Why Buffalo Head?

Nicknames in the fire service are as common as red fire apparatus. Getting stuck with a “handle” can range from a term of endearment to having your firefighting brothers know that the name pushes your buttons. All good nicknames, however, have a story to go with them. Once upon a time...

In February of 1980 I traveled to Farmington, NM to take the entrance exam for the fire department. I had been working at Overlook Hospital in Summit, NJ and had also been testing for firefighter positions on the East Coast. Barbra Morris, one of the charge nurses I worked for, had told me that her niece had married a guy who moved to New Mexico from New York to take a fire department job. She also told me she would get me the information if I was interested. It turns out that her nephew-in-law was Ray Mosher, a legend in the annals of the Farmington Fire Department.

Well, an apprehensive 22-year-old kid from New Jersey traveled to Farmington, NM to seek employment armed with nothing more than Ray Mosher’s name on a piece of paper. In 1980 Farmington was not exactly a hub of activity. I landed at the airport, gathered my bags, and went to locate a cab. As I found out, public transportation was pretty much non-existent in the four corners. The guy at the airport ticket counter was able to give me directions to the firehouse.

As I started walking from the airport, a Navajo gentleman in a pick-up truck offered me a ride. Not having spent much time outside of New Jersey two things came to my mind. The first was that I had never seen a Navajo Indian before, and the second was that I would never be seen by my family again. As it turned out, people outside of New Jersey are actually kind enough to do you a favor on general principal. This stranger delivered me to the front of FFD Station #1.

As I walked into the dispatch area of the station I was passed by two firefighters, hurrying their way to the apparatus floor. They jumped into a rescue unit and left the station running code. After the dispatcher, Walt "Wally B" Boshears, finished with his duties I told him I was looking for Ray Mosher. I was informed that he had just passed me on his way out to an EMS call. After explaining that I was in town to take the entrance exam I was welcomed into the kitchen to wait for Ray.

Ray was ridding the rescue that night with Bill “Wilber” Robertson, another displaced Jersey kid. While not present for their conversation, I have had the story told in front of me so many times that I felt like I was there. Ray: “That must be the guy who came out to take the test. Did you see the moustache on him?” Bill: “Moustache, hell. Did you see the size of his head?” Ray: “No.” Bill: “When we get back to the station look at his head when he is next to a normal person.”

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I have a large noggin; I wear a size 8 hat. However, when Ray and Bill returned to the station I was sitting next to Steve “Guido” Guattery. Steve, another legend on the job, is also one of the smallest guys on the department. It must have been quite the sight, and kept them amused through dinner.

After a fine firehouse meal, I made my way to the 7-2-11 store located next to Station #1 to use the pay phone to call home. Some discussion ensued among those left in the kitchen about going out to the alley between the two building and scaring the hell out of me when I got off the phone. While I was still next door, John Dodge came down into the kitchen from the second floor of the firehouse and poised a question. John: “Is what’s-his-name back yet?” Guido: Sticking his hands up against his head to make horns, asks “Who, Buffalo Head?”

I think I was the first person at the Farmington Fire Department who got stuck with a nickname before I had the job. The rest is history.