Little does he know I got one for him
I'm kidding of course, this lovely piece of history is much too old and fragile to go on any horse again.
Interestingly enough I bought this in a little second hand store a few weeks back for 40 dollars. It came from the Dale Stiles Farm. Dale Stiles was a pretty big saddle bronc rider back in the late 40's and early 50's. He later when on to teach at Casper College and was responsible for putting together the Casper College T-birds Rodeo team. You can read a little about that in a an old Western Horseman article I found on line. You have to read the whole article though, because he is not mentioned until the end.
I am not sure if Mr. Stiles is still alive or not, but I was told that his family is tearing down the old barn from his place and they have taken all the cool little things out of it to sell off. There were many other wonderful pieces at the store from the Stiles Ranch, that I would have liked to have bought, but since I am still trying to keep ahead of the vet bills, decided against it. The other piece I really wanted was the harness collar that went with this. I'm hoping I can still get it later on. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed! There was also a pretty cool pen and ink drawing of Dale, done by one of his students, I would have liked it as well. It wasn't an amazing piece of artwork (although nicely done for sure) as much as it was a great little piece of history.
In my eyes, preserving history is so important. Even if it is just in the form of an old bridle, a drawing done by a grateful student, or a harness collar.
That's awesome!! It's funny you said how important it is to you to preserve history, because the first thing I thought of when you said that they were selling all his things was how upset i would be if my family sold my things that held memories and stories in them! But if someone bought something and actually appreciated it, I would be happy for that!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. I kind of felt the same way when the lady told me the story. But then I have to put myself in their shoes, you can only drag around so much of your families "stuff" so you have to eventually make some choices of what is important to keep and what isn't. I'm hoping that these are just the left overs and that they kept the really important items. Also, at least they didn't throw it away.
DeleteMy dad is going through a similar problem with his parents home. It is a great big house in Shreveport, and there is so much stuff there. Having to sort out and decide what is important to keep and what isn't is really hard.
Could not agree more about preserving history. You must feel so lucky every day to be in the thick of the old wild west. Oh, Wyoming, there is not too much of it that is not beautiful. I confess, I am in love with your Ranch Bred Paint! Perfect part of your herd.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice here in WY, except when the wind blows, or when you are in need of some state of the art vet care, but I love the small town feel of it here.
DeleteI love my paint too. He is my pride and joy!