Roam on the range
Local teen plans ride across Montana to fight cancer
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ARLEE — Horses have been a part of Leon Wieder’s life ever since he could hang on to a saddle, so it’s only natural that the biggest adventure yet of his 19 years will be on horseback.
On May 17, the 2009 Arlee High School graduate will strike out on a roughly 690-mile journey from Wibaux, on the North Dakota state line, to Arlee, where he plans to arrive July 4 in time to ride in the grand entry for the Fourth of July Rodeo. It will be one year to the day that the young man’s aunt, Lynette Moran, passed away after an eight-year battle with leukemia. The ride across Montana is his way of honoring her memory, as well as raising money to help cancer patients who can’t afford the treatment they need.
The idea came last August as Leon was driving over to Glendive to check out a ranch his dad was thinking of buying. The long trip gave him plenty of time to think, and the thought of riding his horse across the state popped into his mind. Then he realized that the trip could be far more than just an adventure on horseback.
“It kind of just dawned on me why I should do it,” he remembered. “I just started crying thinking about it.
“It feels like something I have to do.”
A closely-knit family, Leon, his parents, cousins, aunts and uncles had all traveled to Seattle, Wash., with “Auntie Lynn” when she started cancer treatments, and the whole family spent the last month of her life at her side in the hospital, Leon explained. He realized that not everyone is fortunate enough to have that kind of support, or even to afford cancer treatment, and he knew his aunt would want him to help. Auntie Lynn always hated seeing people at the pharmacy who couldn’t afford their medication, he said, so Leon decided to see what he could contribute.
He contacted Tough Enough to Wear Pink, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting breast cancer; the Head, Heel and Hope foundation in Philipsburg, which provides funding for treatment for kids with cancer; and the Montana Cancer Center at St. Pat’s in Missoula, and all three organizations were happy to hear Leon’s plan. He’ll collect pledges — $1 per mile — and any donations people offer for the three groups. He’s already gotten a $500 donation from the CSKT Quit Line, “so no chewing or smoking along the way,” he joked.
Before his departure, Leon has plenty of training, fundraising and planning to do over the next three months. Several family members and friends plan to join him on parts of the ride, and Leon and Mamet — his horse, named the Salish word for “pest,” in part because he was born at the same time as Auntie Lynn’s cancer — will follow I-94 and then I-90 all the way home to Arlee, camping along the way.
“I want to make the actual ride as cheap as possible so I can raise as much money as possible,” he said.
In order to do so, Leon will take only basic supplies like horseshoeing equipment and food, and maybe a pillow and blanket. He plans to cover 20 miles a day in about eight hours, which will give him time to take a few breaks along the route. While so many hours in the saddle might sound painful to some, “it’s pretty relaxing for me,” Leon said.
Leon’s ride will be documented all along the way via Facebook and his website www.spurthecanceroutofmontana.com. Leon and his family are planning an auction to raise funds in April, and donations are needed for the event. For more information on how to help, contact Leon at 406-207-7284 or e-mail him at leon.wieder@yahoo.com
