Ranch owner hosted rodeo for youngsters

Mountain Moments

By Dwight Barnes

(Updated: Wednesday, April 02, 2008, 5:39 PM)

With spring in the air, it's about time to think of picnics. There are, of course, all types of picnics -- maybe just a romantic couple, or a family gathering together from hither and yon or a group of neighbors or community folk meeting to renew old acquaintances and celebrate the end of winter.

When in April, 1974, he was visiting with oral history interviewers from Sierra Historic Sites Association, the late Bill Ryan, who spent his entire life on a ranch on which he was born at Hildreth, told of a special celebration held along about Easter time each year.

It all started along about 1930 when Ryan launched a rodeo at his ranch for young people.

"It was here that local youngsters learned their skills roping and bulldogging, some to go on to world championship rodeo honors," Ryan said with pride. The rancher mentioned that Johnny Jones, the Coarsegold resident who became known nationally as a high Sierra guide and mule expert, had learned his first cowboy skills at the kid rodeos. There were no admission charges, no entry fees for contestants and Ryan and his wife Faustina fed everyone barbecue too.

These rodeos ultimately evolved into a community wide play day and rodeo for people of all ages. They went on for about a decade until success proved too much. Attendance soared more than the 1,000 mark, drawing from all over Northern California. It became too much and rather than commercialize or formalize the event, it was halted.

As the play day expanded so did the programs. Shoot outs were reenacted featuring a four-horse stage that had been resurrected from some place. In the archives of SHSA's Fresno Flats Historic Research Library is an interview done in 1974 in which Ryan told the story of one such event.

"Jim Douglas always drove the stage," Ryan recalled. "We wanted him to drive really fast. Jess Ward and I would get on each side of the lead because the horses weren't very well broke. Jim didn't know it, but we had a black mare that we put in there. We broke her the day before just driving around the yard here on (pulling) a sled."

The shotgun guard on the stage was Arthur Renfro and Jim Douglas' daughter helped Ward and Ryan protect the stage from outlaws. All the rest of the participants -- Ryan mentioned Leo McDougald, Henry Ward and Virgil Anderson -- and all the neighbors were the outlaws.

When the outlaws came down off the hill, they held up the stage and "hung" the shotgun guard. The Lone Ranger, portrayed by Ralph Welton, and Tonto, Pinky Bethel, came to the rescue. A trip wire had been rigged so that the "hanging" shotgun guard, who was in a harness, could be freed when the Lone Ranger supposedly split the hangman's rope in a single shot.

"Dick, my boy, was supposed to pull a wire and cut the rope on which the guard was being hung," Ryan explained, "but Dick was watching the team because one of the horses got his foot caught in the doubletree. He forgot to pull the wire and Renfro just turned around."

With the stage guard twisting in the wind, so to speak, the Lone Ranger shot a second time with the people all hunched down as if he was using real bullets. As it was, it was left to Tonto to ride up and "rescue" the guard.

On another occasion, Ryan recalled that a fellow by the name of Red Morris, dressed like a woman with a big bonnet, was riding in the back seat of the stage. A big black cow had been put in the chute for bulls. Morris got out of the stage, walked calmly over to the chute, climbed over and on to the cow. When they turned them out of the chute, everyone thought it was a woman riding that cow.

Every year, Ryan said they tried something different. In their day, they must have been some picnics.