d worked an oil field job just to make ends meet. Ranching was what he really loved.

His father had cautioned him about trying to continue ranching.

“You just can’t do this anymore,” his father told him at the time. “You’re going to get hurt worse. And don’t you ever even try and get back on a horse.”

Clark knew his father was right, even if he didn’t want to admit it.

“You have bad cows, and they don’t give a shit if you’re in a wheelchair or not,” Clark said. “They’ll run over you and do whatever else they have to do.”

Selling his ranch out was among the hardest days of his life.

But his dad also helped him flip the script that was playing in his head about that.

“So, my dad goes, ‘Being in that wheelchair is not the worst thing that could happen to you,’” Clark recalled. “And I’m thinking, ‘Oh, hell no. the shit’s going to hit the fan here. I’ve just had enough,’ and I told him so.”

His dad shook his head.

“You don’t understand,” Clark recalled him saying. “It’s not the worst thing that can happen to you. You could have been looking up at that grass instead of looking down at it.”

That’s how close Clark had been between life and death. He realized it was time to focus on what he had, not on what he had not.

“So, I just turned my whole life around,” Clark said. “I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to do whatever I want to do. I’m going to figure out how to do it.’”

That’s something Clark is still figuring out every day in his little garage where new sheep wagon dreams are born every day in the Bighorn Mountains.

“I don’t know how to do everything I want to do yet,” he said. “I don’t. But I’m going to figure it out. And every day I come through the garage door right there, in here, that’s my therapy.”

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.

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RJ

Renée Jean

Business and Tourism Reporter