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Obituary: Lonnie Mantle

January 20, 2022 | Special to the Herald Times | Obituaries



July 1, 1935 ~ Dec. 26, 2021

Lonnie M. Mantle was born July 1, 1935, to Charlie and Evelyn Mantle, on the way to the hospital, at a neighbor’s house in Elk Springs, Colorado (which doesn’t exist anymore). His family homesteaded at the bottom of the Hells Canyon on the Yampa River of what later became a part of Dinosaur National Monument. That’s a 50-mile ride to town. Because they lived at the bottom of the canyon, travel in and out of the ranch was done by horseback or in a horse-drawn wagon, ground was cleared and hay was put up with teams. So, it’s almost safe to say Lonnie was born on a horse.

Imagine smooth sandstone cliffs, 1,100’ tall and 700’ undercut. This is where the Mantles played. Lonnie learned early to ride and rope, gathering cattle and breaking horses — often at the same time! In hindsight it’s not likely that the Mantles ever started with gentle horses. Their horses got that way with wet saddle blankets and time; Imagine riding a bucking horse on terrain that has a 45-degree angle and ends at a 1,200’ first step; that is a damn site harder than riding in a flat, groomed arena. Therefore, it kind of goes without saying, that the favorite diversion from the ranch work was rodeo and that Lonnie and his brothers cleaned up (won) most of the rodeos they entered.

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