HEROES ARE MADE … NOT BORN

 

Baxter

HEROES ARE MADE … NOT BORN

Topper

By Stephen L. Wilmeth

 

 

            HEROES ARE MADE … NOT BORN

                                              ~  J. R. Williams

            J. R. Williams taught us a lot.

            He was a genius in creating cowboy logic through the medium of a pencil sketch and normal conversation. He wasn’t a native-born Westerner, but he became one. He was from Nova Scotia and made stops that included boxing rings and machine shops before it was on to Arizona to be a cattle rancher. Most will say that Charlie Russel was the master of Western cartoonists, but the unique ability to create a marriage of a larger story within a single panel of graphite and words must accrue to Mr. Williams. Others have tried to describe it.

            … a font of artistry and inspiration as deep and personal as anything that drove Russel.

            I always smile at the humor and the deep insight of his work. To create those single pane masterpieces, one must have lived the scene rather than viewed it from the prism of imagination. They are consistent and individually brilliant.

            There is more to this story than art, though. It is the singlemindedness of a pursuit that transcends the endeavors of all others by the uniqueness of quest. Williams simply serves as the model of perfection that can be arrayed to make further comparisons. In this case, it leads into the portraits of two more Westerners. One is living and one has recently departed our ranges.

            Both are Aggies and graduates of New Mexico State University. Both grew up in Las Cruces, New Mexico. They were contemporaries and both reached pinnacles in very unlikely pursuits.

            Interestingly, neither was born in the West, but both were sons of the West … a place that once created such individuals en masse.

            Baxter

            Baxter Black always viewed his acceptance into the coterie of NPR elitism with a bit of incredulity. Cow sh*t and foie gras seem like odd companions, but Baxter made it work. He did it with intellectual humor of the grandest order.

            He was a cattle feeder, a cowboy poet, a columnist, a novelist, a barnyard philosopher, a publisher, that mentioned NPR commentator, always the former large animal vet, and a raconteur of highest standing. From the murmuring by the acequia bank to the corner of Broad and Wall, he rationalized the West.

            In the post-modern world of Will Rogers, Baxter told our stories with revealed candor and wit. A comment made recently in Progressive Cattle (in the story revealing his decision to retire), the young lady recalled the fundamental elements of his work revolving around music, booze, and horse trading. She recalled some of his words.

I had a party, It lasted 48 hours. I lost my socks, my dignity, two days of my life, six ping-pong balls and four pounds.

It got better from there.

The last time we saw him Bunk was trying to relate the story about his brilliant next of kin who loaded a full load of hay on a trailer without covered wheel wells. When he was next seen, the friction of the tires had lit the hay on fire. Meanwhile, Baxter was frantically trying to find something to record notes on that pending masterpiece. We found a piece of cardboard and left him writing left-handed upside down in his characteristic style. The story later appeared nationwide in a weekly column.

The December article announcing his retirement mentioned he had decided to hang up his spurs and put away his saddle. We can only hope that is a figurative suggestion rather than a literal one.

Old cowboys should stop riding only when they can’t get mounted.

Topper

Topper Thorpe was raised on a farm along Dona Ana Road. Today, the silo still sits there beside the house like it did when he was a kid. He and I talked about that the last time I saw him. That was last July at the Shelley reunion picnic along Mogollon Creek.

He talked about the craftmanship it took to build it and the work it required to unload it. Diligence was the byword.

That same word describes Topper and the career path he took to become one of the 50 most recognized and influential cattlemen of the 20^th Century. You could say that Topper created a whole new industry within an industry.

In 1968, he and another fellow were hired to start a new concept in cattle marketing and strategy. The work started by gathering a data base of market history. From there new concept metrics were captured. Ratios of meat quality, currentness of finished cattle, more accurate weather forecasts by region, and forecasts and prediction of all sorts of issues that affect the marketing of cattle was born.

CattleFax was born with it.

For over 50 years now, the company has been the global leader in beef industry research and analysis focused on technical information by and for the beef industry. Topper was the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer for over 30 years of that history. Everybody in the cow business knew CattleFax, and Topper was the guiding force. At national meetings, his spot on the agenda was always a highlight. His detailed presentations with no notes became famous. In 2001, he retired and moved back to New Mexico and the Gila Valley. For those 20 years, he devoted energy and leadership to water rights and its beneficial use.

On Wednesday, December 1, Topper was gone. He went home this time to permanence.

HEROES ARE MADE … NOT BORN

None of these men would lay claim to being a hero, but their unique paths took them where few are gathered. They made their way, and did it with aplomb and class. Williams could have chronicled their lives, but Baxter could have made it more earthy while Topper would have squeezed the last detail out of it.

All three are worthy of lofty recognition.

 

Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico.