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1940 - 1945
I was born and raised in Eastern Pennsylvania, spent my early years (late '40s early '50s) like most kids not doing anything of great importance, just being a kid. But I did have one advantage over most, my father and the family were into antique collecting, lots of household goods, if it was old they were interested. Yes, we had weapons, you name it and we had or did have it, guns of all types, armor, swords, knives, canons - early 1600's to WWII items. When our family they were one of the major purchasers at that auction or sale. That said I personally have had a lot of good and bad experiences dealing with antiques.
Fun Story (True) I was probably 5 or 6 years of age. My friends and myself would play "Cowboys and Indians" all the time. I had a single shot (toy) flintlock pistol while my friends have those chrome plated cap guns (Roy Rogers, Gene Autry) guns with the neat holsters and belts. I would ask by Dad several times a week for one of those rigs like my friends had. He would say "It's going to be a cold day in Hell before I buy a piece of junk like that", end of that story. Then one afternoon he went upstairs where all the guns were stored (forbidden area for kids). An hour went bye and he returned and handed me a for real 1849 Colt Pocket Revolver (non matching serial numbered gun) along with an old holster and a belt (he cut it down to fit me). Wow the real deal, then we went to the shop where he removed the nipples out of the Colt soldered the nipple holes shut reinstalled them and hanged me the revolver and three boxes of caps. I thought I was king of the hill until our first shoot out (first one to go down with only 5 shots when compared to those chrome revolvers with their rolls of caps). I didn't say anything, in my mind I was still "King on the Mountain" with my 1949 Colt Pocket Revolver.
Cars 1954
I got interested in vehicles at 13 - 14 years of age, ahead of my friends by a year or two. Lived next to a guy that drag raced all the time, did tune-ups and built engines for other racers (that was my first job after school and any free time I was at Bill Jenkins shop. After a short period the neighborhood was filing complaints about the noise coming from Bill's shop at late hours. These guys were testing their motors, cars, etc. on the street with burn-outs, etc. that got them some bad press. The shop was moved from Malvern to Berwyn PA to a Sunco gas station. My job now changed from "clean-up" to "keep those damn kids away from the customers cars". That was a full time effort, the kids would come in and buy $1.00 worth of gas then think they could hang out for several hours because they are a customer. I don't blame them with the cool vehicles sitting around for repairs or tunes, "Old Reliable" Chevy, "Tin Pontiac" from Detroit, "Tasci Ford" and many others. Fun times that lasted for 50 years of racing experiences. When I moved the first item was the race car security then the other belongings.
Spring 1965 - Moving to Colorado
At the start of this adventure I wasn't sure how things were going to work out as I had a comfortable life in Pennsylvania in the early years of childhood, nothing like what was going to be in my future.
We are pretty comfortable in our current locations, & wonder if moving to a new area will be a good idea whether its locally or across country? I have done some really risky moves when younger, one was moving to Colorado & having (7) locations to choose from, with the flip of a coin Denver CO wins out. That was an 1,800 mile drive with a wife expecting & not knowing where we would live or the possibility of finding work. We were crazy when young... Merida the new wife & now daughter find better pasture & I'm on my own. Work costs me a divorce because of never being home with a part time evening job & a full time day job, we were young & dumb !
1969 - I start racing cars and snowmobiles again, working lots of hours, holding several class records, and still find time to go shoot at the Elks Club or Fort Vasquez shoots. Met a guy at a parts house in Denver that lives in Loveland and knew a guy that races a '57 Chevy that lives in Ft. Collins, we go hunting together in the Poudre Canyon that fall. This is my first experience with being in the area.
1972 - I move on to a new job in Thornton as an Assistant Manager, a kid that works for us at the United Rental store knows a lady that was very nice. He asks if I would be interested in meeting her. We meet & seem to get along very nicely. Which leads becomes very serious after a while, Pat's family & myself all like each other. Turns out Pat has horse in La Porte Colorado near where I went hunting s few seasons before in the Fort Collins area. She decides she would like to move the horses to the family farm and save the boarding money, I have a new 1972 Ford F150 pickup so we get a trailer and haul the three horses to Masonville. We start dating regularly & decide to get married on my birthday in 1973.
Moving to the Buckhorn Canyon
1973 - Pat and I get married on my birthday, like they say - "I can always remember my birthday". Live in her mobile home in Thornton, I get a job with Pat's help at Mountain Bell, work in Arvada. Still keep job at Central Equipment, as the phone job is too easy and I figure it won't last, do this for several months then quit Central.
Go with a friend of her brother's and her brother Flip deer hunting in Red Feather have a good time, they're not very good at it, must be new to hunting. Flip took a 700 yard shot at a running deer and didn't even knew what sex it was, this is not cool guys.
Moved trailer to old family farm that has not been worked or lived on, other than trespassers for twenty years, lots to clean up after trailer is set. Masonville is a small one horse town, but the hunting is good, have to drive back and forth to work, 75 miles one way.
While working on this location one afternoon in the early Spring of 1973 Dwain Thompson "Trapper Tom" shows up dressed in buckskins and carrying a Hawken half-stock percussion rifle made by GRRW [Green River Rifle Works] being sold outside of Boulder CO in a small town called Nederalnd CO. He asks if I would like to shoot his newest rifle, "darn straight - I would love to". I had shot a lot of original muzzle-loaders when still at home, mostly military from the Rev War to Civil War. This was the first fur trade era firearm, reproduction or original. Between us we each shot a few rounds as it brought all the neighbors from a half mile away to take their turn at playing. What a fun afternoon, we didn't get much done but that experience was well worth doing.
FUN STUFF - this is really interesting: Believe it or not "Trapper" still has the receipt from Greg Roberts along with (4) canceled checks for payments on the purchase of his GRRW Hawken. He had first read the article on this company in the "Buckskin Report" in 1972 then contacted Greg and placed an order. The gun was brought from Roosevelt UT to Greg's house in Nederland CO & Trapper was contacted. Trapper made his first payment in April 1973 of $100, followed by two more $100 payments & a final payment of $26 for bullet mold, ramrod & an extra front sight.
Trapper Tom
Trapper Tom & myself decide to start a muzzleloading/buckskinner club, the "Buckhorn Skinners" was born in the summer of 1973 while sitting on the front porch of the small homestead cabin on the property. Trapper had a few friends that were interested & I had mentioned the idea to some of the guys at the phone company, all were in agreement about a club.
We decided to get everyone together & talk about what was in everyone's mind. A meeting was scheduled here on the property at the little homestead. My father & myself had just put a new floor in the building & painted the inside, so its clean for what we had planned.
NOTE: Dwain "Trapper Tom" Thompson is one of the finest men I have ever known, better than any relation you may have & always makes himself available when needed. This is one of those "NO SHIT" moments for folks you know or will ever know.
A little Chance / Mansfield Family History
Pat & her mother tell me about her grandfather John Mansfield & the interesting life he lived. John as a young man moved to Colorado Territory (not sure what year) with his family from the East. As a young man he worked in the Ft. Collins area, finally getting a job with Joseph Alfred "Jack" Slade a freighting teamster and wagon master along the Overland Trail route of the Central Overland, California & Pike’s Peak Express Co.
John Mansfield and Joseph Alfred Slade
In the 1860's Slade took a liking to this young lad in his early teens making him a stable hand. Once Jack saw John's ability to handle a team of horse he was given the job as a stage driver either going to Cheyenne or Laramie Wyoming on a weekly schedule. The local law was having problems with stages being robbed & noted that none of the stages driven by Mansfield were held-up. Seems that Slade liked John & knew what a temper he had figuring he would not be robbed without a fight thus scheduling on the runs with no cash boxes.
Slade became a stagecoach division superintendent along the Central Overland route for Hockaday & Co. (1858–59) & its successors Jones, Russell & Co. (1859) & Central Overland, California & Pike’s Peak Express Co. (1859–62). With the latter concern, he also helped launch and operate the Pony Express in 1860-61. While division superintendent, he shot and killed Andrew Ferrin, one of his subordinates who was hindering the progress of a freight train, in May 1859. At the time, shooting deaths of this kind in the West were rare and Jack Slade's reputation as a "gunfighter" spread rapidly across the country. In March 1860 Slade was ambushed and left for dead by Jules Beni, the corrupt station keeper at Julesburg, Colorado, whom Slade had removed. Slade remarkably survived, and in August 1861 Beni was killed by Slade's men after ignoring Slade's warning to stay out of his territory. Slade's gang "The Hole In The Wall Gang" were finally caught or killed, Slade escaped & headed west. During a drunken spree in he was lynched by local vigilantes on March 10, 1864, for disturbing the peace in Virginia City, Montana. He was buried in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 20, 1864. Salt Lake Terbium July 22, 1864.
Once Slade was on the run Mansfield was cleared of any wrong doing & moved on looking for work. Being known for not backing down if there was a fight he was hired by the Laramie Sheriff as a deputy. That lasted only a few moths when on the 4th of July the Mayor got out of hand after being thrown out of several bars in town. John was called & when taking the Mayor in hot him on the head with a sawed-off shotgun. In time the Mayor & a few of his friends got John fired because of his rough handling of the locals. Trouble seemed to follow Mansfield in his younger years; one riding near La Port Colorado he met an old friend riding a fancy Tennessee Walker, pretty fancy horse for those parts. Only traveling a few miles the Sheriff catches up with them & they are arrested for stealing the fancy horse. At the trail everyone knew john for his honesty & he was allowed to sit out feeding the squirrels while the jury heard the case. John was cleared of all charges, while his friends went to trail as a horse thief & was hanged.
When John went to a rest home in his later years, the family thought this probably wouldn't go well? Upon visiting they couldn't find John, when asked if anyone knew were he was an attendant said "he's in the lunch room wafting for "bingo" to start." He would be there an hour early & excited about the game. When asked how he liked living there he replied "this place is something, they feed yaa & they even wash my clothes", that was a pretty neat thing according to him. Lot's of stories about Pat's grandfather Mansfield.
Pat's mother was one of thirteen children in her family, looks like John would have been kept busy feeding that many & keeping a roof over their heads. Hard times ......
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A few colorful characters along the way...
Dud Watson was a fun guy to talk to, first time I met him he was in the middle of a fight with another neighbor Ben Milner over irrigation water. Seems Ben was taking Dude's water & the war was on with Dude taking a swing at Ben with an irrigation shovel, just missing Ben's nose. Water Right's were a big deal on the Buckhorn & things got real serious like in this situation. After Dude got to know me, we would have some really neat times with him telling about hunting in the Buckhorn Canyon.
Dud, Ben, Cal Carter & several others came to this area as young kids in covered wagons (before vehicles came on the seen). These there had lots of good hunting stories about this place. Cal said they had been cutting firewood when several elk came near where they were working. "Can't let good meat go bye, we shot them & loaded them on the truck under the firewood."
Stopped at the Masonville store to get gas & here comes the game warden. We talk for a few minutes then he says "you better get that truck home before it bleeds to death" never got a ticket.
Lots of stories like this, fun information ... good example is the picture shown. Dude said "we were bringing cattle down to winter pasture when we came across a herd of elk. You never let something like this pass." As the picture shows there are several elk in the wagon & several deer on the horses. This was a month before hunting season. All the meat was dropped off at neighbors before they got to Masonville.
Both Dud & Ben along with Pat's dad told us of how cold it would get that game animals hides would freeze on them before they could get them skinned. Another neighbor Cal Carter said that "vice grips" were the best invention they had seen in years, great for pulling the frozen hides off deer & elk. Fun stuff to someone like me ...
Dud Watson & Ben Milner would come to our home & tell stories of living in the Buckhorn Canyon. There's a recorder sitting on a shelf & we're to dumb to turn it one. !@#$%^
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I recieve monthly emails from several of the customers/friends of our old store reminding me of different events that happened at this meeting place. Some fun others sad, but we all shared our problems, that's how this place was a family - that's what it was all about, friendships.
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Last edited by Hiverano on Wed Jan 19, 2022 10:53 am; edited 2 times in total
