WILSON -- Some 200 people gathered in a Wilson field Saturday afternoon for a "Peace Rally" to protest the Iraq war and send a message to Vice President Dick Cheney, who owns a home just up the road.

"We organized it because of the war in Iraq and what an injustice it has been," Walt Farmer, retired Air Force captain and registered Republican said. "The Vice President has received a pass in Jackson long enough. We want to let them know we don't approve of the war or how they play fast and loose with the Constitution."

Attending a rally first with speakers, including State Rep. Pete Jorgensen (D-Jackson), author Alexandra Fuller and musicians, the group then took to the county bike path where they marched 1.5 miles north to the entrance of the exclusive Teton Pines Country Club, where Cheney lives when he is in Wyoming.

A 10-foot tall effigy of Cheney, with a fishing pole in one hand and a spouting oil well in the other, was brought on the route. Rally-goers toppled the statute as a symbolic gesture of their disapproval of the vice president.

Jennifer Love of Jackson said she came to the rally because she's tired of the war.

"I feel like the administration has just turned their head and continued to take vacations," she said. Cheney typically spends the month-long August recess in Jackson Hole. Love and others said they were displeased that Cheney would disrupt other people's time in the outdoors with his helicopters flying overhead.

In the last week, several teams of helicopters have been seen flying in formation over areas of Jackson Hole.

Jeff Brummer and Kate Walker were visiting their son in Wilson and decided to come to the rally.

"We have a long history of anti-war activism so it seemed like the right thing to do," Brummer, of Boston, said. "We're here in particular because I think Dick Cheney is a criminal in virtually everything he's touched or had involvement in, whether it's the war or economy or civil liberties."

Cindy Knight has a son in the military, who has served in Afghanistan. She came to the rally to make sure the voices of parents of military people are heard.

"I don't want him to lose his life in the Iraq war," she said.

Rally-goers held signs that said "Bush-Cheney, War Profiteers," "Feel safe yet? Violence breeds violence," and "At least the war on the middle class is going well."

The rally was organized by Farmer, Karen Hogan, a mother, and Jim Stanford, a writer and activist. At least one Jackson business closed early to allow its employees to attend the rally.

Reporter Whitney Royster can be reached at (307) 734-0260 or at royster@tribcsp.com.