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Steve Horner
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The Synopsis of:
The Boys of Wagon Wheel Stables
Written by Steve Horner (posted online August 2008)
The forests, ponds, and rolling hills of south central Minnesota’s Dakota County were mostly undeveloped in the early 60s. The county lies south of the Minnesota River, about ten miles south of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
One of the major thoroughfares running through Dakota County, through what used to be known as Burnsville Township, is Highway 13. Along that stretch of road back in the 60s there wasn’t much more than farms, a few gas stations, a couple of convenience stores, the Lucky Twin Drive-In theater and, just about a hundred yards east of the drive-in on the other side of the road, was Wagon Wheel Stables, a favorite destination of thousands of Twin Citians for horseback riding, horse boarding, and hay rides.
Time has changed Dakota County. It is now close to being the State’s second most populated county. The drive-in is long gone and that whole strip of land has been replaced by the sprawling Burnsville High School, strip malls, and other business buildings.
Over on the other side of the road, on the Wagon Wheel site, the white, century-old, two-story main house which contained the bunk house in a separate wing, is also long gone. Also gone are the club house with the pot belly stove, the pinball machines, the pop and candy machines, the western store which did brisk business on weekends, along with the mammoth red barn and various other storage and out buildings. They’ve all been replaced by office buildings and neighborhood after neighborhood of suburban homes. All that remain of those early teenage years of being a city boy loving the horses and working at Wagon Wheel as a farm hand and trail guide over the course of three years is one small grove of oak trees in the hollow next to where the house used to be, and tons of memories. Most of those memories of being part of that brash, sometimes crude, hard-working, fun-loving, girl-chasing group of kids are really great. But, some memories of those days have grown to be quite troubling, not only for me, but also for several of the boys I worked with.
When I recently spoke by phone to one of those Wagon Wheel kids, Gary E., he told me, “After knocking back a few beers one night last summer I started thinking about that son of a bitch and I got so pissed off at what he had done to me that had my wife not talked me out of it, I had my gun and was going to go out after him.”
Another old Wagon Wheel buddy, Pat C., asked me, “I wonder why we didn’t say anything about what we knew was going on? Why didn’t the adults say something? They must’ve known or suspected something.”
The reason I've written this well-researched, tell-all story, complete with all the crazy happenings and sordid details, is because I, like many other child-abuse victims who finally come to grips with the situation, had grown more and more resentful of the predatory and criminal behavior of the perpetrator, the former owner of Wagon Wheel Stables, and decided not to keep the events confidential any longer. As a result, this book will be liberating and strengthening for others who have been sexually abused as children because knowledge, which this book provides, is liberating and strengthening.
Also, I’ve been encouraged to write this book by, among others, Mike Finnegan, intake attorney at the Jeff Anderson law firm in St. Paul, one of the country’s foremost prosecutors in child sex-abuse cases. “I think you need to write the book, Steve,” I was told by Finnegan. “We know about the Wagon Wheel owner. He goes back a long ways.”
Ironically, as incidences of child sex abuse soars in this country, this book also describes how a major part of the problem lies with the irresponsibility and cowardice of State legislators and the Catholic Church to take the correct measures needed to curb the rising tide of child sex abuse.
All in all, it’s a battle I didn’t expect, but I’m glad I finally decided to take it on. I should’ve taken this whole damn thing on years ago.
I can be reached at steve@stevehornerbooks.com.
Steve Horner, author
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