20 ½” x 10 ½” x 11″
Limited Edition of 20 Bronze
Walnut wood base
$6,100.00

Arizona was one of the last of the wild places in the West. Law and Justice came slowly to the southwest territory. It was so lawless, in fact, that the territory formed the Arizona rangers to deal with all of the rustling, crime ands general chaos that was throughout the state. The result of this condition was that you had to be alert and practice extreme situational awareness if you were going to survive. It was a combination of this reality, along with remembrances of the old western’s that were so popular in the 50’s and 60’s that drove the idea for this piece.  A wonderful couple that I talked with brought up how much they loved that era of television and wondered about my doing a piece reminiscent of those westerns. You just never know where inspiration will come from! It really caused me to create a piece that I would not have normally thought about.

The result is a piece that tells a little known story about life in Territorial 

Arizona. If you have been anywhere in the state, there are many places where rocks thrust out of the ground and make for a good place to remain hidden while looking over where you have come from, or where you are going. This rider has a sense that there is someone, or a group of men, following him. You don’t know if this rider is a good guy or bad guy, that is a part of the story for you to decide. He has got his rifle out because those in pursuit are a distance off and he wants to keep it that way. If there is some shooting to do, it’s best done at a distance! His horse is ground tied, looking in at where the rider is looking out through the rocks. The rope around the horses neck is a get down rope, so when you got off of your horse, that is what you would lead him with. A valuable thing you teach your horse is to ground tie. That means you can leave the rope on the ground and the horse will stand there. You can see the rope leads to the rider. It’s not too far out of reach if the rider needs to scat!

The horse has a typical double rigged saddle, with the riders pistol in a pommel bag on the right side of the saddle. This was another way to carry a pistol other than a holster on your hip.  The rider has chosen the perfect place to assess his situation. The rocks are not only protection but are high for a good vantage point to see what is going on behind him. Who knows what the next moments will hold. This rider is savvy of what he is facing and this is the perfect time to stop, he needs to be “Checkin” His Back Trail”.