Merle Little and His Horses at Monrovia Day Celebrations, 1924-1940

Photographs from the estate of Monrovia/Duarte, California horse rancher Merle H. Little (1906-1975) provide us with a clear image of the importance of the horse in Southern California life from the 1920s to the 1970s. 

Nowhere is this more evident than in Merle's collection of pictures from public celebrations such as parades. A good example of the horse-human connection comes from photos of the annual Monrovia Day, held in May of each year. Specifically, we'll look at images of the parade and horse shows from 1924 to 1940. 

Merle was one of the go-to horsemen, when it came to riding in and/or organizing equestrian events like parades in Monrovia and Duarte. Parades, horse shows, rodeos, trail rides, and other events brought Merle closer to people inside and outside his own community. 

"Before the Parade," 1924. Merle is on the white horse on the right.

 Monrovia Day, May 17, 1924

"Mounted Section, Monrovia Day" 1925.
Merle put his initials "MHL" with an indicator of his position in the lineup. 

In 1933, Merle made a trip to Pomona, to secure a couple of W. K. Kellogg's famous Arabian horses for the Monrovia Day Parade and Horse Show (also called the Pioneer Day Parade). 

Eleanor Williamson rode her own Arabian Kirah (Domoude x Sankirah), a 1925 chestnut mare.

Gladys Brown rode the prize-winning mare Valencia (Hanad x Dahura), a chestnut mare foaled in 1926. (And yes, she was later author and artist Gladys Brown Edwards, one of the preeminent authorities on the Arabian horse of the 2oth century.)

Monrovia Day 1934 found Merle Little having a professional photo made of himself and his Pinto horse Apache.

Merle on one of his well-known Pinto horses;
Merle spelled his name Apache or "Apatche"

Monrovia Day, May 1934

In 1934 and 1935, Merle was in charge of organizing a horse show at Ivy Field as part of the Monrovia Day celebration. He saved photos of the 1935 event.

At the Monrovia Day Horse Show in 1935,
we see Merle on one of his Pinto horses
at the far left of this photo.
The loudspeakers bear the words "Standard Oil California."

Some of the horses and riders at the 1935 Monrovia Day Horse Show

Not having a camera to shoot a panoramic photograph of the more than 200 horses and riders who participated, Merle pieced together a composite of three photos in his album.

That is a LOT of horses and riders for a horse show in a small city. The snapshots are grainy, but we can see just how impressive the lineup was for the 1,500 people who attended the Horse Show. 

We can see the loudspeakers in the lower right-hand corner of the third photo.

In 1940, Merle and his Pinto stallion Tesoro took part in the Monrovia Day morning parade. The Monrovia News-Post promoted the participation of Tesoro and other Pintos and their riders. Left to right we see former Monrovia mayor A. J. Little, Merle's father, riding Merle's longtime mount Thunder; R. J. Courtwright, Willis Whiter, and Merle on Tesoro. (The paper got Tesoro's name and gender wrong; he was a stallion.)

William Boyd, better known to filmgoers as Hopalong Cassidy, and his horse Topper substituted for another well-known horseman/actor, Leo Carillo, as Grand Marshal of the 1940 parade. 

Merle and Tesoro were part of the Mounted Guard in the first division of the parade. Tesoro is wearing the silver-mounted tack created by Merle.

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Merle Little and Gladys Brown Edwards worked together again in the 1940s, when she designed her "Parade Morgan" trophy and bookend:

https://californiahorsehistory.blogspot.com/2021/04/all-together-now-parade-morgan-bookends.html