In the Sept. 1 edition of The Times two weeks ago, I was interested in the photo from 1920 which was run in the historical Pea Ridge feature. The picture was the one used on an advertising fan for the Pea Ridge Centennial celebration held in August 1950. I was 10 years old at Centennial time. It was a really great event as I experienced it.

I especially noted in the picture’s 1920 down town scene what a mix of people, vehicles and animals filled the Pea Ridge main street of that day. It is certainly a scene from the past, but it also contains the signs of the future. In 1920, Pea Ridge had a number of cars and possibly a few trucks on the street, but they were sharing the space with buggies and horses and people on foot. As I re call, one might see horses and horse-drawn wagons on the street in town even through the 1940s.

But after 1950, horses and wagons and buggies were a rare sight, and of course today one almost never sees a horse in town un less a parade is going on. The last person I recall as showing up in town regu larly on horseback was Utah Smith. Utah lived on a small farm place just north of today’s elemen tary school.

I have never owned a horse, and am not a rider, but I do enjoy seeing a good horse show, and I continue to admire fine horses. Many people form a strong bond of attachment with their critters. I was that way on the farm. All our cows and horses had names. We talked to them and visited with them, as well as worked with them. Horses have per sonalities as creatures, and moods. They get tired, and lonely, and worried; and they can be sometimes obviously happy, and pleased, and affectionate. Of course they can also be grumpy and balky and angry and afraid and dangerous; kind of like human beings.

Arlo Camp, Derry Camp’s dad, always had fine Palomino horses and would often ride in our local parades. Quite often Arlo would lead the parade, carrying the flag.

I especially remember one of his horses that we called Ole Tony. They made a striking sight, horse and rider! I enjoy many things in parades, like the old cars, the bicycles, the pony carts, the old tractors, the fire engines; but I still really enjoy the horses and riders, young and old. We don’t have the Pea Ridge Riding Club as a group any more. Those were the days!

I have known several people through the years who I thought were born 50 years too late.

They had the mindset of people from the era of horses, before automobiles and trucks and tractors. They were in their element when they were working with horses. My grandpa Burton Clement was one of them. Grandpa made the adjustment to cars, sort of; but he was never comfortable with cars.

My mother used to talk about her daddy and the Model T that he bought in the 1920s. She said he could herd the Model T and get places in it, but when they had reached their destination, a family gathering, a singing, a picnic, Grandpa would start worrying about “getting that car home.” He would want to leave early, just in case they had a flat tire or engine trouble. He couldn’t seem to relax until the Model T was home and parked and no longer a concern for that day.

Grandpa was far more comfortable when he was moving his saw rig from place to place with the horses, or guiding the horses over a hay field, or hauling in a load of corn.

Another friend of ours in Atkins, Ark., was a man who lived 50 years after his time. His great pleasure was in handling a good team of horses. When our country was celebrating the bicentennial, back in ’76, our friend fixed up his wagon, hitched up his team of horses and made the Wagon Train trip to Washington, D.C., as part of the festivities. That was such a huge highlight in life for him. He never ceased telling about that trip as long as he lived.

I’m looking forward to our Sept. 28 Historical Society program, which will be about the era of horses, horsepower in farming, in transportation, in work in general.

Horses powered our forebearers through the covered wagon era which brought them here to Pea Ridge as settlers, through the era of the Pony Express, and through the era of stagecoaches which dropped the Pea Ridge mail by Elkhorn Tavern as they headed out for California.

To be continued ...◊◊◊

Editor’s note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge, is a retired Methodist minister with a passion for history.

He is vice president of the Pea Ridge Historical Society. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or call 621-1621.

Opinion, Pages 5 on 09/22/2010