"Tell me the mystery, won't you put a handle on my pony for me". Who and what is a vaquero Ian Tyson sings about and so many horsemen refer to as the way of the California Vaquero. Thirty years ago it really didn't matter so much to me, my ears didn't ring when I heard those words. About that time I needed to know how to make rawhide, so I could make a saddle with some of that pretty braided trim I had seen in an old Visalia Stock Saddle catalog from the early 1920's. I had no idea how important that term would become to me.
"You want to know how to make rawhide?" He answered, "well, the only one to talk to in these hills is Granny Martin". Well at the time I had not heard of her, I thought to myself. The man continued, " you can find him up on Japatul Road next to the county yard, he'll show you more about rawhide than you'll remember to learn". Oh I thought to myself, Granny is a man, shows how much I know, I'll have to look him up. So I did, but it took three tries to find him home. I learned right away there was a difference between Californios and "Texicans", they just did things different. He was referring to the way that ranch work was done, after all there is no other world to him but ranch life. Cattle and horses was all there was to live for except " old dogs and children and watermelon wine", just kidding.
You are going to be hearing a lot more about Granny Martin and the California Vaqueros since our continuing tour of the back country will be " Through the eyes of the old timers" as I try to share with you some of the greatness I was exposed to.
I did find him home on his ranch just south of Hwy 8 on Japatul road, he told me once that he always wanted to name the place Rancho Santa Gertrudis, but never did. We'll just continue referring to it as Granny's place, in fact that's what they call the museum that's' being worked on there, Granny's Museum. This is working out to be a great place to stage rides from, as the organization is very horse oriented and there are plenty of trails to connect with in the National Forest, and plenty of parking and overnight possibilities. For more information call me at the shop and stay tuned for more articles, as I will use this as a staging area, private and public.
Granny was the first and maybe the only true California vaquero I have been able to connect with and work under, as most are gone, many have referred to Granny as the Last Vaquero, and truly he was one of the last to practice the ways of old California ranching techniques. One of the first things he told me about was his saddle, a Visalia slick fork, centered fired, with a flat 5" cantle, round skirts ( before the pick up truck came along they used big pointed square skirts, but these would curl in the bed of the truck) and a big straight up horn with a 2 ½" cap that "you could find in the dark". He liked the full double Mexican style 3" stirrup leathers, overlaid on the sudaderos or sweat leathers, called fenders today. His stirrup was 2" inside a bulldog type tapadera, as the wings would drag in the heavy brush that covers so much of his country. If you can't follow all of this, I'll tell you more later. The boys from Texas rode a completely different rig, which I won't go into here, but the main difference was the double rig or two cinches. The rig Granny rode was very typical of the California rigs, found through out the state. Some of the less brushy regions would prefer the longer wing type tapaderas as they could be used to cue their horse or get a cows attention.
The California Vaquero was always a gentleman, as was the Spanish and Mexican before him. When introduced he would always remove his hat, especially to women, as to show respect. He was especially fond of the female gender as his name implies, he was a Vaquero or some one who takes care of the needs of a vaca, which is a female. He was not called a torero or someone who takes care of bulls, but he did that too and always with respect. In all his admiration he was eventually chaste and married to one woman for he new that it was always the cow that turned the herd. He was very much a family man and spent his time with them and not like the lone badass gunslinger of the silver screen. In his younger years he might have worked for a big outfit, but in time he would have his own place.
If he ever treated cows like they do in rodeos today, he would be finding someone else to work for. By using long reatas (rawhide braided lariats) he could handle his stock in a way that would keep them useful, longer and gentle them around rather that jerk 'em down. Now mind you they would get plenty of discipline if needed, but not if they didn't deserve it. His kids were handled the same and grew up with respect not only for the parents put for all.
He was always a man of his word, with honesty and integrity, it may be all he had, for he knew that a man without a name would end up a wanderer or hanging from a tree somewhere. As we continue our tour of the backcountry remember our guide, Granny Martin a true California Vaquero.
"Tell me the mystery, won't you put a handle on my pony for me". Who and what is a vaquero Ian Tyson sings about and so many horsemen refer to as the way of the California Vaquero. Thirty years ago it really didn't matter so much to me, my ears didn't ring when I heard those words. About that time I needed to know how to make rawhide, so I could make a saddle with some of that pretty braided trim I had seen in an old Visalia Stock Saddle catalog from the early 1920's. I had no idea how important that term would become to me.
