Cowboy John was fascinated with horses. From a very young boy he was fixated on horses, but his family lived in pig-farming country, Indiana. No horses, no cowboys. Sometime he knew, though, he’d have to have horses.
Fast forward—1945 World War II is over, the family moves out West!
At a medical convention Dr. George Collett had met Dr. Leslie Moren who convinced him to move his family from Indiana to Nevada. Ruth, George, daughter MaryAnne, and son John, packed and began the move. Dr. George would join other MD’s, Leslie Moren, Tom Hood, his father, and George Manilla to start the Elko Medical Clinic and, later, The Elko General Hospital in town.
One of the Doctor’s patients had a ranch north of town on the way to Idaho, so one day the doctor asked, “Could I bring John out to your place to see a real ranch? “Of course, Doc,” said Golden Hyde. You drive out any day you want.”
One of the Doctor’s patients had a ranch north of town on the way to Idaho, so one day the doctor asked, “Could I bring John out to your place to see a real ranch? “Of course, Doc,” said Golden Hyde. You drive out any day you want.”
So the summer of 1946, three Colletts, Dr. George, Ruth, and John drove north out of Elko to Roland, Idaho, and that day the Hydes, Bertie and Golden, asked if six-year-old Johnny could stay the whole summer!
So the summer of 1946, three Colletts, Dr. George, Ruth, and John drove north out of Elko to Roland, Idaho, and that day the Hydes, Bertie and Golden, asked if six-year-old Johnny could stay the whole summer!
Every Fall then, after summer at the ranch, Bertie and Golden would bring John and Tramp, (by then John had his own horse, a black mustang taken from the Diamond A desert between Idaho and Nevada) back to town before school so they could ride in the Fair parade and take part in “Town Class” in the center ring during the Elko County Fair. John and Tramp won many small gold cups over the years from competing in the center ring and riding in the parade. Tramp loved “showing off” in the parade just as much as partner, John.
After summers on the ranch and the Glaser Ranch outside Elko, and graduation from Elko High School, because of his father’s faith in a liberal education, John headed for the College of Idaho in Caldwell where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. It was at the College of Idaho that he met and married Janice Haagensen.
At the College, John majored in Science, with classes from Dr. Lyle Stanford, Dr. Pat Packard, Dr. Robert Bratz, and Frank Specht. Those were the years of Doc Stanford’s field trips with the Science Club out of the classroom, face-to-face with Idaho’s Snake River country, geology and plant life, Idaho’s Snake River volcanic country. John went on the Field Trip to Mexico organized by Dr. Stanford and Dr. Bratz in 1960. He also lettered in track, running the low hurdles with the “Yotes” Track Team three years of his four at the college, and was a member of the men’s fraternity.
Following graduation John spent four years in the Navy as a quartermaster, much of which aboard the Destroyer, USS Rowan, DD 782 dry-docked in Philadelpia, and in the Tonkin Bay off the coast of Vietnam. He began his life insurance career with the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company in the John Q. Ryan Insurance Agency in hometown Elko, and three boys Gregory, Nathan, and Daniel were born to him and Janice in Elko.
He was chairman of the Elko Centennial Pony Express reenactment in 1969, a member of Elko JCs, the First Presbyterian Church, and the Elko Lions Club.
In 1973 Janice and John left Elko for Reno to work with The Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company of Springfield, Massachusetts. He was a District Agent for MassMutual, a member of the Million Dollar Roundtable, named several times Agent of the Year for the Nevada Insurance Agency, President of Reno Life Underwriters, member of the Life Underwriters Training Council, and President of the Reno Lions Club.
In 1989 the family returned to Elko, where John continued life insurance and, during the Elko County Fair and Livestock Show, announced ranch competitions in the center ring. He was a Charter member of the Rotary Club of “Elko Desert Sunrise,” taught an extension class for the Life Underwriters Training Council, was an Elder in the First Presbyterian Church, hiked and skied the Ruby Mountains, fished South Fork Reservoir and played golf!
From its early beginning John supported the Poetry Gathering, (the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering), and in 2006 he began giving Ranch Tour Workshops during the Gathering. The “Ranch Tour” in 2019 finished 14 years of John’s local ranch tours throughout Elko County, every year a different ranch.
He loved every Ranch Tour, loved the guests who came on the bus with him, many of whom repeated every year, and loved showcasing his favorite people, ranching families.
He talked about growing up on a remote ranch, riding for cattle, horseback on the Diamond A, delighted telling the rattlesnake-on-a-pillow, and random dynamite-explosions-in-the-dead-of-night stories from the Keddy Ranch. How many times did he tell stories of horses running away with him, fishing in creeks in Roland, and his own near-drowning experience in spring-runoff-Bruneau River when very young?
His favorite was working with local ranchers, people he respected living a lifestyle he envied, riding for cattle, helping friends during branding, and, later, riding in the Fair parade on a gray Arabian horse, Zahnna. He loved Elko County and its people.
Janice talked him into beginning the tour Company, “Cowboy John Tours,” (www.cowboyjohntours.com) which showed possible employees of the Hospital and local businesses why they as prospective employees would want to live in Elko County. “Cowboy John Tours” also shuttled hikers for the Ruby Crest Trail.
John was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, November 29, 1939, and died in his home in Spring Creek, Palm Sunday, April 5, 2020.
Cowboy John at the Folklore Center
