Empty saddle to pay tribute 
to longtime Yuma horseman

To honor the memory of horseman Herschel H. Wright, a family member planned to ride into the rodeo arena Friday evening, leading a horse carrying an empty saddle.

The family chose a touching farewell for Wright, 88, who died on Jan. 25.

Friends recently remembered him with stories of the past.

Bill J. Anderson said: “Herschel and I were both active in the Jaycees and the Sheriff's Posse back in the late 1950s. He was a good horseman and could really rope. Always friendly.”

With the death of Wright, the title of “oldest lifetime member of the Yuma County Sheriff's Posse” passes to Anderson, who will be 86 this year.

Retired sheriff John Phipps said Wright was along on many of the out-of-town rides in years past.

Also a Jaycee life member, Wright was chairman of the Silver Spur Rodeo in 1958. In a past interview, Wright said that his late brother-in-law, Odell Stafford, had passed the reins onto him. He proudly said his daughter, Nelda Wright, was crowned rodeo queen in 1958. Her mother was the former Idelle Stafford.

Wright also said he didn't know how to dance and wanted to go to the Jaycee Rodeo dances. A family friend, Irene Amavisca, taught him how to dance at the old Rood School on Somerton Avenue.

In the interview, Herschel talked about the various extra rodeo activities with people tossed into “jail” on Main Street if they weren't wearing western-style clothing. There were fake hangings and, he said, “One time I rode my buckskin horse Clipper into the lobby of the San Carlos Hotel, then in the elevator to the top floor and back down.”

He also helped with the Jaycee-sponsored City of Yuma Endurance Flight by pilots Woody Jongeward and Bob Woodhouse in 1949.

During the early rodeo days, Wright was also into roping, often at the old Jack Neil arena at Avenue 3E and 32nd Street, which was used by the sheriff's posse until the group built one on South Avenue A.

He participated in many of the posse roping competitions around Southern California, Prescott and other Arizona sites.

Wright was a truck driver, hauling cotton, then went to work for the Milne freight line and stayed for 28 years.

He worked with Manuel Quejida for 12 years building several horse arenas around Yuma and the Gila Valley.

After moving to Huntington Beach, Merced and Madera, he built about 120 swimming pools.

He moved back to Yuma in 2003 after his wife, Wanda, died. She had three children: Doug, Chris and Jennifer. Herschel's son, Richard, is deceased.

His daughter, Nelda, taught school in California then retired at San Pasqual High School. Her children are Michael and Joe Carmichael; daughter, Molli; and three grandchildren, Cheyene, Marti and Cole.

Herschel married Sharon Angus Dodgen Dec. 23, 2009, at the little chapel in Dome Valley. Sharon was rodeo queen in 1950 and retired from her horse training and riding academy that she owned. A wedding reception honored the newlyweds at Britain's Farm Chuckwagon.

They lived in New Mexico before returning to Yuma in 2009 after Sharon had a serious accidental fall.

Herschel was the second of 12 children born to O.L. and Elva Wright, who homesteaded in the Gila Valley and also lived in the Yuma Valley.