Cliff Lewis 1936-2023

It is with great sadness to inform you that NASTR Co-Founder Cliff Lewis, passed away on February 16, 2023.

Cliff was born in Hayward, CA on August 29, 1936. He was 86 years old and lived an adventurous and influential life. He died at home while being cared for by his wife Kathy and son Tom, after a long illness. May he rest in peace. There will be a Celebration of Life for Cliff later this spring, to be announced.

Condolences to Cliff’s family can be sent to Kathy or Tom Lewis at 4185 Mulberry St. Silver Springs, Nevada 89429.

Some of Cliff’s history....

Cliff was introduced to endurance riding in 1964 by Ernie & Agnes Hutton in Reno, Nevada. Neil Hutton their son won the Tevis Cup in 1964 on their Arabian mare Salalah. It wasn’t called endurance riding at the time, but was simply called 100 mile riding. Pat Fitzgerald, who lived next door invited Cliff to ride with them and soon he became hooked on riding 100 miles in one day.

One day in early spring of 1968Cliff was riding withDean Hubbard on the top of Clark Mountain overlooking the wide open back country and they talked about holding a ride in the vast country, where there were no fences or gates.

In Cliff’s words......

“Dean and I realized it would take more than the two of us to put on an endurance ride. We decided we would start looking for support. We never expected much response but went anyway to the 102 Ranch to approach Nick Mansfield about our idea. We were surprised by his enthusiasm and were told that if we were willing to make it a 100 Mile One Day ride, that would start and finish at his ranch, he would get us all the support we needed and generally insure the success of the ride. We set a date for the first meeting to be held at the 102 Ranch Cafe. About ten people showed up. When at least half of these people declared they would ride their horses 100 miles in one day, we decided then and there to have the ride, even if we were the only ones to enter, knowing that the Tevis Cup started with 5 riders the first year. We had an election of officers: Nick Mansfield was elected President, myself as Vice President,and Andy Steen as Secretary/Treasurer. We laid out some of the general details, and hashed over many names and accepted Nick Mansfield's suggestion to call it the Nevada All-State Trail Ride, implying that although it was a Nevada based ride, it would be open to riders from all states.”

On October 5, 1968, the first Nevada All-State Trail Ride 100 Mile in One Day ride was held.Cliff riding the7 year old half Arabian Blackjack were the overall winners in a riding time of 16:41. The duo won the ride again the following year in 1969. OnDecember17, 1968Articles of Incorporation were adopted to form the Nevada All-State Trail Riders Organization witnessed by Cliff Lewis, Pat Fitzgerald and Cliff Ford. The 100 mile ride was moved to Virginia City in 1969 and has been held there annually ever since, except for the two years2020 & 2022 when the ride was cancelled from wildfire smoke.

Cliff served as NASTR President, Vice-President and on the NASTR Board of Directors for numerous years. He also was the Ride Chairman of the Nevada All-State 100, also known as the Nevada 100 and later the Virginia City 100, as well as the Derby Ditch 50 several times. Cliff proposed having the progressive silver buckle for the Nevada All-State 100, denoting the number of times a rider has completed the ride.He was a member of the travelling Nevada All State Trail Rider Endurance Team formed in 1969. Cliff’s son Tommy Lewis, completed the VC100 at five years of age in 1977 with his horse Milika. Grandson Cliffy (Clifford) Lewis following in his Dad Tom Lewis’ footsteps, completed the ride also at five years old in 2002,riding his father’s horse,29 year old Spiderman. This marked three generations of the Lewis family to complete the ride.

It was Cliff’s idea to sponsor a 50 mile spring ride to help pay for the Virginia City 100 mile buckles. The first “Son of a Derby Ditch 50” was held in Fernley, Nevada on April 3, 1971.Cliff served as the Ride Chairman. He proposed using the stop and go spot pulse checks on the ride for the first time. This would allow the more fit horses to continue while the lesser fit horses would require a mandatory five minute rest stop, continuing until the horses pulse recovered.The Derby Ditch 50, now known as the Nevada Derby 25/50 has changed locations and has continued to run annually since 1971.

Cliff was the Publisher and Editor of the Endurance Digest and the Trails Digest National “Saddle Up and Ride” Magazines from 1972 –1991. He was a long standing ride manager for over 40years and hosted many endurance rides of all distances from 25, 35, 50, 75, 2day 100, 1 day 100 mile and 3 day 150 mile pioneer rides. He introduced hundreds of people to the sport of endurance riding and driving over the years.Cliff served on the AERC Board of Directors as West Region Director from1988-1991.He accumulated 12067 AERC Miles.He also founded the National Endurance Driving Association (NEDA) in 1990.

*Thanks to Connie Creech for sharing this.