Oral History Program Nancy Leavitt Interviewed by Lorrie Rands 21 June 2019 Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Nancy Leavitt Interviewed by Lorrie Rands 21 June 2019 Copyright © 2024 by Weber State University, Stewart Library Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. The working files, original recording, and archival copies are housed in the University Archives. Project Description The Utah Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum honors men and women whose lives exemplify the independence and resilience of the people who settled Utah, and includes artists, champions, entertainers, musicians, ranchers, writers, and those persons, past and present, who have promoted the Western way of life. Each year, the inductees are interviewed about their lives and experiences living the Western way of life. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management This work is the property of the Weber State University, Stewart Library Oral History Program. It may be used freely by individuals for research, teaching and personal use as long as this statement of availability is included in the text. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Leavitt, Nancy, an oral history by Lorrie Rands, 21 June 2019, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, Special Collections and University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. iii Abstract: The following is an oral history interview with Nancy Leavitt conducted on June 21, 2019 in her home with Lorrie Rands. Nancy talks about her husband, Val Leavitt, who was a rodeo announcer. She recounts his early years, how he found his career and how it shaped his life. Also present is Nute Rands on camera and Nikki, who is Nancy’s granddaughter. LR: Today is June 21, 2019. We are in the home of Nancy Leavitt in Garland, Utah, talking about her husband, Val Leavitt, for the Utah Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. My name is Lorrie Rands conducting the interview, and Nute Rands is with me on the camera. Nikki is here, too. So, Nancy, I want to thank you for your time and your willingness to sit and talk about your husband. Let's start with when and where Val was born. NL: Okay. He was born in Deweyville, Utah. LR: And when was that? NL: 1929. LR: It looks like January 1929. NL: Oh, excuse me. January, right. LR: So he was born in Deweyville; did he grow up in Deweyville? NL: No. He actually grew up here on this place in that house over there. Well, he was in Idaho for a while, too. LR: So Deweyville mustn't be far from here. NL: Deweyville's right over here. LR: Okay. I am not familiar with this portion of Utah, or northern Utah. Was this area the family farm? NL: Yes. This was his dad's family farm, on his dad's side. LR: And who were his parents? NL: Lettie and Gene Leavitt. 1 LR: And were they both from this area? NL: Yes. She was born in Deweyville. In fact, she was a Dewey. He was raised out west of Tremonton, in Garland area. LR: You mentioned that he was in Idaho for a while, too? NL: Yes. His dad was a foreman on a place up there for a while, when he was in elementary school. LR: So where did he go to school? Was he here? NL: He went to school here and in Idaho. LR: Okay. Did he ever talk about that time, what it was like to go to school? Did he ever talk about that? NL: Not too much, no. LR: He grew up during the Depression. Did he talk about that, what it was like to live through, to grow up through the Depression? NL: Not really. Back then it was a lot different than now, of course, what we had and what we didn't have. No, but I can't think of anything. I know all about my school and house and everything, but I haven't seen his, the one in Idaho. He did go here to Fielding some. Then he graduated from Bear River High. LR: Did you grow up around here, too? NL: No. LR: So he kind of grew up in two different places, Idaho and here. You mentioned Fielding. Is that the high school he went to? NL: Fielding School. It's up the road here. LR: Okay. And was that an elementary school? NL: Elementary, yes. LR: Where did he go to high school? NL: Bear River High School in Garland. 2 LR: Okay. As I was reading his little packet, he worked a lot with his dad on the farm. Is that where he got this love? NL: He did, yes. His dad had part interest in a rodeo string, too, and he did that a lot. He went with his dad when they rodeoed. I think Val's going into this because of being a rodeo announcer, and he's always loved it, the rodeo. LR: And that started with his dad going on this rodeo string? What is a rodeo string? NL: They furnished the stock for the rodeo. LR: Is that similar to the, like... Swanny Kirby? NL: Yes. Same type of thing. Yes. LR: I'm glad you know what I'm talking about. NL: Yes, I know Swanny Kirby really well. LR: All right. So, working with his dad. When did he start-- I mean, it doesn't really talk about when he started to really get involved in rodeo. NL: I don't really know when. I think probably he went in the summer. Well, he had that rodeo string, though, in Idaho, so he would have been a lot younger then. But I know he went and he did some picking up, which is taking the cowboys off the bucking horses, that's what that means, and that sort of thing. And then, when he really got started announcing was here in Garland. They had a wheat-and-beat day celebration and he was asked to come and announce a little buckaroo rodeo, or a miniature rodeo. LR: Okay. And wasn't that Oyler? NL: Oyler? Yes. LR: I can't think of his first name right now, but was that the first time he really announced, was at that wheat-and-beat day? 3 NL: Yes, it is. And then he started calling ball games. Local, you know. And did a little auctioneering and style shows. He did a style show for Cross Western Star one year. So he just, he did a lot of different things like that. LR: Did he did he ever actually rodeo? NL: Yes, he amateur rodeoed. He roped. LR: Alright. Did he have any siblings? NL: They adopted one of his cousins, but that was it. He was an only child otherwise. LR: Did he ever talk about what it was like growing up during World War II, going through that time period? Because that was-- I don't know when you two met. NL: Yes, we met in college, when I came up here to college. LR: So did he ever talk about that time, World War II? NL: Oh, no. No. Where he was kind of an only child, actually, you know, his mother was very protective of him. And they didn't have a lot back then. A lot of people didn't at that time. I don't know how to explain. LR: You're doing great. You mentioned you met at Utah State. Is that where you were going to college? NL: Yes. LR: So where were you born? NL: New Jersey. LR: New Jersey! You're a long way from home. NL: We moved out here to southern Utah, when I was seven. I was raised in San Juan County, Monticello. LR: So you've spent most of your life here? NL: Yes. LR: What brought you to Utah State? 4 NL: We had a teacher down in Monticello from Ogden and she went to Utah State. I went out and animal husbandry at that time. She brought me up one time to see the college and I liked it. It was a college then. LR: So you just decided to come up and do your two years? NL: I went four years. I didn't graduate, which is very bad, but I didn't get it completed. LR: How did you meet Val? You said you were at school? NL: At the time we had a horse show. The college put on a horse show. They have the rodeos now, but at that time, they didn't have a rodeo at the college. I was helping with getting ready because I liked that kind of thing. He was there riding horses for some gentleman, training horses. And he was going to school, too, but I didn't know him. But that's where I met him, was at the fairgrounds. I've got quite a lot of stories about that. LR: Would you like to share to share some of them? NL: Well, he told me that because I was cleaning stalls out with all the manure and all, he thought that I was the one he wanted. I thought he was married. I thought he was a married guy because he was a large man and seemed older. I was older than him, but I didn't know it. He'd ask if I needed a ride back uptown and I'd make him leave me off uptown and I'd walk back to the dorm because I thought he was married and I'd ride in the back of the car. LR: When did you find out he wasn't married? NL: Oh, well, I said something to our mutual friends that whoever he had was lucky. He says, "He's not married,” and I thought, "Oh! Okay." LR: Did you think that you were going to be that lucky person? NL: Not at that time, of course. But then we started going together. LR: About what year was this that you started dating? 5 NL: Let's say it would be my senior year school--no, my junior year. So about '49. '48 or '49. LR: Because you were married in 1949. Wasn't that right? NL: Oh, yeah, I was. I graduated from high school in '45. I was counting up. So probably '47 or '48. Right in there somewhere. LR: It says in his little bio that he joined the Utah National Guard in 1948 and was actually drafted, activated in 1950. NL: Yes, he went to Korea. LR: This is after you were married? NL: Yes, it was. LR: How long was he gone? NL: He was in Korea a little over ten months. LR: Okay. What was that like having him gone? NL: Well, I went home. At the time, I was on the ranch out in Moab, so I kept busy. There were a lot of people that had people over there, you know, and so I just figured that was it. LR: Yeah, it's interesting how we tend to go home when something like that happens. I did the same thing. Okay, so he went in 1950 and then he stayed in the National Guard. NL: He did. He worked for them for quite a few years. LR: What else did he do besides that for his full-time job? NL: When he first got back from there, he was active in the National Guard, but he didn't work for them. And he was working for the Bureau of Land Management for a while. LR: Well, what did he do with them? NL: He was grading roads, and he helped the ranchers some with the cattle and that sort of thing. 6 LR: Was this up here or was this down in Moab? NL: This was up here. LR: Okay. So when he came back, you guys moved back up here? NL: We did. LR: Okay. And is this where you've been most of your married life then? NL: Yes. The Big [indiscernible]. When he got back, he was part owner interest with my dad and my brother. But where he was an only child, his dad found work for him up here. LR: That makes sense. When did he start, really--I mean, you said his first announcing job was at the wheat-and-beat, and then he just started doing a little announcing here and there. NL: That's right. LR: When did he really start announcing for more of the bigger rodeos? NL: I'm trying to think... My kids were small. And we didn't have any children for, what, seven years. So it would have been…dates aren't good. He announced for 45 years. LR: Wow. Do you remember what his first big rodeo announcing job was? NL: He announced for the colleges; in fact, he started helping them when they first started having rodeo at the colleges and then he just got started. They just kept asking him at different places; like he announced at the old Coliseum. That was one of the first ones, would have been down there at the old Coliseum in Ogden. LR: It mentions that he actually helped to develop the programs at a lot of those the colleges. NL: That's what I was saying, with the announcing, mostly is what it would be. They'd ask him to come and announce. I think there were several. I think Weber State and I 7 think BYU, probably their first rodeos, he announced them. As far as I can—that maybe shouldn't be written down because I'm not exactly sure. But it was close. LR: Well, I know it says in his bio that he helped establish those programs, so I wouldn't be surprised if he did announce them. NL: It was more with the announcing that he did to get them started. LR: Okay. I don't know if he ever talked about this, but what was it about announcing that he just loved? NL: He loved rodeo. He just really enjoyed the announcing. In fact, one time I said it'd be fun to go somewhere for vacation or something, you know, and he says, "We vacation every weekend," and we did. He passed away in the spring, and he had every weekend for that year. He didn't live to do it. He just really liked it. LR: It sounds like it. Would the whole family go with him? NL: Yes. I have a boy and a girl and when they were little, they always did. They ended up rodeoing themselves. Nikki was on the Utah State Rodeo team, and Casey was for a while, but he kind of branched out. He was a bull rider. [pointing off screen] This girl rodeoed in high school. She went to nationals in high school rodeoing. She roped and tied goats. That's what her mother did. LR: Did Val get to announce any of those rodeos that his kids…? NL: Oh, yes. [There] was one time at the old Coliseum. Casey got hurt with the bull and they took him out on a stretcher and Val had to go on with the rodeo. It was kind of scary, but he was okay. LR: And Val just kept going? NL: Yeah. I quite admired him being able to. LR: What was it like for you, traveling with him? 8 NL: He made me a part of it, so we enjoyed it together. I always worked right alongside of him and took the scores from the people down below the chutes and the times and everything. I just had it all, so he'd just have to look, get the names and things. LR: Was it something that you ever thought of doing, rodeo, when you were younger? NL: Well, I was always around horses and stuff, so I loved that part. I guess I just figured that was what we did and we did it. LR: Can you think of what one of his more memorable announcing jobs was? NL: Oh, there's a lot of different stories. But the places we went—and Val loved people, so he got along with the committees and everything really well. In fact, a lot of the committees wanted him back. A lot of times it was the producers that would ask him to announce the rodeos, but a lot of times the committees were the ones that called him and asked him to do their shows. LR: That's pretty cool. NL: And he was just really good with people. So, but especially ones…he went to Morgan three times a year. You'd think they'd have gotten tired of him, but they kept asking him back year after year because they had a county show there, and then they had the high school show there and then they had other things going on there. We'd go up there a lot. So I don't know any special one. [to Nikki] Do you know, Nikki? You were kind of young when Grandpa passed. LR: What was one of your more memorable shows that you went with him on? NL: Morgan was. I guess that's why I mentioned it. Morgan was great. But we went from--well, he announced in St George. Barrel racing. They had big barrel racing down there and then he also announced in Nevada, at Ely, Nevada. We enjoyed that. And Grace, Idaho. He worked their whole fair. They did the little buckaroo up there. It was another miniature when it branched out. Then he did all their horse show and everything for their fair up there. That was fun. We'd stay there. Then it 9 got so he would go to Evanston and Morgan and Grace, Idaho, the same weekend. That got a little rough. But these people wanted me so he would work. We'd hurry and leave up there and drive to Evanston, and he'd do the horse pulling up there. You know what that is? LR: Not a clue. NL: Okay. They have their teams and they pull what they call a slide and put weights on it. It's a contest, how much they can pull. It's really interesting and that would be at Evanston's Fair, too. He did that. LR: It sounds like he wasn't just announcing for rodeos. He was an announcing for... NL: He did a lot. A lot of fairs. LR: How would these committees and these organizers hear about them? How did they know to ask for him? NL: From being around to the different ones. The one in Grace, his aunt was on the fair board. That's how he started up there. LR: So he'd get a job, but he'd be so good at it that they ask him back. NL: Well, he never would blow his horn. No, but yes, they would. Yes. Like Morgan and Grace. We went to Colorado and Oakley, Utah, before they finally went professional. He never went professional because he wanted to be with his family. When they go professional, they travel all over. LR: Okay. So apparently he enjoyed it, but he never wanted it to be more than just kind of a hobby. NL: Right. Yeah. He started out--as far as making a living at it there was no way because of the traveling. I think he started out about $25 a show and he ended up getting more than that, but not a great lot. LR: So his full time job, he worked at the BLM and the National Guard. NL: National Guard was, uh huh. 10 LR: Were those his only two? NL: He did a few things in between. They tried to sell cars once and that didn't work. LR: Oh, it looks like he worked at the Intermountain Indian School. NL: Yes, he did. He worked there a long time, too. LR: What did he do there? NL: He was a dorm manager. He worked in the dorms. LR: Did he enjoy working there? NL: Yeah, he enjoyed everything he did. He never complained. He just made the best of everything he did. LR: Did he ever talk about what it was like working at the Indian school? NL: Oh, yes. He worked right with the kids, you know, because in the dorms. But there were a lot of incidences like having to go to Ogden and dragging the kids home and things like that. [to Nikki] What were you saying? About what? Nikki: The bus driving. NL: Oh, yeah. He drove a bus. That's what he did after he retired from these other things. LR: And it looks like he did that for... NL: About 10 years. LR: Yeah. 12 years? NL: Maybe. [To Nikki] That was another hobby, sis. LR: Driving bus. NL: Yes, he loved the kids. LR: Who were some of his mentors? NL: Like...? LR: Well, I've seen Oyler. I cannot think of his first name. I've seen his name a lot in his little bio. 11 NL: Vern Oyler. He was inducted into--is that who you mean? LR: Yeah. I was just wondering who he looked to develop his craft, who he looked up to. NL: I think like for his announcing, there was a gentleman when he was rodeo and with his dad or being with his dad that announced. He looked up to him. I can't remember his name. Names are terrible anymore for me to remember. I don't know. I can't think of who exactly. He did look up to his dad, you know, because of--I don't know. He just liked everybody he ever saw. He just really liked people. LR: In reading his bio, he always seemed to be doing something in the community or volunteering his time for 4-H. Did he enjoy mentoring the...? NL: He did, when his kids were in 4-H and all he was--we even have a picture of him at the school. They had him come up there and teach kids how to rope and, you know, things like that. And he always liked to do those kind of things. LR: Who were some of the people he was able to help and mentor during his career? Maybe an announcer or just a cowboy that he helped? NL: Yeah, there were a few people that really wanted to announce and they would come to him. But so many people want to start at the top, you know? They didn't want to do all the things that he did to get to where he was. It was usually younger people. There were a couple older people that he kind of helped get started in announcing. He spent a lot of his family, too. [pointing at Nikki] He spent a lot of time with this gal, with their horses and things. LR: [To Nikki] What was that like? Nikki: He was really, really good. He didn't know what you had till it was gone. LR: Right. Oh, I understand that. NL: [To Nikki] Had to do things kind of right, didn't you, hon? LR: [To Nancy] You mentioned you did a lot of things as a family, and he spent a lot of time with his family. Can you talk a little bit about that? 12 NL: Well, a lot of it was going to rodeos, as you can tell. But we used to do a lot of camping, too, when there was time. In fact, I've mentioned it not too long ago. We just haven't camped like we did when he was with us and then he showed them these things, you know? He showed the kids a lot of things. How to do things. Oh, I have to laugh because my grandson still remembers him telling him, when he was hammering a nail or something, "Get your ass behind me," he'd say. Things like… LR: The one thing I've noticed as I've done this is how completely humble these men and women are and how little they talk about themselves. NL: Well, that's him. LR: If you were to toot his horn for a minute, what would you say, if you were to talk about him? NL: I'll tell you one thing he did, and I guess you'd say it was for the community. He had a beautiful singing voice. I have a stack of programs where he's sang to funerals and weddings and things and he was always willing to do it, you know? He did a lot of that. But no, he didn't blow his horn at all. I had one person tell me -- which is true -- he could tell you off in the nicest way you didn't realize you were being told off. LR: What was it like for you to travel with him and to go to all the different rodeos and announcing gigs? How was that for you? NL: It was great. There was a lot of work in it. When the kids were little, I'd have to get their boots shined and everything to get ready to go each time, but when they were little, I didn't work. I didn't work until they got a little larger. It was a lot nicer after we both quit working. It was more fun. You know, it wasn't as hard to go. But I liked that. And the rodeos, most of them were just in the evening and we pull our trailer and stay so we'd have the day so that we weren't too busy and it was like a vacation, kinda. You thought so anyway. LR: Where did you end up working, when you went back to work? 13 NL: I worked at a clothing store in town, in Tremonton, and then I ended up working at school in a reading program. That was my main job. I liked that. LR: Okay. You said when you both retired, it became more fun. NL: Well there wasn't the rush getting ready to go. Sometimes I'd even have to pick him up on the way to the rodeo and have all the clothes ready and everything. So it was like having a job and working on the weekend too. LR: Did he have a favorite outfit that he would wear to announce in, or did he not really worry about that? NL: He just wore jeans and a shirt, but he always had a scarf. That was his... LR: Like, trademark? NL: Right. He put that on even when he was working around here. He always had it on. In fact, a lot of times it came on first in the morning right before his other clothes. Nikki: He always loved bright, flamboyant shirts and colors. LR: So I'm getting a picture of a kind of a quiet, humble person, and yet not. NL: He was full of fun all the time. He was always joking with people and that sort of thing. But yes, I think a lot of people would tell you he was really good at his announcing, but he would never say it. LR: What would you say? Was he good at it? NL: Well, he must be. They wanted him. LR: Did you see him get better and better the more he did? Did you notice that, or was he always that good? NL: He was always pretty good at it, I thought. Different situations he could handle, you know, things that would have happen in the arena. He just seemed to handle it. Once in a while, he'd sing the national anthem if the sound didn't work or something. If that didn't work, you'd give the Pledge of Allegiance sometimes, you know, if the sound wasn't working right or something, or they couldn't get the 14 national anthem going. So he'd just do the Pledge of Allegiance and he just seemed to handle things like that. LR: Do you have any questions? NR: This one's a little off-skew, but what was it like for you in your time era to be a working mother? NL: I enjoyed working. I did feel like, when I started, my kids were in high school and middle school. I always remember when I was home, the boy coming and hollerin' at the door, "Mom!" when he came through the door. But then that was it, and that's the way he is today. He knows I'm here and he's really good to me but he just needed to know I was here. That bothered me a little when I started working, but other than that... LR: How do you think you balanced home life with your work life and then your rodeo life? NL: I was a mean mother. [laughs] Nikki: [laughing off screen] Still is. LR: Are we drifting in sarcasm here? Nikki: [off screen] They were disciplinarians. We've all turned out very well because of it. NL: Her mother is my daughter. Yeah, I was a disciplinarian, I know. It worked out okay. I only worked part time when I worked in town. They were older when I worked up here. They were even married probably. Val was good to help me at home. I mean, I'd come home from school, he'd get off the bus when he was driving a bus and he'd be doing the ironing or cooking a meal or... He was just always helping me. He spoiled me. LR: Nothing wrong with that. NL: He was real gentle. He was a gentleman. He was just really a kind-hearted person. 15 LR: Is there any other story that you can think of that -- I know it's a broad question. Well, let me let me ask this. What was your most memorable rodeo that he announced? Is there one that just stands out the most in your mind, one in particular? NL: I'll tell you one, but it isn't really an outstanding one. We were at one... I can't remember exactly where it was. Murray, I think. I'm not sure. Anyway, the sound man was just starting. He was a young fellow, which we went clear through with, which he was wonderful. But anyway, something shocked Val from the mic, and he went down. He backed up and kind of sat down in the announcer's stand and then he kind of got came out of it and he went on announcing. When we got through, he says, "We didn't have the team roping." "Uh, yes Val, you announced the team roping." He didn't even remember it he'd done it. LR: Oh my goodness. NL: Yeah, it was scary. This fellow, like I say, we know him so well, we still tease about it; and he says, "Yeah, that was one of my first rodeos, and I shocked him." LR: Must have been quite a shock. NL: Yeah, it was. It was. LR: That's rather telling that he was so good at what he did that he just -- almost like auto pilot. NL: I didn't realize that he didn't know what he was doing. LR: That's a great story. Thank you for sharing that. NL: We had a couple of rodeos. One was at Morgan, and one was up to Oakley. He lost his voice. LR: How do you announce when...? 16 NL: Well, the one at Morgan, we went down to the drugstore and there was an old time drugger there and he told Val, he says "Go to the liquor store and get some vodka." Val did not drink. He said that's what the opera stars use for their voices, and that just opened up his throat. It really worked good. Then when we were up to Oakley, it was during what they have [called] Slack. Slack is when they don't have enough room in the two-hour rodeo to run everyone that wants to rodeo, so they'll run slack in the morning and let those people. It still counts, what they do. But it was in Slack he lost it. This kid I was just telling you about, he was from that area and he went ahead and did the Slack for him. Then he got okay for the night performances. LR: I'm really curious with that, with the vodka, would he just it or would he actually drink it? NL: More gargle. LR: Okay. I was wondering. That just fascinates me. NL: Well, yeah. To run into someone that knew that, yes. He was an older gentleman and we had gone there so much in Morgan that we knew him and Val just says, "Maybe Mr. Smith will know what I can do for this," and he did. He did. LR: That's just really cool. NL: Yeah, it's really interesting. LR: Any other fun stories? I have all day. Well, not quite. NL: My daughter wanted to be here so bad, and when we changed it till today, I hadn't looked at my calendar. She's in Bryce Canyon. She's with the school district, and she's down there at an alcoholic school or something. She wanted me to call you back but I'm not going to jockey around that much, so. LR: I mean, we can always come back if she wants to do this. I am more than happy to come and talk with her. 17 NL: She'd probably be able to tell you a lot more things than I am. I forget a lot of things. You know, it comes to me as I'm talking, but. I'm ninety-one now and I kind of forget some things. LR: If it makes you feel any better, I'm forty-five and I forget things. I forgot my brother's birthday was yesterday. NL: Oh, geez. That's too bad. LR: Yeah, it is. I felt bad. NL: Speaking of birthdays, we always, always had get-togethers. We still do if we can, all the whole family. Because my daughter lives in the next [house], and then the log home is my son. LR: I've been there. NL: Yeah, you were there. There was no one there. LR: No one answered the door. There was a truck in the driveway, but. NL: Yeah. He carpools to work. He works out to ATK. LR: So, both of his kids rodeoed a little bit. NL: Yes. Vicky was on the rodeo team at Utah State and they went to nationals. In fact, she went all four years to the nationals. Casey ended up going down-- he and another kid went down to Texas and rode bulls. They're rough down there. He got his back hurt down there so he finally gave it up. Then he started team roping. Well, he did before, but he team-roped quite a bit. He's like we were saying, Val and that, a lot of the rodeos that they performed in. LR: I bet that was fun for them. NL: Yeah, but he didn't-- Nikki wasn't old enough. She wasn't rodeoing yet when he passed away 'cause he's been gone 21 years. 18 LR: I saw that. [to Nute] Any other questions? Okay. I just want you to keep telling stories. I'm just so fascinated by everything you're telling me. I literally have a picture of him in my head. NL: This is funny because the lady that sponsored him for this... LR: Pat? NL: She just one day, we were talking and I was telling her about this sort of thing and we went to it once and the gal says, "Val should be in this." We told them "Nah, Val didn't blow his horn and we don't either." So she says, "I'll sponsor him." I thought, "Well, if someone else does it, that's okay." But this is what she said. She says, "I feel like I know him," and she didn't know him at all. LR: I always enjoy this. So any other story that you want to share before I ask my final question? NL: He worked for my dad. We were engaged and then he came down to the ranch and worked for my dad. My dad had a guest ranch in Monticello and Moab. He worked down there and packed. We went on three-week pat trips and he packed the supplies on horses. In the meantime, my dad moved from the Monticello ranch to a ranch near Moab. That's when Val went into the service for active duty from there. But he was so good. He broke horses. He roped colts. In fact, he was on a colt out here in this pasture when his heart [went] and he went off the horse and that was it. But he always had a colt in the barn and he'd gotten off the bus and had driven the bus that day. What is really interesting: we were going to this... Oh, my heck. What's the other gentleman's name...? You said Janet, his wife? LR: Oh, Moser. Ray Moser. 19 NL: Moser. We were going to his viewing the night Val passed away. He was, he'd put the horse in the barn and when he got home from the bus, he got it out and started riding. It was just a colt. Yeah. So, we didn't get to Ray's viewing that night, of course. But it's funny. He had announced for this Gerald Young a lot, too. It's really unusual that those three are going in together. LR: It is. That's interesting. I'm glad you mentioned that. NL: Gerald and I talk every once in a while, on the phone because we're just good friends, and I called him when I found out he was going in the same time, you know. I thought that that was really kind of neat. LR: It is. Yeah, this is fun. So I'm going to ask you a final question. It's not a fair question, but I'm going to ask you anyway. What do you think Val's legacy is? NL: I don't know how to answer that. LR: I told you it's not a fair question. If you were to sum up what you think his legacy is, what do you think his grandchildren... How do you think they see him? NL: A lot about the things I've said. His kindness, gentleness. His stature. They admired what he did. They liked the horses. They liked the rodeos. They liked living out like this. So I think that's what their memories would be. I wish Vicki was here. I really do. LR: We can come back and visit with her, too. I have no problem doing that. I am very appreciative of your time and your willingness. What I love is, when I go up and read through this, I'm going to be surprised at the wonderful stories because there are some great stories here, so you don't need to worry. 20