I reached in & pushed the pawl against the wheel but it would not stay put & I also turned the yoke both ways to try to get it to stay to no avail. what is my next move?

It's not supposed to stay, it's spring-loaded. Once you push it in and the output shaft locks, the pawl is free to move out of the way when you insert the Park rod.

Alright I will get after it again but I dont think it's gonna go in from my efforts yesterday. If it wont this time I think I will take the rod off & do without Park which I can get by with on a stock car. But I will give it a concentrated effort tomorrow. I am still missing/not grasping something.

Here's a graphic of the park mechanism, maybe this will be clearer.

Thanks John for the extra attention, I will dig in & see what I can get done. You're the man, as always!