Karenshorsetales BlogFebruary 1 2013
n December, Cole Still lost his lovely bride, Charlotte, she was 86. Just less than two months after Charlotte's passing, Cole, 93, joined her in the great beyond. They had wed in October of 1942, and had settled in the Prineville, OR. in 1948 with their daughters Connie and Carolyn.
In 1973 the Still's rode the Pacific Crest Trail from the Columbia River to the California Border in 17-1/2 days, setting a new record for that accomplishment as no one had previously ridden it in less than 20 days. Charlotte and Cole rode many rides back in the old days of AERC and PNER. Cole and Charlotte were there helping Lew Hollander and Elwin Wines form PNER in 1972, and Cole always said that he was PNER's oldest member. In 1974 Charlotte and Zella Hai placed 11th on the PNER Top 15 Senior Riders. In 1975 PNER gave out awards to the Top 25 and Charlotte placed 5th while Cole was 22nd; Charlotte also placed 17th on the AERC National Top 25 that year.
I met Cole and Charlotte in 1977 when I began endurance riding. What characters with a great sense of humor. They were truly kind, helpful people and also great competitors. When we first met Cole, he worked at the mill North of Prineville. He had built a corral there by a shed and rode his horse to and from work every day, 16 miles round trip. No wonder the man and his horses were so tough!
In the early 80's we joined the Prineville Ridge Riders and Cole had already been the club President forever. Cole joined the Ridge Riders in 1951 and had been President since 1958! He, Charlotte and the club put on the Prineville Endurance Ride north of Prineville on The Crooked River National Grasslands since 1972. I believe Cole rode that ride for 32 consecutive years, missing it for the first time when he was 83 after Stormy fell with him and he had a broken foot...
Read more here:
http://karenshorsetales.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-tribute-to-stills.html
No comments:
Post a Comment