So long Will!

I was saddened to hear that my friend Will Chandler passed away recently. Will was a man of many talents, years ago he was my editor when I wrote for Silver Magazine, he was a one time curator of Decorative Arts at the SDMA and he was a top notch appraiser.

Basically he was a walking encyclopedia with an incredible breadth of knowledge in all matters. Will was a brilliant guy with a dry wit and a love for cats and flowers along with a million other things.

Will was a Berkeley grad. I think he once mentioned that he belonged to Subud. He was an excellent writer and editor.

A friend of his found my name in his rolodex and called to tell me the sad news. I don't have any details.

Will was proud to say that he came from western stock. His father was a cowboy born in Oregon and raised in Wyoming.

I had a rare rodeo etching I shared with him and received this note from him a while back that I found interesting:

The rodeo competition event of bulldogging originated as a novelty performance by a black cowboy in Wyoming at Cheyenne Frontier Days, circa 1916. It later became a competition, but modified by the young white competitors, who chose not to being their steers down by biting them on the upper lip, as the originator did. I’m blanking on his name as write this, to my sorrow.

I grew up knowing that story because my father, Al Chandler (1909-2001), was born in Oregon but raised from the age of 11 in Cheyenne. As his widowed mother was often ill, one of his guardians was Charles Hersig, founder of the Wyoming Hereford Ranch, where my dad spent most of his teens. Dad became a prize winning roper, and continued to compete in the circuits after he began work as a telephone lineman and wire chief for Mountain Bell in Casper.

Your comment about a nice loop inspired me to share this photo of him taken at the Las Vegas, New Mexico rodeo in 1938, age 29. Also a helluva nice loop, which the brahma calf hasn’t even noticed as he runs through it. Dad pointed out to me that he trained his horses (this was one of about 10 he owned at that time) to sit down for the impact as soon as he threw the loop. The knot is visible and positioned to throw the calf upside down, ready for the piggin string. Charlie Bennett, a childhood friend of my dad’s with a third generation ranch near Laramie, surprised him with this long forgotten photo as a Christmas present in 1988.

Cheers,

Will