Article & Photos by Tommy Brannon
“God put it in my heart to do this.” These are the sincere words of Tim Tugwell who, with his wife Lynn is on a journey, a mission as it were, crossing the United States on horseback. “The mission is to pray with others for our military, our government leaders, our friends and our enemies. Amen.” Tim said. He has been praying with and speaking to church groups, Cowboy Church meetings, as well as leading prayers in town squares all along his trip. He was a featured speaker at the Circle Cross Cowboy Church in Millington, Tennessee in August, and held prayers on the courthouse steps in Centerville, Tennessee in September. “But I am not a preacher. I’m as ordinary a Joe as you can get,” he states emphatically. Tim and Lynn have been provided pasture, feed, farrier services, food and shelter by many newly acquired friends. Sometimes they stay for a day or two, sometimes a few weeks. He is keeping a journal, which has already filled 5 notebooks.
The Tugwells started their trip in Fort Bragg, California in August 2010, and their goal is to reach Newbern, North Carolina, where one of their six grown children lives. They do not have a fixed schedule, and they have not taken a direct route. “We move when the Holy Spirit directs us,” Tim said.
The Tugwells, along with their dog Chico, traveled from California, south through Nevada to Arizona and New Mexico, back north to Joplin, Missouri, crossing the Mississippi River at Louisiana, Missouri.
Finding the watering holes in the desert was a matter of faith that paid off. A law enforcement officer happened to come along at the right time and provided a map locating where water was available. At one point when crossing the Rocky Mountains they experienced temperatures as low as -34° F.
The Mississippi River crossing was done safely in a trailer, but the Illinois River crossing was much more harrowing: on horseback on a draw bridge with an open steel grid roadway. The grid was tight enough for the horses to walk cross, but not Chico. To make matters more tense, a barge came down river while they were on the bridge and they barely had enough time to get off before the bridge was raised!
Tim is an experienced carpenter, contractor and horseman. Lynn is a registered nurse. She rode as a child but was not an active horse person when they started, and did not like camping. But “She took to it like a duck to water,” Tim stated. Now she has over 3,000 horseback miles under her belt. Tim has been given horses by people that he has met along the way. Some of these horses have needed a lot of mental rehabilitation or training, some were quite green. He has trained, sold or traded several of these horses to help finance the journey. Referring to his present herd of five who are both ridden and packed he said, “There is nothing these horses haven’t done.”
The Tugwells tentatively plan to winter over somewhere in Tennessee, perhaps helping a pack trail outfitter and carrying on their mission.
Photo cutline: Tom and Lynn Tugwell on their horseback mission trip across America with their horses Oliver, Bob, Warren, Freedom and Jake along with their dog Chico
“God put it in my heart to do this.” These are the sincere words of Tim Tugwell who, with his wife Lynn is on a journey, a mission as it were, crossing the United States on horseback. “The mission is to pray with others for our military, our government leaders, our friends and our enemies. Amen.” Tim said. He has been praying with and speaking to church groups, Cowboy Church meetings, as well as leading prayers in town squares all along his trip. He was a featured speaker at the Circle Cross Cowboy Church in Millington, Tennessee in August, and held prayers on the courthouse steps in Centerville, Tennessee in September. “But I am not a preacher. I’m as ordinary a Joe as you can get,” he states emphatically. Tim and Lynn have been provided pasture, feed, farrier services, food and shelter by many newly acquired friends. Sometimes they stay for a day or two, sometimes a few weeks. He is keeping a journal, which has already filled 5 notebooks.
The Tugwells started their trip in Fort Bragg, California in August 2010, and their goal is to reach Newbern, North Carolina, where one of their six grown children lives. They do not have a fixed schedule, and they have not taken a direct route. “We move when the Holy Spirit directs us,” Tim said.
The Tugwells, along with their dog Chico, traveled from California, south through Nevada to Arizona and New Mexico, back north to Joplin, Missouri, crossing the Mississippi River at Louisiana, Missouri.
Finding the watering holes in the desert was a matter of faith that paid off. A law enforcement officer happened to come along at the right time and provided a map locating where water was available. At one point when crossing the Rocky Mountains they experienced temperatures as low as -34° F.
The Mississippi River crossing was done safely in a trailer, but the Illinois River crossing was much more harrowing: on horseback on a draw bridge with an open steel grid roadway. The grid was tight enough for the horses to walk cross, but not Chico. To make matters more tense, a barge came down river while they were on the bridge and they barely had enough time to get off before the bridge was raised!
Tim is an experienced carpenter, contractor and horseman. Lynn is a registered nurse. She rode as a child but was not an active horse person when they started, and did not like camping. But “She took to it like a duck to water,” Tim stated. Now she has over 3,000 horseback miles under her belt. Tim has been given horses by people that he has met along the way. Some of these horses have needed a lot of mental rehabilitation or training, some were quite green. He has trained, sold or traded several of these horses to help finance the journey. Referring to his present herd of five who are both ridden and packed he said, “There is nothing these horses haven’t done.”
The Tugwells tentatively plan to winter over somewhere in Tennessee, perhaps helping a pack trail outfitter and carrying on their mission.
Photo cutline: Tom and Lynn Tugwell on their horseback mission trip across America with their horses Oliver, Bob, Warren, Freedom and Jake along with their dog Chico
