"Our Forever Blacksmith," from the estate of Merle Little, Monrovia/Duarte, California

 As I work my way through the hundreds of photographs and other items from the estate of Monrovia/Duarte horseman Merle Little, I see evidence of just how horsey a place Southern California used to be, and the diversity of skilled workers who supported local horse owners and riders in the San Gabriel Valley in the twentieth century.

For some reason, Merle had saved two old horseshoes. They are old, heavy (just under a pound apiece), and seem to have belonged to a smallish equine. Each shoe is only about 4 inches wide and less than 5 inches long. A blacksmith had added small pieces of metal near the toe of each shoe.

I wonder if farrier John Baker made these horseshoes? The Monrovia Daily News-Post ran an article on him on June 9, 1951, along with a photograph of Baker, Merle Little, and one of Merle's horses. Merle had dozens of horses, ponies, donkeys, and even some hinnies (a cross between a male horse and a female donkey) at his El Rancho Poco over the years.

The photo caption tells is that Baker traveled around in his 1936 Chevrolet, "a blacksmith shop in itself," visiting the Monrovia/Duarte area on Wednesdays. The caption asks the reader to "note the fire in the back of the car." 

The accompanying short article says John Baker lived in Montebello, where he also had boarding stables for horses, and had "more work all told than the blacksmith can handle."

A color photograph from the Merle Little estate also shows us John Baker at work. 

On the back of the picture, someone wrote "John Baker, August 4, 1971" and "our forever blacksmith."  Merle's daughter Marlene had carefully stored the print in a green file folder labeled "Dad's Buddies." 

"A Western Catalog for Western People": Montgomery Ward & Co., Oakland, California, Fall & Winter 1928-1929

On a recent trip to the Bay Area, I went into an antique store and came across an original copy of the 1928-29 Montgomery Ward catalog. I had a few minutes to spare, so I leafed through the pages that showed the horse-related items could purchase from Wards through the mail.

Knowing that some readers of this blog are interested in the evolution of tack, I took some photos of the catalog page showing several kinds of Western saddles. Many of them could be stamped with the rider's initials or ranch brand design.

The saddles were not inexpensive; $20 in 1928 would be about $350 in 2022 terms.

The first saddle on the catalog page was called the "Northwest Range." It sold for $44.75, or $49.25 if you paid in installments. 

The "Eagle" Western saddle was more expensive, at $59.75. It came with either squared or round skirts; the round skirts could be stamped with a design.

At $24.75 (cash only), the "Western" saddle was a lower-priced model saddle, a lightweight 14 pounds.

Montgomery Ward & Co. did not neglect the needs of younger riders. A red leather "Handsome Pony Saddle and Bridle" came in two sizes.

Here's what I was really hoping to see: a western "Women's Astride Saddle;" $18.45, and it too could be customized with the initials of the rider or the ranch brand design.

An "Army Type Saddle" (saddle tree, actually) could be had for only $9.95.

A $16.95 (cash only) embossed saddle was marketed to "Young Men and Boys."

For very small riders, the catalog offered rocking horses and stick horses.

And looking ahead to Christmas 1928, the Wards catalog Santa recommended "Brown Beauty," a felt "skin" over papier-mache horse on wheels, about 11 inches high. It's nice to know that people got model horses for Christmas almost a hundred years ago.

Labor Day Equestrian Events at the Rose Bowl, 1933-1934

In their silver parade regalia:
Thunder, Merle Hartley Little, and Patch, early 1930s

The photo collection from the estate of Monrovia/Duarte horse rancher Merle Little is a gift that never stops giving. Many photos in the collection show us the importance of equestrian activities as a "draw" to get people to attend large public events.

Merle was part of an Orange County riding group called the El Rodeo Club, and a member of the Los Angeles and Monrovia Sheriff's Posses; he headed up equestrian activities for local festivals in Monrovia and Duarte for many years. 

Since I'm writing this on Labor Day, I thought it would be interesting to share a couple of images of equestrian Labor Day events at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena during the Great Depression. It almost goes without saying that many people were out of work during the Depression, and employment and workers' rights were on many people's minds back then. 

The 1933 event, billed as an "Oklahoma Stampede and Wild West Rodeo" combined with "Thrills of the Air." It must have been something to see. Motion picture flying stunt men and National Guard airmen above, and horses and riders below. The event was staged in cooperation with the Los Angeles Central Labor Council and Pasadena Labor Council; it benefited the Mt. Sinai Home for Chronic Invalids in Boyle Heights. 35,000 people attended.

Los Angeles Times, 5 September 1933

 

Edna May and Merle Little rode their Pinto horses at the 1933 Stampede and Rodeo. In this photo, Merle, on the right, is carrying the banner of the El Rodeo Club. Edna May appears to be riding Thunder, and Merle, Patch.

The 1934 Labor Day rodeo and wild west show at the Rose Bowl was sponsored by the California State Federation of Labor. It featured some of the top rodeo riders in the country.  Proceeds from the 1934 rodeo benefitted the annual convention of the Federation, held later the same month. 

Los Angeles Daily News, 6 August 1934

Los Angeles Evening News-Record, 29 August 1934

It was attended by several members of Hollywood's elite, according to the Los Angeles Evening Post-Record:

Los Angeles Evening News-Record, 29 August 1934

Edna May and Merle, fourth and fifth from left, posed along with other riders at the 1934 event. Merle is riding the tall Pinto Thunder; Edna May appears to be riding another Pinto, called Lightning, whose markings are different than Patch's (above).

A reported 7,000 people marched in a parade alongside several floats at this event.

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Here's a link to information on the Mt. Sinai Home for Chronic Invalids, at USC's invaluable Scalar site: https://scalar.usc.edu/hc/jewish-histories-boyle-heights/mt-sinai-hospital-and-clinic-bikur-cholim-society

The Fiesta Invitation's in the Mail: Western Art by Ed Borein

Merle and Edna May Little participate in the
1935 Old Spanish Days Fiesta Parade in Santa Barbara.

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to visit the Santa Barbara Historical Museum with friends. I spent a lot of time looking at the permanent Ed Borein Gallery, as well as the special exhibit "Project Fiesta!"

Ed Borein (1872-1945) was one of the few Western artists of the 19th and 20th century actually born in the Western United States. The Santa Barbara Historical Museum website summarizes his life and career (link to the website below):

...As a young man he roamed the western states and territories and much of Mexico, working as a cowboy and using his artistic talent to record these experiences. Developing a deep affection for the West, and nurtured by his free lifestyle as a cowboy, he soon became known as a facile and spontaneous recorder of cowboy and Indian life.

In his early thirties Borein decided to pursue a career as a professional artist and moved to New York City, where his studio soon became a favorite haunt for important figures such as Will Rogers, Charles M. Russell, Carl Oscar Borg and Buffalo Bill Cody.

Borein returned to his native California, married, and set up a permanent studio in Santa Barbara in 1921. His etchings, watercolors, and drawings quickly earned him a reputation as one of the foremost interpreters of the American West, and few artists have done so as accurately and skillfully as Borein.

"Ed Borein, the cow-puncher artist,"
San Francisco Call, 30 September 1900.

Apparently it was a tradition for the Fiesta to send out invitations to participants illustrated by Borein. This one, from 1933, is in another scrapbook that's part of the collection of the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. (It's under glass in the Museum, thus the glare from the overhead indoor lights.)

This is a photograph of the 1933 Fiesta invitation. It's in the collection
of the Santa Barbara Historical Museum.

Parades are one of the many ways humans use horses to build community connections. By 1935, the Santa Barbara Fiesta Parade was such an important equestrian event that the Pasadena Tournament of Roses committee agreed to refrain from making horses a major feature of the annual New Year's Day parade, "conceding that Santa Barbara's Old Spanish Days fiesta remains the State's outstanding equine parade," according to a story in the Los Angeles Times.

Los Angeles Times, 20 January 1935

In an earlier post, I mentioned that Monrovia/Duarte horse rancher Merle Little kept a large scrapbook during the 1930s and '40s. It's full of newspaper clippings, photos, letters, Christmas cards, horse show programs, and other things related to horses and riding. Merle, often accompanied by his wife Edna May and sometimes by their daughters, took part in a wide variety of public events -- parades, rodeos, stock shows, trail rides -- all over Southern California, riding their Pinto and Morgan horses.

One of the most unique things Merle saved was an invitation to participate in the 1940 Old Spanish Days Fiesta Parade in Santa Barbara. It wasn't glued to a page, but rather just lying loose inside the large journal Merle used as a scrapbook. It, too, featured an Ed Borein illustration.

Many of the riders who received such invitations to take part in the annual Fiestas rode their horses to Santa Barbara, a journey which could take several days. Here's a photo from the Los Angeles Times of part of a group of 150, including some children, who made the trek from Los Angeles County to Santa Barbara in August 1940. When they got to Ventura, they were met by a party of 100 riders from Santa Barbara who finished the ride with them.

Los Angeles Times, 12 August 1940

One of the reasons for the ride, according to the Times story, was to promote the idea of an equestrian trail from San Diego to Santa Barbara.

I don't see photos, clippings, or other information in the scrapbook indicating whether he was able to attend in 1940. But a photo album from his estate contains an image of Merle, on the left, and his wife Edna May, on their Pinto horses in the 1935 Fiesta Parade.

The riders are identified in the photo as, left to right: Merle Little, Edna May Little, Russell Cotton, Leo E., and Mildred E. I don't have information yet on the last three.

Newspaper articles said a thousand horses had been expected to take part in the 1935 Fiesta Parade.

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The Santa Barbara Historical Museum's Ed Borein Gallery is well worth seeing. This link provides information on the artist and many examples of his art.  

https://www.sbhistorical.org/borein-2

Western Horseman magazine did an article on Borein in 2018:  

https://westernhorseman.com/culture/out-west/roping-with-ed-borein/

Here's a link to the History of the Fiesta: 

https://www.sbfiesta.org/history-santa-barbara-fiesta

And here's the Santa Barbara News-Press article on "Project Fiesta!"  

https://newspress.com/project-fiesta/?fbclid=IwAR3bNtGCpWVgF_nDzhxOEHectKMfgUo2yp2AT21P2Gi0rEVPgEsZ8URVG5I