Utah pretty much got his TURTLE DRIVE story from me. I got the germ of it from Jack Thorp's book called PARDNER TO THE WIND. Then I refined it by telling it for thirty years. I recorded it two times. Once on my first LP--OUTRIGHT BOLDFACED LIES --- Art Thieme Live At The Old Town School Of Folk Music------ I did that for Kicking Mule Records (KM-150) in California (now owned by Fantasy Records and way out of print.) The second time I recorded it was the best telling of it. That was a cassette only release called Art Thieme--Live At Winfield (Kansas) It's out of print too. P.M. me and we can arrange my dubbing it for you.
There is a guy in Nevada City, California (not Utah--can't recall his name)who took my GREAT TURTLE DIVE story, wrote a kid's book around it, and never gave me credit. Yeah, I was pissed! And no, I didn't want money-----just a mention of my being the link in the chain where he got it. For us "collector / singers" (as opposed to singer/songwriters who get royalties) all we want is a credit line that shows we were a part of the folk process that IS the oral tradition. ---------- I told Utah the tale about the EGG SETTIN' HORSE too.