Help Me Find The Donkey Man, John Stiles

Sun, Nov 22, 2009

Personal

John Stiles, DonkeymanWhen I was in middle school, my family hosted a man, his wagon and his many donkeys on our 30 acre ranch. His name was John Stiles and he lived a technology-free, nomadic lifestyle. In an age when even mere high school aquaintances friend me on Facebook, the Donkey Man may be the one person from my past who will never find me. So, I would like to find him and I need your help.

I had the honor to tell the story of my time with the Donkey Man at Ignite Portland (the video is embedded below). Since, many have encouraged me to take up the effort to locate John and I hope this post will be the first step toward that.

Like my previous post that mentioned him, I expect others who are looking for John will find this page. Please take a moment to send me a message, or add a new point to the Donkey Man Collaborative Map. Please include at least the year and John’s location. Feel free to include more about your experience, as well.

Here is the current map:

After my talk, one of the 600 people at Ignite Portland came up to me and said she met him in Santa Fe in 1996. John is so noticeable and has met so many people that I believe we can all piece together his story if enough people are exposed to it. Can you help me solve this mystery?

4 Comments For This Post

  1. Andy Idsinga Says:
    December 12th, 2009 at 5:01 pm

    Hey Adam – this is definitely a post worth maintaining! Good luck on the search and keep us readers up to date. Its such a good humanity piece!

    Andy.

  2. AdamD Says:
    December 12th, 2009 at 6:40 pm

    Thanks Andy. In the interest of keeping things updated, I figured I should post what new I’ve learned. Jason Grigsby poked around and found some homesteading/goat forums that mention him, such as this one:

    “Have you all ever heard of John Stiles? He walked around the country with his donkeys, goats, chickens, and wagon for years. Well, he has settled nearby and always has milkers and kids each year. He leaves the horns on, let’s them roam an his 20 acres, and is a very good goat guy. He has alpines which seems like a good breed for around here (8,100 feet).”

    Of course, I’m not sure where “around here” is, but the elevation and John’s past points to New Mexico. Another reference here, likely from the same person.

  3. T Says:
    December 18th, 2009 at 8:22 am

    Hi there, I can direct him to you. I have his number and know where he lives. Contact me through email.

  4. Mike Says:
    February 5th, 2010 at 11:10 am

    Did you read the article about him in the book,Home Work,Hand built shelter.By Lloyd Kahn. Pages 174 and 175. Interesting person .Good luck

Leave a Reply