A drifter's Thanksgiving in Nevada

Jeremiah Brinkley, a self-described drifter, rode through town on Thanksgiving eve, with his trusty companions Anna Belle and Dexter, en route, he said, to Peculiar, Mo.

Bill Tshoerner has met some unique individuals since buying the Osage Prairie RV Park.

"In the last year I've had a gentleman bicycling across country for a charity," said Tshoerner, "then a father and daughter doing the same thing, and also a British couple who flew into New York, bought bikes and were riding to California where they planned to unload their two wheelers and fly back to Britian."

But according to Tshoerner, the strangest of all was the man who stopped in the night before Thanksgiving.

"He was living completely off the grid," said Tshorerner.

The man is Jeremiah Brinkley, 55, a professed drifter and handyman who travels on horseback with his sidekick, a 4-year-old dachshund named Dexter. On this particular trek, Brinkley was coming from New Mexico via Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas on his way to Peculiar, Mo. which is not exactly a direct route.

"I didn't see him when he arrived," said Tshorerner, "my wife was in the office. All I saw was the horse tied up out front with a dachshund standing on the saddle, which I thought was interesting since we have a dachshund."

It was only when Tshorerner went in the office that he met the drifter.

"The man said he found a Wal-Mart receipt with a one-hundred dollar bill wrapped up inside it," added Tshoerner, "which was how he was able to pay for the campsite;" and even though the RV Park is not designed to handle riders, they somehow managed to find a stall to bed down the horse.

The next morning, Tshoerner and his wife invited Brinkley to stay for Thanksgiving dinner, but he said he needed to get back on the road or in the saddle.

When the Nevada Daily Mail caught up with him the next day, he was about 20 miles north on U.S. 71, and when interviewed, he said he was traveling from New Mexico to Peculiar.

"Usually I have a place set up for the winter, but I don't this year," said Brinkley, "so I'm heading to Peculiar where I grew up. I've got some old friends there that will probably put me up. Maybe I'll be able to do some sheetrock work."

When asked about his stay in Nevada, he said, "I stayed at a trailer park for a night and they were the nicest people. They invited me to stay for Thanksgiving, but I said I couldn't. Then they offered me some sausage and cheese and gave me my money back for the campsite. It was the nicest thing anyone has done for me for a long time."

So how long has he been traveling? According to Brinkley, it's been his life for the last 20 years. He simply rides from town to town, doing odd jobs.

Is his name really Brinkley? Well, that's the moniker he used six months ago when the Pawhuska Journal -- Capital did a story on him in May after fielding a number of calls from folks wondering who the stranger on horseback was. At that time he said he was headed west to Ponca City, Okla. In early November, the Winfield Daily Courier featured him as well; at that time, he was "headed to Missouri, doesn't matter where in Missouri," the Courier said.

"I love to ride," said Brinkley; "I go to bed when I want, get up when I want and find work when I need money." He also said that he has no family, only the friends he has made over the years.

"Most of all," he said, "It keeps me from that silly TV." Then he added, "TV ruined me."