To Fannie
My Great Aunt

"If there are not horses in heaven, I do not want to go there. But I believe there will be horses in heaven, as surely as God will be there, for God loved them or He wouldn't have created them with such majesty"
Fannie Sperry Steele

Rachel & Datus Sperry

Rachel Sperry had a no-nonsense way of teaching her children to ride.  When they were old enough to walk, she simply plopped them onto the back of a gentle horse and told them not to fall off.  If they disregarded the command, she gave them a smart smack on the behind and lifted them back into the saddle.  By the time the Sperry children were teenagers, they were all expert riders capable of breaking and shoeing their own horses. Datus had endured chronic back pain which left Rachel with lots of the "raising" of the kids.

Born to Datus & Rachel Sperry, Fannie grew up with her two sisters Bertha and Carrie, and two brothers Walter & Arthur. Arthur was my Grandpa, he went on to travel with the Forest Service making sure their mules and horses had adequate shoes for their work and travels. Then they settled in Plains Montana where he had a blacksmith shop. He was known as a "Horse Whisperer", he could calm any horse to stay still while he shoed them. His last years were spent in the Blacksmith shop, sharpening tools, and things like plow blades. It was hot and heavy lifting and pounding work, It makes my body ache to think of him there and what he was doing. I sure enjoyed watching the iron come out of the fire literally white hot, then watch him pound out whatever his project was at the time it is literally a lost art.. They moved to Oregon to live with my Parents when they got too old to live alone.

Grandpa Daily & Grandpa Art, Fannie's brother
running their Blacksmith shop in Townsend MT....
Lots of horseshoes laying around, the anvil on bottom right of
picture is where they formed the iron they would get it white hot, then
dip it in that box of water, then start pounding....what a hard job

Bill & Fannie Sperry Steele
"I hardly saw men," Fannie Sperry once joked. yet let a horse go down the road and I noted all there was to see about it~

In talking to Fannie and reading all the stories I could get my hands on, I feel she's survived her life, as gracefully as a queen, and yet as tough as any Montana Cowboy. I would give anything to go back in time just for a short while to see her ride. I did not grow up and get married to a horse rancher and live happily everafter in Montana, far from it. But that was my dream. I spent some time with Fannie on her Dude Ranch for a little while when I was on vacation with my Grandparents my Grandpa (Fannies brother) and Grandma. They took me there to meet her, I was able to ride with her, she took me on some trail rides while I was there, I wish I'd been more interested in her accomplishments then, now it's a little late for all the questions I have!!!!!

Fannie & Bill on her Dude Ranch that she ran by herself for many years even after Bill passed away in 1940, it was a big job for one, but Fannie loved every minute of it with her horses and all the care and loving she gave to them, they must have enjoyed heaven on earth, I too hope they've all joined her in heaven.

Fannie first rode for a paying audience in the summer of 1903 when she was only 16. She thrilled residents of Mitchell, a tiny settlement not far from the Sperry ranch by sticking like a cocklebur to the back of a writhing, white stallion.  Her black braids and free right hand swung like horsewhips as the animal tried to buck her off.  On lookers were so impressed that they passed a hat and gave her all the money that was collected.

Fannie on one of her favorite Pinto's when I was
visiting her at her Dude Ranch

Fannie went on to win many accolades in her riding career. In 1912 the same year as her triumph at the Calgary Stampede, she teamed up with a partner - a thirty-four-year-old cowpuncher and part-time rodeo clown named Bill Steele.  She met Bill while performing at a county fair in Deer Lodge Montana and she married him only a few months later, on Aril 30, 1912 . They spent their honeymoon on the rodeo circuit.

This is a painting I did from a family photo of Fannie and Bill looking over Fannie's prize Belt © 6/14/04