Peanuts

As a young boy in western Pennsylvania I had grown up with horses but after we moved to Arizona I came in contact with a special horse, a palomino named Peanuts. The horse belonged to my uncle Jack who lived beside us in an adobe house. There were only two houses on Dorsey Lane where we lived in Tempe, Arizona. My grandmother and Custer and Clayton and Jack and Crystal all lived next door. Peanuts lived in the back pasture. We all rode him from time to time, of course Jack got to say who could ride him or not as it was his horse. I was a very good rider so Jack let me ride often. There is one ride that I will never forget. One day I went for a ride. Now our street was dirt and went from old Transmission Road to 4^th St. and then across to the river bottom. There were many trails through the brush where you could ride. I rode into the trail and went west. Now west would lead me past the Arizona State University Stadium. I rode along enjoying the day. I finally came to the back side of the buttes. Now, if you are familiar with the stadium in Tempe you know that there are two mountains called buttes between which the Stadium is located.  As I was coming to the first butte I decided to ride up it. Why I decided to do this I do not know but up I rode. It was a steep climb but I told you Peanuts was a remarkable horse. We came to the top and from my vantage point I could see that there was a football game going on down in the stadium which I could see very clearly. It seemed that they could see me also because all the people stopped watching the game and looked up to where I was. The game came to a stop as everyone was watching me. Now Peanuts was a trick horse and could, on command, do several tricks. While you were riding him he could bow and he could stand on his hind legs and rise in the air. I was wearing my cowboy hat that day so I commanded Peanuts to rise in the air by lifting the reigns high and tugging gently. I took my hat off and waved in the air. I seemed to have made a hit because everyone was on their feet and clapping. I wheeled Peanuts around and rode down the butte at breakneck speed.  The next day the Tempe Daily News ran an article about the mysterious Arizona cowboy.

Peanuts played a major part in my life on one other occasion. Life had become nearly unbearable at home. My stepfather’s drinking and carousing and then coming home and taking it out on his family became worse. He seemed especially hard on the eldest unloved child, which is how he viewed me I was sure.

 Now Jack and I often rode double. Normally on these occasions it was Jack who rode in front and I rode in back. Jack had somehow gotten himself into a peck of trouble, something about keys. ?? 

I’m not sure what it was all about but Jack and I formed a plan to run away and we would use Peanuts and ride north into the mountains to a town called Payson. From there we had not formed any kind of plan. Typical of young boys!

I had run away once before. It had become so oppressive at home in Pennsylvania that I ran away believing that no one cared about me at all. I hitch hiked from Oil City to Springfield, Missouri where upon the authorities apprehended me and held me until my parents came and got me. I know that it was my mother who was behind the search as well as I’m sure that my stepfather would have preferred that I never appeared again.   However, I will give him credit for bringing my mother to get me out of jail. In my own defense I was headed out west to Grandma and the family and had I been left alone would have made it all the way to Tempe, Arizona by myself. However, this time was very different I was being besieged from all sides and began to be confused. So one day, Jack and I rode off on Peanuts, with nothing but what we were wearing.

Riding north, Jack and I were mounted double. Remember, this is in Arizona where the temperature will reach 120 degrees in the summer, I’m sure it must have reached that or more that day. We would stop along the road under Palo Verde trees until we had cooled off enough to continue. Now I mentioned that we had taken nothing with us and that included water. Thanks to this remarkable horse under us we made it to the Verdi River. Peanuts, Jack and I dove right into the river and drank from it (of course it was not as polluted as it is now). We slept there in the cool of the river bank until morning.

We met a very kind cowboy, who was traveling by horse and had camped near us by the river. He invited us to have breakfast the next day. I think our hunger showed as we eagerly thanked him for breakfast. We mounted Peanuts and continued our journey north.  We continued up the road. However Peanuts, as valiant a steed that he was, began to tire out from carrying two riders for a long distance. We finally came to a small community called Sun Flower. On the right was a gas station and on the left was a ranch.

Jack and I talked it over and we decided to leave Peanuts there and continue on foot, or actually hitch hike to Pennsylvania. Jack went to the ranch and made arrangements to have Peanuts boarded there until someone came for him. He left the phone number of his mother and returned to me waiting by the road.