From The National Hobo Association

So Just What Is a Hobo?

At the end of the Civil War, many veterans had no homes to return to and many took to wandering the countryside looking for possible work. Many of these early wanderers sought work as migrant farm workers and many of them carried work implements, such as hoes, along with them. It is thought that they were originally nicknamed 'hoe-boys' and the term later shortened to 'Hobo'.

As the nation expanded westward, the railroads needed laborers to set ties and lay the tracks and the hobo played a vital role in those activities. During the great age of dam-building, i.e. The Tennessee Valley Authority, The Columbia River Basin as well as The Missouri River Drainage Projects, the hoboes formed the nucleus of the hearty travelling work forces that constructed these giant structures often in remote areas whose only real access was by freight train. To feed a growing nation, the hoboes became the migrant harvesters who reaped the grain, cotton and fruits of mid-America often working a route that took them from the Texas Panhandle to the Canadian Border each season. In the post-war era of pipeline construction, the hobo became a vital element of that restless workforce who's very job progressed up to five miles per day as the gas & oil lines were layed.

Hoboes also sought work on American merchant ships and many a hobo maintained seaman's papers as an alternate employment source when the harvests were finished. Many hoboes became the lumberjacks of the Pacific Northwest. As the West became more settled, many of the emerging little towns' first citizens were people who worked their way west on freight trains...hoboes. Many orchards, vineyards and ranches of the American west were built by farsighted adventurous men who struck out from the crowded east on 'side door Pullmans' to seek their fortunes in the outlands. During the Great Depression of the thirties, a new surge of hoboes took to the rails in search of work. In 1934, the U.S. Bureau of Transient Affairs estimated there were 1.5 million men (and women) riding America's Freight trains.

THE HOBO HEART & SOUL

The keyword in describing the hobo is 'independence'. Unlike tramps or bums, the hoboes are usually very resourceful, self reliant and appreciative people. They display the quiet pride that comes from self confidence and the secure knowledge that they control their own destiny. As a group, they avoid long term work commitments, preferring to be free to follow the call of the open road when it comes. They are, in general, well read, artistic romantic and quick witted. They survive in hostile conditions that others would shun. They are creative, good natured and glib. They are NOT homeless. If they want a home, they'll get one when it suits them. The National Hobo Association is made up of thousands of these great people nationwide. Some have hoboed in their past, some are currently on the 'Hobo Road'. Some have never hoboed but share the same core beliefs and views; in short, they have a 'hobo heart'. We warmly welcome them to share our stew and fellowship.

Many of America's great people have come from the hobo ranks; Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Burl Ives, Pulitzer Prize Winner James A. Michener, Comedian Red Skelton, Attorney Melvin Belli, Country Artist Roger Miller, plus thousands more from lawyers to laborers. Many Fortune 500 Companies have a hobo at their helm.

But it's not about being rich or famous. It has to do with being a member of a unique group of people who value their personal freedom (and respect yours), appreciate our great land, long for new adventures and have faith in themselves. The hobo experience has taught people to 'paddle their own canoe' since the Civil War and that indomitable spirit is alive and well today....especially within The National Hobo Association!