Clyde
Reborse (1921-....)
Born
in 1921 on the Owyhee Desert in northeastern Nevada. He lived on
the desert for twenty three years. At the age of seven his dad Powder
River Lee Reborse, took Clyde with him to rep on the SL wagon for
the summer roundup. At the age of 12 his dad started him out breaking
horses. Powder taught him the knack of being a fine horse reinsman
of that day and age Clyde states often how he was lucky to have
a dad, who was a fine reinsman and horseman.
In 1935, when he was fourteen, Clyde left with his dad's TH cattle
in the early spring to Devil's Corral on the Owyhee Desert, where
his father had grazing rights. He stayed for two months, watching
the cattle, all open range, riding horseback to keep them from drifting
too far away. In June of that year the cattle were gathered and
trailed back to the mountains where they would spend the summer.
His dad would send him to represent him (rep) on the SL wagon and
gathering the cattle that had been missed by the previous roundup.
He would get back in time to help his dad put up the hay, which
was to be fed to the cattle in the winter. In September of each
year Clyde would head back out with the SL wagon, riding with them
for about two months. Then he would leave there and go over to the
Ellison Pitch Fork wagon at Squaw Valley, NV. Jim Kimber was the
cow boss there at that time. A real gentleman, he would remark to
Clyde," I' m gonna ride ol' Roany today, young Powder".
Clyde had fond memories of his time spent there. In late November
he would leave the Pitch Fork wagon with his string of saddle horses
and the cattle that had strayed and return to the TH Ranch. He was
sixteen then and the trail drive took about five days.
In 1944 his dad sold the TH Ranch and he left the Owyhee Desert,
never to return to work there. From then on Clyde drifted a lot,
working for several different irons/brands. In 1946 he became the
buckaroo boss for the Bullhead Land and Cattle Company at the CS
Ranch, near Winnemucca, Nev. on the Humboldt River.
In 1947, he worked for Marvin Myers running wild horses, gathering
them with a fixed wing Piper Cub aircraft. They would run them into
a parada( a herd of gentle horses) on the Sheldon Refuge. In 1948,
Ernie Messner was manager of the MC Warner Valley Land and Cattle
Company, Adel, Oregon. At that time the cattle there numbered over
18,000 head. Ernie wrote Clyde a letter and asked him to come and
run the MC roundup wagon. In the meantime he'd hired Ross Dollarhide,
who was and old Miller & Lux outfit cowboy, an outstanding bronc
rider in his time. Even at 62 years of age, this great man could
ride any horse on any day.
Ernie Messner asked Clyde to start some young horses and in these
cavvys( groups of saddle horses) there would be some old cranky
geldings. So, if you could show you could ride them, then they would
be the ones that you were given to ride. Those were the kinds of
horse that Clyde would ride.
In 1953, he went to work for Frank Loveland, who was the manager
for McCleary Ranches in Paradise Valley, NV. According to Clyde,
Frank was a heck of a good rider, reinsman and all around cowboy.
McCleary ran around 20,000 head of cattle. Lyn Kimbell was the cow
boss on the desert end and Clyde was cow boss on the Paradise Valley
end. He worked there for about five years.
Then after leaving McCleary's he drifted into California and worked
for Earl Pressnell, buying cattle in Nevada and shipping them to
holdings in CA. While working for Earl, Bing Crosby, who he'd known
for some time and had a ranch near his dad's TH Ranch in the valley
where he was raised. Earl sent Clyde up to look at the PX ranch
which was being sold by Crosby, located on the head of the No. Fork
of the Humboldt River. Crosby wanted Clyde to go into western feature
films, he had three agents he wanted him to see. Clyde chose not
to take Bing Crosby's offer. Pressnell bought the PX and put Clyde
in charge of the ranches. He ran the outfit for three years. He
got his leg broken while riding a rank horse, he was in the corral
until he and his bronco hit the corral gate swinging it open taking
off with him on the icy ground. The horse bucked until he fell,
breaking Clydes leg on impact, it was a compound fracture and long
time healing.
After he'd punched cows in Nevada, Idaho, Oregon and California,
he felt the need to have a place of his own. In 1963, the cattle
industry in Australia was booming. He and his wife, along with his
brother Lee and family, bought a ranch in Australia now called the
Finniss River Station. Then he mustered spoiled cattle for the Herbert
Brothers at the Koolpinya and Humpty Doo Stations. He did that for
six years. His crew were aboriginal stockmen. In 1972, his brother
Lee sold the Finniss River Station. This turned out to be a bad
deal from the beginning. The buyer went bankrupt and ended up forcing
Clyde to take the station back, where he'd stay until 1981 when
it was sold.
In 1978, Clyde held a class in western reining. Shane Izod of Australia
was eager to learn the methods used by the Spanish vaquero, which
was taught to Clyde by his dad Powder. Through his years working
on the different cow outfits in eastern Oregon and Nevada, Clyde
earned a reputation of being one of the best riders of his time.
He never had a horse that bucked him off that he couldn't get back
on and ride. Clyde said it would be a lifelong accomplishment to
be inducted into the Buckaroo Hall of Fame. Clyde was still living
in Australia at the time of this writing.
Clyde Reborse was inducted into the Buckaroo Hall of Fame in September
2006.
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