Ft. Pierre to Deadwood - too much historic realism?

What with trips, visitors, and school preparations, I've been doing a very poor job of staying up-to-date with events of the world. brown eyed cowgirls posted a comment this morning, wondering if I'd heard about a nasty wreck on the The Ft. Pierre to Deadwood commemorative wagon train. Other than a the very brief notice in the Rapid City Journal noting the death of a man who'd fallen from his horse, I admit, I hadn't been following things as closely as I'd intended.

The two week long ride draws to a close this weekend with a celebratory parade down Deadwood's main street. Unfortunately, what should have been a happy occasion will be saddened by several serious accidents which claimed the lives of at least two people and horses over the course of the trip.

Articles in the Rapid City Journal ("Another man injured on historic trail ride" Aug. 9th, "Man who fell on historic trail ride dies", Aug 8th) describe the two accidents, and mention that two horses have had to be put down, one due to a broken leg, and the other due to "illness."

AP coverage of the ride's early days showed up in papers far and wide, including the Miami Herald ("Wagon train makes 100th anniversary prairie trek", July 31st), the Monterey County Herald - California - and even on Forbes.com.

It appears America is still very much enthralled with the idea of the "Old West."

Gerald Kessler, the wagon master, is quoted in the AP coverage as saying:

"I think we'll lose 10 percent the first two days,"...."People just ain't got themselves in shape and their horses in shape,"[and] "...we've got a lot of older people that probably haven't ridden 20 miles in 20 years."

[...]"You're going to have your day-to-day wrecks, breakdowns and buck-offs," he predicted.

That certainly does seem to be how things have shaken out.

Although there are likely a good many folks on the train who prepared their horses and packed adequately for their adventure, there are always those whose rosy view obscures common sense. And unfortunately, with horse-related activities the unexpected occurs with great regularity and can claim even the most prepared.

I sincerely hope that the accidents brown eyed cowgirls describes (see first comment) are the last serious wrecks the train experiences. How awful for all of those involved. My sympathies go out to them, and their families.