An Old West gang is hiding out near Mountain City, Nevada. There are eleven of them and they have colorful names like Gold Pan Sam, Trixie, Chief, Dolly, Tex, Mail Box and Howdy Pard. Collectively, they are called the Auto Parts Gang and Larry Up the Creek is their boss. They hang out on the side of Trail Creek Road about six miles west of   Mountain City highway. Larry Otheim has put together a serious mob. Watch for them. They hang out on a blind curve waiting to ambush unsuspecting travelers.

Otheim, a retired Owyhee High School wood shop teacher and former Elko County School Board Member, has a great sense of humor and the talent to create his pack of western characters. Helped by his wife, Pat, daughter, Kim, and son, Thomas, they have assembled the gang, mostly from auto parts. 

Above: The whole gang - photo by Howard Hickson 
 
 
 
 

The Bull rider - photo by Kim Otheim

Right: Tex - photo by Kim Otheim

Chief - photo by Kim Otheim

Right: Howdy, Pard - photo by Howard Hickson

Dolly - photo by Howard Hickson

Pump Boy: photo by Kim Otheim
 
 

There's still Trixie, Mailbox, Safe Cracker and Snake to meet. You have to make the trip to their hideout on Trail Creek Road to make their acquaintance and marvel at the imagination of the maker and his helpers. 

Otheim's nickname, Larry Up the Creek, comes from two Larrys living on Trail Creek. Larry Monroe is Larry Down the Creek.

Larry Otheim and his daughter Kim
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sources: Special thanks to Kim Otheim for her assistance in photographing the various outlaws and providing information about her father and members of the Auto Parts Gang. Thanks, too, to Dale Porter who took me out on Trail Creek Road twice to see and photograph the display of Otheim's metal characters.

©Copyright 2007 by Howard Hickson