This week I was going through old pictures at my parent’s house. I found where I won my class spelling bee when I was in sixth grade. We had a school wide spelling bee the next month. It was the first Friday of the month, I remember that because the horse sale at Wister was always the first Friday of the month.
So when it came time for the spelling bee I didn’t tell my mom and dad I had a spelling bee competition. I asked if I could go to the horse sale with my great uncle, Clarence Haynes. Uncle Clarence, he liked to trade horses, cows, dogs, chickens, guns. He was fun to hang out with because he always was up to something.
I will never forget there was a black man that had a tack trailer every time there was a horse sale. The only name I knew for him was “Jackson.” He was always really nice to me and he would give me a good deal on something every time I went to his tack trailer, looking back I think he was just good to kids.
He always had “seconds” of piggin strings for five dollars a piece. For a young kid learning to rope calves that was the deal of a lifetime. Normally I’d have ten dollars, five for spending and five for eating in the concession at the sale barn. I still think the best cheeseburgers in the world came from the sale barn at Wister.
The next Monday when school started I was leery of my English teacher, Mrs. West. Her dad was Chief Steelman and Chief was at the horse sale. Chief and uncle Clarence sat on the front pew at Big Creek church. I just knew Chief told Mrs. West I’d skipped school to go to the horse sale. I figured she’d paddle me or at least give me a good scolding. She never said a word though, I just had to sweat it out for a few days.
I sure miss the horse sale, tack trailer and sale barn cheeseburgers. Finding that spelling bee certificate brought back a flood of memories. Gene Ward, Chief Steelman, Uncle Clarence, and so many others. I loved the sale barn and the thrill of buying something in an auction. I guess I still do. It was a good childhood that’s for sure.
James Lockhart lives near the Kiamichi mountains in southeast Oklahoma. He writes cowboy stories and fools with cows and horses.
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