One Horse Towns-Repeat -Deserving Of It's Own Thread

Your assessment of the situation is spot on. I am from a very small town in Missouri, born and raised there. Your story would only have to insert the name of my town, and the rest would be identical. Good post. Beware of small town cops.

You just described everywhere in South Dakota I ever lived.
Sturgis S.D., a town of 6400 people has over 30 full time greasers. Can you say Motorcycle rally WHORES!!!!

THIS is a "one horse town."


The History of Dan Patch

By Nancy Huddleston

Savage, Minnesota has been a one-horse town ever since Marion W. Savage brought his
beloved racehorse, Dan Patch, to live in a palatial barn along the banks of the Minnesota River.
Although the village was known as Hamilton when the International Stock Food Farm was
built, folks became so enamored with Mr. Savage and Dan that they decided to rename the town
Savage in 1904. And the rest, as they say, is history.
History is still what drives the story of Dan Patch, as the 100th anniversary of his world
record mark for pacing a mile in 1:55 at the Minnesota State Fair is celebrated this year. Dan Patch
Days has been celebrated in Savage since the 1950s and this year runs from June 23-25. Then on
Sept. 2, the Minnesota State Fair will honor Dan Patch with a special day filled with activities and
give-a-ways. And on Sept. 8, the day 100 years ago that Dan Patch set the world record, the Dan
Patch Historical Society will mark the occasion by dedicating a commemorative brick walkway
built with individual donations from the community in front of the historic Savage railroad depot,
which was relocated back to the city this summer.
A great story
Dan Patch’s story has been told and re-told over the years, and to commemorate the 100th
anniversary of his famous race, two books are coming out. The first one, championed by the Dan
Patch Historical Society and written by author Tim Brady, is “The Great Dan Patch and the
Remarkable Mr. Savage” and will be released June 24. It is set during the first decade of the
twentieth century when the sporting world was enthralled by the exploits of Dan Patch as he was
breaking racing records with ease throughout the nation. Brady tells the story not only of Dan Patch,
but of his owner, M.W. Savage, who made the most of the horse's reputation to promote a variety of
products sold by his International Stock Food Company.
Jens Bohn, president of the Dan Patch Historical Society, believes Dan Patch’s story
surpasses other racehorse stories – to include the famous Seabiscuit. “This is not just a story about a
horse, but about an owner and a horse,” Bohn said. “People say that all the things that happened
with Dan Patch never happened, but they did.”
There’s also the matter of the relationship between Dan Patch and Mr. Savage that makes
the story unique. “Did he make the horse or did the horse make him?” asks Bohn. “If not for him,
no one would have heard about Dan Patch and if M.W. had stayed in Indiana, the world may have
never heard of him if he hadn’t bought Dan.”
That interesting topic, any many more, are the subject of a second book, by Charlie
Leershen, which is due out next year. Leerhsen, an executive editor at Sports Illustrated, said his
goal is to make Dan Patch's name familiar again – “to get him back up on the pedestal he deserves.”
Leerhsen says readers can expect a story full of mystery, intrigue and drama. “It’s my mission to tell
the untold story and bring alive the sense of the sports world at that time,” Leerhsen said. And, the
book will be for a wider audience than “Dan Patch nerds like me,” he said. “It’s kind of like
Seabiscuit, in a way, but the Dan Patch story is a better story because Dan Patch was much more
popular.”
And it’s those elements that Bohn thinks helps to keep the Dan Patch and M.W. Savage
story alive. “It’s also a unique story because of the way Mr. Savage promoted Dan – he was way
ahead of his time on that,” Bohn said.
Dan Patch is widely considered the greatest harness racing horse of all time and is most
famous for his appearance at the Minnesota State Fair in 1906. By that time, no one would race
their horse against Dan, so he mainly raced in exhibitions and against the clock. Savage boosted that
Dan would set a record at the fair and 93,000 people packed the grandstand at the fair to see if it
would happen. Dan Patch was 10 years old at the time and did not disappoint the crowd when he set
the record at 1:55 that day.

... the rest of the story

[link to danpatch.com]