debts settled, pigs long gone

Investigating The South Dakota Wild Pig Ranch Experiment
Interior, SD (2006).

"It was opulent, alright. A reg'lar big ol' praire palace. Wall to wall carpeting. Propane heat. TV. A swamp cooler and an icemaker for the summertime. There was snakes of course and seasoned fightin' pig brood sows nestled right up against the owner's mansion, but it all fit the landscape and the times. For me, usherin' local ladies past the mean creatures and to the door in the late evening was my job t'words the end of it. The snakes and pigs pretty much handled each other."

Thus spoke Oat Haney over a beer at the Longhorn Bar in Scenic, South Dakota in September 2005. Haney, one of the few remaining Interior Fighting Pig Ranch partner-employees willing to speak with reporters, went on to recount pieces of the early history of the infamous "ranch", which was closed by pressure from Greenpeace, the People for Ethical treatment of Animals (PETA) and internal management squabbles in 1988.

"I guess it all got goin' about '79-80 when them fellers outgrew their treehouse in town. Pimpin' the trailer park wasn't fillin' the bank-bag, and they wasn't cut right for Dairy Queen, I guess."

"The first ranch house wasn't a house. It was an ol' weather balloon tied between a Chevy truck and a K-car with black bailin' twine. The owners was free with their liquor and cussin' and nudie mags, but they was free with their cash too and sometimes that drew the ladies and us up to the ranch at night."

"And then one night, after watchin' a wild hog fight for sole possession of a half-rot rattler covered with jumpin' cactus, they brought a few of us under the balloon and hatched their 'no-money-down' business plan. First, they said, those of you with trucks will drop down to Pine Ridge and rustle some hogs. Free-range half wilders, not barn pigs, mind ya. The rest of us was to start diggin' post holes for a pen. The owners would drive over to Corky Johnson's in Interior for some more beer and to 'lign up additional investors' and ' insight into the proper business vehicle to ensure the viability of a continuing competitive enterprise'. Well,whatever that meant, but see, they was cut out for the business end of it. I don't recall any hesitation. Almost everyone put down some money right on the spot for more beer."

FIRST OF SEVERAL INSTALLMENTS

(Next - locatin', catchin' and haulin' a wild hog)