His name was Charlie McCartney.………….and he loved all thirty of his goats……..though at one time there were as many as 100 goats pulling his 2 wagons.
The “great depression” took his farm in Iowa…….and he started walking……….to GEORGIA. Goats eat about 4 pounds of alfalfa every day………now I am wondering how and what did Charlie feed his goats.
Charley was a preacher………and to feed his goats he sold Bible tracts to people along the way. He collected old pots and pans abandoned along the road side……….which he sold to anyone who would buy.
As he neared a town…….the word would spread…….”THE GOATMAN IS COMING”.
When he got to Clarkesville Georgia………..my Uncle Sam would drive me into town to see Charlie so I could pet his goats.
The smell was terrible……..Charlie and the goats both needed a bath!
Uncle Sam’s old Studebaker truck which was always conking out…………but he loved his truck!
When Charlie finally “gave up the goats”……..he settled down in Georgia and lived in an old decrepit bus. Eventually he had to move into a nursing home in Macon Georgia. He died there at age 103………but he had traveled the roads with his goats for over fifty years.
