Wyo. cowboy finds treasure in others' trash 10/24/2009 12:41 AM By JEREMY GOLDMEIER Associated Press
GILLETTE, Wyo. -- At first glance, the stuff that Alva Baughman fastens to his workplace walls seems like a bunch of crap.
Faded paintings, scarred with water damage. Dusty saddles that were worn in, worn out and thrown out by their previous owners. A battered acoustic guitar, with just a string or two left in place.
When considered individually, it's no wonder that these items found their way to the Campbell County landfill.
But step back for a moment and look at the bigger picture that Baughman has created. It hangs on the wall of the bale station's "A'' building, a place where trash gets pushed onto a conveyor belt and crushed into bits before it is hauled to the landfill north of town.
On this wall, each item finds its place in a sprawling tapestry of Western style. With some help from his co-workers, Baughman has saved all of these antiques from a grisly fate at the hands of the trash compactor.
When he spots a ranch tool, or a cowboy hat, or a piece of Western art amid the rubble that gets hauled into the "A" building each day, he plucks it out, dusts it off, and wires it up to the wall.
The inspiration behind Baughman's project is pretty simple. He grew up near Midwest, Wyo., the son of parents who "ranched everywhere from the Pumpkin Buttes to Casper."
When he sees an old horse harness or bridle slated for disposal, he sees a piece of his own heritage about to get crushed. His grand collage o' crap is as much about preserving that tradition as giving the drab building a facelift.
"The walls were so 'blah,' you know?" Baughman said with an easygoing laugh. "So I started putting everything I could find up there."
He said the project began about five years ago. Although he can't say for certain which wall ornament came first, he believes it was the cowboy portrait that hangs at the center of his artistic arrangement. The cowpoke in the painting sits in profile, stoic, his face shadowed by a wide-brimmed hat. The collection surrounding that painting would be much larger today if people weren't so keen on stealing from Baughman's collection. Most of the stuff is wired pretty well to the wall, but bandits keep making off with some of the collectibles while no one else is around. Many paintings and a prized old Gibson guitar have disappeared that way.
But the more common reaction to Baughman's project is to stop and stare at it for minutes on end. Each item is pockmarked by years of history, and when viewed as a whole, the collection's effect is astounding.
Most of the awed onlookers don't realize that the unassuming guy in the blue jumpsuit and ball cap is the artist responsible for the work. But Baughman gets a kick out of seeing them react to his salute to Western culture.
"It's a neat thing," Baughman said, proudly gazing up at the display. "It gives a lot of people a smile."
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