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Bud Sharpe was borne in 1927 near Battleford, Saskatchewan. From
the age of 10 he owned his own horses and by 15 had nearly a dozen. His first rodeo he
started with the cow riding and bareback riding and after quite a while he switched to
saddle broncs. He traveled to rodeos all through the US and Canada. In 1950 - 51 he
rode in Cody, Wyoming at the Buffalo Bill Show. "This was after Buffalo Bill ran out of
buffalo." says Bud. In 1958 he won the bronc riding in Coffeeville, Kansas and it
paid $710. $700 of that money bought his five acres in Cawston, BC. He turned from
bronc riding to judging the bucking horses as a PRCA judge. Bud
worked as a cowboy in Alberta for a year when he was 17 or 18 and in 1953 he worked as a
cowboy for the Douglas Lake Ranch. The ranch had a lot of young colts to ride and Bud was
sent out to the Springfield corral to break them. These corrals were a long way out and
there was no one around so Bud and his partner flanked these colts and bucked them out.
He said, "We needed the practice! I don't think management ever did hear about it."
When he was a kid he would find old saddles and overhaul them, not really knowing what
to do. He'd sent to Eaton's for his leather. One year in the US, Bud ordered a tree
because he needed a saddle for the next weekend. A friend owed him some money that
bought him some leather and sheep skin - the saddle was ready in time! |
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He has since
sold it four times and bought it back four times. When he needed money to build his house
he sold the saddle for $500 and bought it back a year later for $500. He then sold it
for $750 and bought
it back for $500. Sold it again for $950 and bought it back for $300. He sold that same
saddle the last time for $1700 and bought it back for $400. One year he made $11,000
on the rodeo circuit using that same saddle, so that saddle has made him good money!
Over the years Bud has made about 1200 saddles. One fellow in Pennsylvania ordered four
saddles. Some of his saddles have been sent to Texas, Colorado, California, and as far
away as Australia. Bud also makes a lot of chaps, panniers, saddle bags for horses and
motorcycles, and rodeo gear, rigging, and spur straps - anything out of leather. Today
rodeo is everywhere around Bud - in the saddle shop, in the horse corrals around the
farm, and in their home. Rodeo photos from Madison Square Gardens, the Los Angeles
Coliseum, and graceful bucking horses, highlight Bud's impressive career as a rodeo
contestant, judge, cowboy, and saddlemaker.
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Paul St Pierre
Born 1923 in Chicago, Paul was raised in Nova Scotia. He
was briefly in the Royal Canadian Air Force as aircrew trainee,
invalided out, and later trained as Merchant Navy radio operator.
He has been a newspaperman in British Columbia since 1945 and
has been a newspaper editor, columnist, politician, diplomat,
police commissioner and playwright.
Paul is renowned for his tales of ranchers and Natives in BC's
Cariboo region. His characters appear in a collection of
books such as "Boss of the Namko Drive, Breaking Smith's Quarter
Horse, Chilcotin Holiday, and Smith and Other Events". His
characters are the everyday legends and cowboys on which the
Canadian West is built.
His "Cariboo Country" CBC TV series launched the career of
Chief Dan George. Here's what Paul tells us:
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Cariboo Country has a way of living on half a century later
and I am quite proud of it. It was the early days of television
and the first of them were shot on what was called Kinescope
which was a three walled set (including pine trees) erected in
the television studios and shot in the hope they would look real.
Later we had real film and, of course, much later, the easy
digital systems of today which Cariboo Country never knew. The
series was unusual, I as the originator and sole author had
considerable power not known to script writers of today. I could
remove my name from any show presented which had been interfered
with unduly by CBC head office, whom we called "The Tittering
Virgins of Toronto". I used the authority once.
We were the first in North America, to my knowledge, to
use native Indians, now called First Nations and soon by
some other name, as actors acting themselves instead of
stereotypes. Tonto of The Lone Ranger was an Indian also
but nobody ever pretended that he was representing real
people as did Dan George, Leonard George, Nancy Sandy and
a score of other natives did on mine. There were two or
three series and I still hold copyright on all of them
except one which was sold to Disney who was unable to do
the job with millions of dollars that CBC actors had done
for $35,000 a copy. I repeat, $35,000 each, the price of
a half decent car. (I never saw the Disney one but mark
my word of it, it was lousy.)
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Cariboo Country was one of the most imaginative, innovative,
and evocative "series" ever broadcast by the CBC.
It appeared on the CBC from 1959-1967, and was among
the first Canadian television dramas to be filmed on location.
Paul St Pierre received the Western Writers of America
Spur Award in 1984, and the BC Gas Lifetime Achievement
Award in 2000.
Married twice with four children and eight grandchildren,
Paul is now partially retired with homes in Fort Langley,
BC, Big Creek in Chilicotin, and Teacapan in Sinaloa, Mexico.
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Anthony "Tony" Parrott
Antony Parrott (Tony) was born in England in 1928, immigrated
to Saskatchewan at the age of 19. He later travelled to
Kamloops with a friend, arriving with two dollars between
them. Tony found temporary work at the stockyards and the
rodeo. He worked for a number of ranches as a cowhand,
including Dog Creek Circle "S: Ranch, and managed the
Bridge Lake Hereford Ranch.
Most people know Tony, though, for his saddle making which
has been doing for over 54 years. Tony learned his craft
from Claude Mills of Kamloops. He set up his first shop
TP Traders, in 1952, in Williams Lake, borrowing money
to buy his first sewing machine (which he still has).
He later (in 1954) returned to Kamloops
where he bought out Bradley's Rocky Mountain Harness Shop.
He remained here for many years and was frequently involved in
organizing and volunteering at the rodeo.
There was a saying in Kamloops in those days, "If the
harness maker can't fix it, throw it out", because people used to
take anything, and everything, to Tony's shop to get fixed.
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Tony will acknowledge that many craftsman are better at
tooling leather than he is, but few are as good at crafting
a comfortable saddle. Tony's "seats" are praised as the
most comfortable there are. Tony says, "We do it the old way".
Tony is credited with a number of inventions and innovations
that have helped the cowboy, rider or cutter stay on and
be comfortable in the saddle. One of the most practical
creations is the three-strap breast collar which allows
horses to pull a hevy load and keep the rider in the saddle.
His original design, in consultation with Red Allison, was
made in 1952.
For about a year Tony wrote regular articles, "Parrott's
Picks" for Saddle Up Magazine - the first in the September
2005 issue. He wrote helpful hints and shared his knowledge
about saddlery, rigging, and more. At the end opf each article
this is what Tony wrote:
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My name is Tony Parrott and I am considered by many to
be a Master Saddlemaker and Harness Maker. My saddle shop
is the oldest shop in BC. It was started by Mr. Bradly in
1941 and I took over in 1954. After two years in my shop
in Williams Lake, a man came in and for my good fortune,
it was Claude B. Mills of Seattle, WA. He taught me the
fine art of making a working saddle or show saddle. Today
I continue the old style of the western cowboy's saddle
and I hope to explain in this column the how's and why's
of saddle making, fitting and use of the tack. My knowledge
and working with horses started in 1939. Special
acknowledgement to W.J. Bradly, Master Harness Maker,
and Claude B. Mills (2nd place Bronc Rider in the 1912
Calgary Stampede) Master Saddlemaker. I thank both of them
for the knowledge and expertise they have taught me.
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At over 79 years of age, Tony continues to craft fine saddles,
harness, and leather goods from his home on the Carlin Hill
Farm in Sorrento, BC.
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