"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."