[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 111 (Thursday, August 2, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S8698]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO WALKER JOHNSON

 Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, today I rise to pay tribute to 
a fine man and a great Kentuckian, Mr. Walker Johnson. On July 24, 
2001, Walker celebrated his 90th birthday. I urge my colleagues to join 
me in wishing him the very best.
  Walker Johnson is a loving family man and a great friend. Born to 
Robert and Sanny Johnson, he enjoys small-town living and is a life-
long resident of Adair County, KY. Walker is the father of four 
children, Billy, Doris, James, and Delois. In fact, it is through 
Delois and her husband, Rich, that I have heard so many wonderful 
stories about Walker. He is a special friend to many, and is always 
willing to help others.
  Walker is a unique individual who is known for his wit and sense of 
humor. Throughout his life, Walker has pursued a wide range of 
activities including music, horse shoeing, and dog trading. He is a 
talented musician and spent much time in his early years traveling and 
playing the fiddle with performers such as String Bean and Uncle 
Henry's Mountaineers. In the 1940s, he put the fiddle aside and began 
shoeing horses and trading dogs. Walker was one of the most skilled and 
hardest working farrier's in the business. In fact, at the age of 68, 
he managed to shoe 18 horses in one day. What a feat!
  Walker has also stayed busy trading dogs, which he's done for more 
than 50 years. He has sold dogs all over Kentucky as well as in several 
other States. Today, at the age of 90, he still enjoys trading and 
sitting down with friends for good conversation.
  On behalf of myself and my colleagues in the U.S. Senate, I want to 
pay tribute to Walker Johnson and sincerely wish him and his family the 
very best. I ask that an article which ran in the Adair Progress on 
Sunday August 24, 2000, appear in the Record.
  The article follows:

                [From the Adair Progress, Aug. 24, 2000]

         An Old-Time Fiddler Now an Honorable Kentucky Colonel

                           (By Paul B. Hayes)

       For around three-quarters of a century, Walker Johnson has 
     traveled around the countryside--playing a fiddle, shoeing 
     horses or trading dogs and various other items.
       Johnson, a life-long resident of the county who has resided 
     in the Millerfield community for the past 50-plus years, is 
     known far and wide for his activities throughout the years, 
     along with wit and humor.
       A few weeks ago, the 89-year-old Johnson began having some 
     health problems, but doctors installed a pacemaker in his 
     heart about a month ago, and he appears to be on the mend. 
     Last week, his spirits got a little boost when State Senator 
     Vernie McGaha paid him a visit, and made him a Kentucky 
     Colonel on behalf of Gov. Paul Patton.
       While visiting with Sen. McGaha, his son Bobby, and another 
     friend, Johnson took a little while to reminisce about his 
     years as a musician, farrier and trader--and even play a tune 
     or two on his fiddle.
       ``I've been playing a fiddle over 80 years,'' Johnson said 
     while sitting on the porch of his home, ``When I was six 
     years old, Daddy made me a little cigar box fiddle.
       ``I started playing it, and that's all I wanted to do,'' he 
     continued, ``I got so where I wouldn't help Momma pack in the 
     water or wood, and she got mad and threw it out the window.
       ``Eight days later, Daddy went to town and bought me a 
     three-quarter size fiddle. He brought it home, give it to 
     me, and told Momma ``This don't go out the window.' ''
       Johnson kept playing his fiddle and before too many years 
     had passed, was traveling quite a bit to play music (In an 
     article about Johnson that appeared a few years ago in the 
     Russell Register, he was quoted as saying ``I found out it 
     was a lot easier to earn money by playing a fiddle at night 
     than it was to hoe in the fields all day long.'')
       He played for a long time with String Bean, who later went 
     on to the Grand Ole Opry and also made many appearances on 
     Hee Haw.
       He also played for a good while with Uncle Henry's Kentucky 
     Mountaineers. The group played weekly on a Lexington radio 
     station for three years, then got a chance to audition for 
     the Grand Ole Opry.
       ``We went down there and played, and they offered to hire 
     us,'' he recalled. ``But, we decided not to go because it was 
     too far.
       Uncle Henry's group also went to Chicago to perform for a 
     while, Johnson didn't go. ``Casey Jones took my place when 
     the band went to Chicago,'' he said.
       Johnson also played at a weekly square dance that was held 
     in Columbia for two years, but in the 1940s, he gave up 
     playing his fiddle on a regular basis, and took up his other 
     two professions--shoeing horses and trading dogs.
       Johnson shoed horses for many years--including many race 
     horses that raced at the country fairs in Russell and Adair 
     counties. He shoed so many Russell County Derby winners 
     (along with several Adair County Derby winners) that he was 
     given special recognition at the Russell County Fair one 
     year.
       He kept on shoeing horses way past the time most people 
     would have retired, even shoeing 18 horses in one day when he 
     was 68 years old.
       ``They always said it took a strong back and a weak mind to 
     shoe horses,'' he said, ``and I guess I was well qualified, 
     for I had them both.''
       While he's played music and shoed horses for years, 
     Johnson's main reputation has been gained as a dog trader. In 
     dog trading circles, he's known all over Kentucky and several 
     other states.
       ``I've been trading dogs for 55 years,'' he said ``I've 
     sold a many a load of dogs in North Carolina, Virginia, 
     Georgia and other states. I've owned a many a good dog, and a 
     lot that weren't no count at all.''
       Johnson said that he traded fox hounds for 43 years, then 
     12 years ago switched to beagles. A few weeks ago, when he 
     was sick, he sold all the beagles he had.
       ``I had six, and sold them all,'' he said. ``This is the 
     first time in 35 years that I haven't had a dog, but I'm 
     going to get me some more when I get able.''
       On his being made a Kentucky Colonel at the age of 89, 
     Johnson admitted he was quite pleased to receive the 
     commission.
       ``I'm proud to be a Kentucky Colonel, it's about the only 
     thing I've got now that I ain't got no dogs,'' he said. And, 
     referring to the Kentucky Colonel certificate, which lists 
     him as the Honorable Walker Johnson, he added, ``I've been a 
     long time finding out I was honorable--I was always called 
     something else.''

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