by Kim Redo
Photos courtesy of Lincoln Franklin
Sometimes making good money in a well-paid field of endeavor is not enough to fuel the fires within. For some people, the scenario begins as a dreamscape. Hanging photos of dream destinations on the wall at work, staring out the window during the day thinking of the freedom a perfect life could bring…. Yet they stay at their jobs, the repetitive humdrum, the comfortable if not happy place of the steady paycheck. Not so for Lincoln Franklin of Jones, Oklahoma.
After graduation from high school, he began to work for a crane service and drove trucks. After several years as a crane operator and then traveling back and forth to North Dakota, the amount of the paycheck and being gone from home started to lose appeal. It did not take much for Franklin to make a drastic life change … something many people consider only as a passing thought.
Franklin, the son of a wagon master who always had mules or horses and wagons, had grown up with horses, but he had been involved in Future Farmers of America only with hogs. In 2015, Franklin began to go on wagons with his dad simply to relax away from his everyday job. Working with the teams with his father had an appeal unlike any other. In 2017, while still on his regular job, Franklin started F2 Mules and Work Horses Training, building on his family legacy. The name had been a family brand since his great-grandfather passed it on to Franklin as the oldest son of the oldest son. His training business remains pretty much a family deal, with his fiancée and her mother helping out.
Also in 2017, Franklin became secretary of Sooner Teamsters. Serving the group in that capacity gave him the experience he would need to be voted in as president two years later. He remains the president.
In 2022, Franklin began to take a few horses and mules to various places for training. His teams performed well enough that he was able to quit his job in April 2023. After years of being gone from home on the job, “It was time,” he said.
Seasoning the Equines
The Franklin homeplace in Jones has been in the family since 1964, when Franklin’s father moved there from Arcadia. Franklin keeps five or six client horses or mules on the place at a time in addition to his own animals.
Training involves everything from the ground up. Franklin drives the novices between seasoned equines, often three abreast with the new guy in the middle. Typically, it takes 90 days to train a team and 120 days for a single. Then the seasoning begins. In that process, the animals get used to traveling to numerous locations with varying levels of sounds and stressors.
Connecting with the Past
As president of Sooner Teamsters, Franklin heads the planning and organization of two wagon trains each year, along with the board of directors. The rides, both referred to as the ’89ers Wagon Train and Trail Ride, commemorate the first Oklahoma land run in 1889. The rides involve typically 30 to 40 wagons with 20 to 30 outriders. Outriders travel on horses or mules alongside the heads of the wagons to ensure safety. In case of runaway teams, outriders are responsible for grabbing the lead reins and slowing the team to a stop.
Franklin and his own teams go to other events too. In 2018, he took a team from the Wyoming line into Deadwood, South Dakota, as part of the Deadwood Museum Days of ’76. In 2024, Franklin took a team to Kansas after the Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty reenactment group contacted him to be part of the triannual event. The reenactment represents five tribes. When Red Steagall held his cowboy gathering in Fort Worth, Texas, Franklin participated in the drive through the stockyard city’s streets. He has also attended other events “for fun” such as a private wagon train in Nebraska.
Although training might not be for everyone, the wagon trains are undeniably fun. As Franklin says, “Being able to drive [a team pulling an old wagon] down the streets of Fort Worth is amazing to me.” Yes, I imagine it is.
For more information about the Sooner Teamsters, go to Facebook, ’89er Land Run Ride and Wagon Train of Oklahoma (Sooner Teamsters). To contact Franklin directly, go to Facebook, F2 Mules and Work Horses.
