TRAIL BOSS

Monumental Bronze, 16’H x 15’6″L x 11’6″D, Limited Ed. of 5 – Created 2006
(Commissioned by the great folks of Artesia MainStreet)

Beginning way back in 1866 with one of many men who passed through the southeastern New Mexico area, Charlie Goodnight trailed cattle out of Texas by means of the Pecos River. He was able to drive cattle to market in New Mexico and Colorado which was not an easy task at all.

In the eighty mile stretch from the headwaters of the Concho River in west Texas to the Pecos River in New Mexico, there were 400 head of cattle lost each trip. This stretch became known as the Goodnight Loving Trail which created legends that became larger than life.

These legendary riders formed the character of hard riding, hard fighting men determined to brave the wild and dangerous frontier that, would in time, be tamed. Others that would follow were men like: John Chisholm, Billy the Kid, and John Wesley Harden.

Some stayed and settled a hostile land and labored their living out of this country while others moved on to other parts of the west to leave their footprints, good or bad, in the pages of history. This determined desperation to live and succeed has come down through the generations to our modern world and given men that same desire to explore and make better lives for their families.

‘Trail Boss’ and the town of Artesia, New Mexico pays tribute to Charlie Goodnight and tells a story of ranching and the cattle business in the Pecos Valley in the late 1800’s. ‘Trail Boss’ reflects the independent spirit and hard-working, optimistic attitude of these early settlers and cowboys. Vic brings us along to a time when entrepreneurship, perseverance and the willingness to face adversity head on was a way of life as shown by the ‘Trail Boss’ who is spurring his horse to action in response to a cattle rustler.