Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Nichols riding to New York to aid police, firemen

Everyone was affected differently because of the attacks on Sept. 11.

Leslie Nichols, a 41-year-old horse trainer from Celeste, Texas, was stirred to ride from the Alamo to Ground Zero on horseback, trying to raise money for the New York Firefighter Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Police Department Benevolent Association for Widows and Children.

Nichols's goals are lofty as he hopes to raise $1 million for each charity.

To do this, he's raffling off a hand-tooled saddle, made by Jim Taylor of Greenville, Texas. Tickets are $5 each, and 200,000 were made up. The raffle will be held when Nichols arrives in New York City.

Along with this, he's asked for donations to be sent ahead to New York to be sold at an auction.

Meanwhile, he's riding more than 2,000 miles, averaging 15-20 miles a day, just him, his horse and dog, Posse.

The horse Nichols rode into Gurdon Monday, Jan. 21, isn't the one he began the ride on. At this time, he's riding Sandtrack, also called "Sandy", because his horse, J.J.'s Cowboy was injured in a fall near Simms, Texas. Once J.J. heals, Sandy will be returned to his owner, George McVeigh.

Posse is seven-eighths border collie and one-eighth Australian shepherd, and keeps Nichols company on his trek, while doing tricks to entertain those where they stop.

The Alamo was chosen, Nichols said, because it was a place where heroes died, and it was only fitting to begin the journey to New York, where heroes also died, from such a place.

He left his home in Celeste, where Audie Murphy was born, and drove to San Antonio in mid-October.

Nichols rode almost daily, he doesn't ride Sundays, until Christmas, his mother, Kay's, birthday. "I always spend Christmas with my mother," he said. So, it was back to Celeste for the holidays.

He resumed his ride shortly after New Year's Day.

Nichols has visited fire departments in every town he's ridden through. However, it wasn't until he reached Fulton that he was made an honorary volunteer fireman. The Fulton VFD designated 9-1-1 as his call number. He was also made an honorary fireman for the day in Hope.

The ride has been far from easy, he said. At one point, he was caught in a deluge, where eight inches of rain fell in an hour. This forced him to hole up until weather conditions became more favorable.

Undaunted, he resumed his trip, getting nearly to Simms when misfortune reared its ugly head. He was riding J.J. on a narrow shoulder and looking to avoid traffic, when he noticed the railroad tracks.

The embankment the tracks were on appeared to be solid, but as J.J. made it to the top and was about to get his feet under him the ground gave way. Horse and rider tumbled, with J.J. being injured.

Nichols thought of his horse first, and found someone who could take care of J.J. until the horse healed and could be ridden.

He originally bought J.J. for $800 and used him as a race horse. J.J., during his career, earned Nichols more than $65,000 on the track.

The loss of an eye as a child prevented Nichols from becoming a Marine, as he wanted. But, it didn't stop him from trying to get in the service.

In fact, he went through the physical after the recruiter told him the lack of an eye would be no problem. "I wish they'd have done the eye exam first," he said. "They poked and prodded me until I got to the eye doctor. He told me they couldn't take me because it was paralyzed."

Having only one eye also prevented Nichols from becoming a fireman or police officer.

But, being an old cowboy, he returned to horses, training thoroughbreds for others.

The main person he was training for died, with all the horses being sold. He was working on building his own track on Sept. 11, when he learned of the attacks.

"I walked in the door of my mom's on Sept. 11 and saw smoke coming from the building (the first tower of the World Trade Center)," he said. I thought a helicopter or little Cessna had accidentally crashed when I saw the second plane coming."

Nichols turned the volume up and learned the attacks had been perpetrated by terrorists.

"I was stunned," he said. "I watched the rescue efforts, seeing guys suiting up and going into the building. I saw civilians streaming out, but not the police or firemen.

"I got to thinking about their kids watching the coverage. They know their parents died there."

Nichols has a client to train horses for in the spring, but was at loose ends, except for building his own track, in the meantime.

"I wanted to make a difference. My goal is to raise $1 million for each side," he said. The "sides" are the NY Firefighter's Disaster Relief Fund and NYPD Benevolent Association for Widows and Children.

He chose these two organizations because the money raised by his efforts will go directly to the families of police and firemen who lost their lives at the World Trade Center disaster.

A public relations company, Visetta, is handling the marketing for the trip, along with helping get items for the auction, while Matt Gilliam is taking care of the raffle.

"I ask each town to come together and figure something out to send in for the auction," he said.

Nichols is also asking the mayors of each town he goes through to proclaim that day in the name of one of the fallen firemen or police officers.

The trip from west Texas to south Arkansas has been an experience for Nichols, just in the area of scenery. Celeste, he said, is all rolling hills, flat land and cattle, while there's a lot more pine trees in Arkansas.

"I just had to do something," he said. "I looked around and saw baseball and football teams making donations. The cowboys wanted to do something as well. God told me I was to ride for the cowboy nation."

And ride he does, even in inclement weather. However, Nichols is prepared for bad weather, and has gotten a little help along the way.

In Hope, firemen gave him a couple of nynex hoods and safety glasses to keep the wind and rain off his face. He has a thick blanked for Sandy, also a former race horse.

Sandy, he said, showed talent, but got hurt and was put out to stud instead of being returned to the track.

"I've only been on him a little more than a week. He's not used to this," Nichols said. McVeigh loaned him Sandy to ride until J.J. is healed.

Nichols has people looking out for him along the way. A jockey club and the Thoroughbred Racing Association will help him get through Kentucky, and there are scouts in Pennsylvania.

"I want to do something for those who died in the Pennsylvania crash, too," he said.

The trip, though is taking longer than he thought. Part of the reason is his being asked to appear in parades and make appearances along the way.

"This is bigger than I thought it would be," Nichols said. "Gurdon is the 41st town I've been in."

The appearances and parades won't stop once he gets to New York either. He has already been scheduled for a spot on the "Today Show" and "People" magazine wants to do an interview.

ESPN.com and others have done articles on his trip, which has been written about by a number of papers as well.

"This has been a different rodeo for this cowboy," he said.

Anyone wanting to join the American Posse, make a donation or follow the exploits of Nichols, Sandy, J.J. and Posse, can do so by accessing the web site: www.AmericanPosse.org