Mountain Man Meek - Transcript
Segment
in QT | Segment in Real | The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument
[NARRATOR]
Since the time of westward expansion, people have been crossing Nebraska along the Platte River Valley, by foot, on wagons, or in cars on what is now Interstate 80. Reliving the history of this Trail is the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument, just two miles east of Kearney, Nebraska. The Archway Monument is a living museum that tells the story of those who made their way west along this trail years ago. And the best way to hear any story is from those who lived it first-hand. One such storyteller is a crazy old mountain man, who’s traveled these parts for over a hundred and fifty years. Really!
Meet Jack Garrison, the crazy old mountain man himself, who’s actually quite civilized. Jack Garrison isn’t really a hundred and fifty year-old mountain man. In fact, for nine months out of the year, he teaches drama and theater at the University of Nebraska Kearney. But during the summer months, Garrison takes on the role of a grizzled old mountain man at the Archway Monument. For Garrison, the mountain man character offers him the chance to do what he does best--Act. And for those visiting the Archway Monument, get the chance to meet history face to face.
Jack Garrison’s transformation begins in the basement of his Kearney, Nebraska, home. It’s no small task to convert a University professor into a 19th century mountain man. And just watching Garrison go through the process of dressing into the character causes one to wonder if the real mountain men ever bother to undress. To really make the character come to life, Garrison spent hours researching the lives of mountain men, learning as much as possible. (These old guys never wore underwear.) Maybe even too much. Piece by piece, Garrison transforms into the mountain man character, paying close attention to the details of his costume. And in the spirit of authenticity, part of the mountain man look has become permanent. (This is the part my wife doesn’t like. My summer hat.)
The character Garrison portrays is from a time over a hundred and twenty-five years ago. (It’s not a mule, but it works.) So not surprisingly, as he slips ever closer into the mountain man persona, he begins to sound a little out of place in the 21st century. (Get my buffalo when it’s ready to go.)
[banjo music] One soon gets the feeling though that Jack Garrison enjoys the attention he draws as the out-of-time mountain man of Kearney.
[Jack Garrison]
They are not used to seeing an old homeless-looking character wearing an outfit going down the highway in a high-performance sports car. Everybody looks. How about a cup of coffee before we get on with this?
[NARRRATOR]
And like they say, if you’re gonna make a scene, be seen.
Garrison prides himself in his ability to stay “in character” no matter the situation or individual he may encounter. Even with a tough fast-food crowd, the show must go on. Okay, mountain men? In Nebraska? Why?
Lewis & Clark gets the credit for having done all the westerly exploration, but they did it all the wrong way by going north up through the most inhabitable country there was along the Missouri River. That’s just not the way to travel, and what we’re walking down through here now is the Platte River Valley. It’s flat. That’s about all you ever hear about tourists when they come through here is how flat it is. And the mountain men were not fools. They—If they could find an easier way to get to the mountains and to the trapping areas, they just wanted an easy way to get from uh the Missouri River to the shiny mountains, which was the Rocky Mountains.
The best way to portray one of these mountain men is to portray one of these mountain men.
[Jack Garrison]
Well, my moniker at the Archway is Crazy Meek. And Meek is actually an authentic historical mountain man. His name was Steven Hallam Meek, and he was the older brother of the more famous mountain man, Joe Meek. It’s—It’s sort of a fantasy. It’s sort of fiction. It’s also historical. Um Steven was quite the character. Um he was not as smart of character as his brother. Based upon his miss-adventures, as where I created the name Crazy. And Crazy Meek is sort of a juxtaposition of terms anyway. The meek of the earth and the crazy man. And most of the mountain men anyway uh manufactured their own uh historical mystique anyway. And it was never as romantic and an easy life as they—the old geezers portrayed it to be.
[NARRATOR]
Playing the mountain man character at the Great Platte River Road Archway Museum is a paying job for Garrison, and he’s one of several characters on hand to help bring the attraction to life. And like any job, a certain camaraderie exists among fellow employees.
[Jack Garrison]
This is wintertime, so I don’t—am wearing my new hat here.
[WOMAN]
Is it dead yet?
[Jack Garrison]
Not yet, honey. Wait till I get it on.
[MAN]
Is it a boy or a girl?
[Jack Garrison]
Out of there young feller.
[NARRATOR]
Once Jack Garrison, the actor, has all the elements assembled, Crazy Meek, the Mountain Man, comes alive.
[Jack Garrison]
Uh for a lot of these people, I become very real.
If you’re going—if you’re going to do this in character, you sort of have to—Eventually, you just sort of are Steven Meek. Being Crazy Meek is totally spontaneous. Nothing that I do is scripted. Crazy Meek really intrudes on your space and I sup—I suppose that’s—that’s kind of a—a unique experience for a lot of these people, and because I am en—encountering them, uh I am, I’m real.
Handsome feller, ain’t he? (laugh)
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