LYNN HORACE KIMBALL 1909-1976

 

Brainard, Minnesota was the birthplace of Lynn Horace Kimball on May 8, 1909.  Lynn was one of 8 children in the Kimball family.  In 1911 the family moved to Montana and eked out a living farming and breaking draft horses.  One of Lynn’s earliest successes with breaking horses was hitching up one of his Dad’s huge draft horses.

At the age of 14, Lynn left home and headed south from Montana.  He worked at various ranches though out the West and at one time ended up buckarooing in Arizona. That stay didn’t last long for the Arizona “cowboys’ made fun of Lynn’s gear, his 60-foot reata and single fire cinch.  Lynn, in turn, thought that the “hard and fast” method of roping cattle used in Arizona left much to be desired.  He much preferred the “dally” method used on the various Nevada ranches where he had worked.

After Lynn and Arizona parted company, Lynn became quite well known as a saddle bronc rider in the various rodeos held around the West.

In the early 1930’s Lynn landed in Winnemucca, Nevada.  Mention was made of Lynn in an article published in “The West Magazine”.  The article was entitled “Cowboys I have known” and was written about another “Buckaroo Hall of Famer” Tom Minor.  In this article Tom was quoted as saying that “in his opinion the leading old time bronc riders in 1936 ranked as follows, First, Harry Brennan, second, Bob Ward of Oregon, third, Billie Bowman of American Falls, Idaho, fourth a young Lem Kimball, of Winnemucca, Nevada, fifth, Ross Dollarhide of Lakeview, Oregon and sixth Harry Holt of Paradise Valley, Nevada.

World War II years found Lynn in the army stationed in Europe.  He received a medal for expert marksmanship and two bronze stars for heroism.  He was awarded a Purple Heart for suffering a broken back and spent many months in a hospital in London, England.  The only transportation available was a bicycle with proved to be very difficult for Lynn to ride.  A kind elderly English woman offered to tow him if he could find a piece of rope.  Using “Buckaroo” ingenuity, Lynn rigged up a tow system by re-arranging the bike pieces and attaching his back brace is such a manner that allowed him to travel.

After the War, Lynn went to work for Frank McCleary as the Buckaroo Boss for the Circle A ranches in Paradise Valley, Nevada.  On July 1, 1950 he married Martha Olds Meginness and acquired a daughter named Janie. In 1952 a fourth member, Jean Raker, joined Lynn, Martha and Janie (now Janie McNinch). (Now Jean Mentaberry).

The memories of the various “buckaroo camps” still bring a smile and feeling of nostalgia for a way of life that relatively few are privileged to have experience.  Lynn was in charge of managing approximately 25,000 head of cattle during his years with McCleary Cattle Company.  The “dry” camps in the spring were 8 Mile and 12 Mile as the cattle were herded to the spring range.  Then came the “fun” camps, The Forks, Little Owyhee, Calico and Quinn River.  About 3 to 4 weeks were spent at each camp, depending on the condition of the range.  Lynn’s crew consisted at various times of buckaroos numbering 3 to 8.  The names were Archie Bonner, Jerry Roberts, Lon Johnson, Woody Bell (for one summer) Jim Foster, cranky old Pat Herd and cooks like Lawrence Murphy (better known as “Murph”) “Happy” Ralph Sims, whose pies were only rivaled by Martha Kimball, just to name a few.  The cavieta that was used for the summer generally numbered from 80 to 90 head of horses.  Lynn’s string of horses was ones he had broke himself or finished after being started.  They had to be good stout hard working cow horses.  For Lynn always rode the “outer circle” during the roundups.

Lynn was noted for being an excellent snaffle-bit man, the colts he broke had “light” mouths and could turn on a dime.  Every colt he broke also learned to walk with long strides that ate away the many miles it would eventually travel.

During any slack time, Lynn learned to work with rawhide and became quite adept at braiding reins, reatas, bosals and hackamores.  He had also devised a set of tools that made fleshing and sizing the rawhide easier.

After many years with the Circle A outfit.  Lynn retired from buckarooing and became employed with the U.S. Forest Service, utilizing his many skills as a horseman and received many a bonus for his innovative methods of construction useful in his duties with the Forest Service.

One of Lynn’s greatest pleasures was to talk to youngsters, whether it be his grandkids or some of the young people in Paradise Valley and many a night found him playing cribbage, talking horses or telling stories about the good “ole” days.

Lynn passed away on September 27, 1976 at the age of 67. Will always be remembered as a really good Buckaroo.

 

Lynn was inducted into the Buckaroo Hall of Fame in September 1999.