Is there such a thing as a Rigby Sharps Rifle?

[janet monk]

93477My dad died several years ago at age 91 and left me with a bunch of Sharps Rifles etc. One of his favorite was what he called a Rigby. He told me that Sharps shipped about 18 actions to Rigby and Rigby made the rest of the gun. The barrel is stamped John Rigby & Co. London & Dublin. It perhaps was a custom made gun as the forearm has some finger groves on it that look like it may have been made for a left handed shooter. The stock and forearm are of black walnut. The inlay in the receiver (Borchardt type) is ebony and the butt plate is a hard checkered composition type with the scroll type initials of SR Co. Its long. The barrel is 35 inches and the gun overall is 51 inches long. The weight is 9 pounds. The front barrel sight was missing but I just recently found it in his roll top desk. I've not heard of this kind of Sharps before and just want to get some more information about it.

[Doc_Stihl]

PICTURES. Please post pictures. I have nothing to add as far as knowledge, but a picture is worth a thousand words.

[janet monk]

I was able to upload a picture. Thanks. Janet

[waksupi]

Glad to see you made it here, Janet!

I'm moving this to the black powder cartridge area, you will get a lot more viewers.

[John Allen]

Janet, that is a Sharps Borchardt. They also went by the model 1878 if memory serves me.

[John Allen]

I believe rigby did make some barrels for sharps rifles.

[.22-10-45]

I believe the Model 1877..the so-called "English Model" is what you might be refering to. Sharps imported high quality back-action shotgun locks and Rigby barrels from England and assembled what were mainly hand-built target rifles. A few sporters were made up as well.

[Don McDowell]

Rigby did at different times buy Sharps rifles take them to his place and rebarrel them for different folks. If I'm not mistaken the only known surving 76 model that John Bodine owned wears a Rigby barrel. Those Borchardts were highly thought of by the long range shooters of the late 70's and right up until the time Sharps closed the doors and long range shooting quit being the national past time.
Ned Roberts in his Schuetzen Rifle book heaps a lot of praise on those 78's.
Google up the Sharps Collectors and contact those fella's they'll slobber all over themselves about your rifles.

[Chill Wills]

Don, I'm slobbering all over my keyboard! From what I know I think you are right about Rigby.

22-10-45 -She said her barrel was mark by Rigby. This is one fine looking and interesting 1878 Sharps.
You are correct about the 1877 sharps but this has nothing to do with that model.

David at www.researchpress.co.uk will likely know something too. Contact him.
Nice Rifle! Good luck! -Michael Rix

[Don McDowell]

Mike, yeh I had to go get a fresh drool rag after that picture showed up... I think Sellers wrote about those Rigby guns in his book.

Here's the link to the Sharps collectors http://www.sharpscollector.com/
Janet do we know what the rifle is chambered in , and are there any bullet moulds with it?

[janet monk]

Thanks for all your help. This was probably my dad's, Austin Monk, favorite. He thought it was very special, but his friends all seemed to like his other Sharps better. Thanks also for all the links. I will look at them. It would have been easier to just ask my dad. I'm sure he gave more details about it but I just don't remember them. He shot all of his Sharps...(that was the only reason he had them.) A gun that he couldn't shoot was of no value to him.


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[waksupi]

I remember shooting with Austin out at Hooterville, and he was shooting probably the roughest looking Sharps he owned. The looks sure didn't hurt the performance, as I seem to remember he won several of the matches that weekend. There was always something interesting to learn from that man.
Janet didn't mention it, but I do believe he had quite a few more Sharps than are shown in that picture.

[Don McDowell]

Janet are you the one that has the Facebook page about the Montana Sharps rifles? If so I enjoy reading the little tidbits you put on there.
Thanks much for posting the picture of that Borchardt, it sure got a lot of us that enjoy the creedmoor shooting to drooling and wishin.

[John Boy]

Lordy, Janet, what a beautiful collection - I sure hope you have had that collection appraised and insured.
You might want to contact
Amoskeag Auction Company, Inc.
250 Commercial Street #3011
Manchester, NH 03101

Tel: 603-627-7383 Fax: 603-627-7384
Appraisals:
jason@amoskeagauction.com

[waksupi]

I believe most of the collection is on display at a local bank at the time.

[janet monk]

The Sharps are on display at the local bank. They can keep them safe and have better insurance than I can afford. They will never be for sale during my lifetime. I grew up with them in every corner, under the beds, in the trunk of the cars etc. They are part of my family. Sometimes I feel like I should set a place for them at the dinner table.

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[waksupi]

Feel free to share stories of Austin, and the early ranching days, Janet. Lots of people would be interested in reading them. I know I always enjoy hearing them. Not many here have any concept of where and how you grew up. A true back country ranch gal!

I think I have pictures of Austin on the firing line at Hooterville, Virginia City, maybe Lone Pine. I'll see if I can find them.

[Pb2au]

Thank you very much for sharing this. What a treasure of history.

[M-Tecs]

That's an awesome collection. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

[janet monk]

Yes, that's me. I'm glad you like the stories.

[.22-10-45]

Hello, Janet Monk. Here is what I found on page 277 in Frank Sellers Sharps Firearms book. " About 20 barreled actions were sold to various British buyers in 1878 and 1879 as well as a number of actions alone. These actions and barreled actions acount for a large number of variant model 1878 rifles that occure in the 6,000 and 7,000 serial number series.
Sharps built a total number of 230 long-range rifles.

[janet monk]

Thanks, That information was helpful. First though I had to look for my Sellers book. I was surprised that they're were only 230 made. I'm sending you a picture of another of his long range Borchardt that Austin called his, "Creedmoor." I just noticed that the serial numbers of this one and the Rigby are only 27 numbers apart. I still wish the guns could talk or that my dad would have written down more information.

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[country gent]

Those are some beautiful pieces of history and need to be perserved for future generations curiosity also. The stories and history behind each and every one is what makes them even more special, unfortunaltly thats the first thats lost over the years. If those rifles could talk, especially the rougher ones that may have seen field use with meat or market hnters.

[.22-10-45]

I too have a few I wish could talk! Those Long & Mid-range rifles are sure beautiful..grace and beauty seem to have gone by the wayside in these modern times!

[bigted]

my goodness ... thankyou tons for sharing this. i have been away with my dad for his triple bypass heart surgery at 80 years young. he is doing great but to come home and see this is just exactly what this pilgrim needed.

sorry for your father ...[living history]... passing and i for one will keep an eye to seeing other posts of yours when you decide to share more of that shared history.

thankyou very much!

[janet monk]

Thanks. I never know if you guys are easily amused or if you're just spoofing me about liking the Sharps stories, but I have plenty of them. I know less about guns than a pig about religion but I do know the stories of how a lot of these guns came to our house.

The other day Waksupi mentioned that he saw Austin at one of the buffalo shoots and he was shooting a very disreputable looking Sharps. Austin won quite a few matches with this gun at the buffalo shoots. It was pretty accurate at 800 to 1000 yards and he liked to carry it around with him in the pickup at the ranch. He never had to worry about it getting beat up any more than it already was. This was a Model 74 45 - 70 that Austin's brother-in-law found on the beach at Whidby Island when he was a kid. Uncle George and his brothers played with this old relic when they were kids and then it hung on his garage for 40 or 50 years. Finally George sent it home with Austin when he moved. Austin drug it home to the ranch. The barrel was completely plugged with rust and gunk and everything was froze up. Austin decided to boil it in vinegar in my mom's kitchen. When he got it cleaned he found the end of the barrel was packed solid by a hard plug of mud and there was a shell still in the chamber. The bore was protected and still good. Austin got it all cleaned and oiled up and then put another stock and forearm on it. He found it shot really well. According to Dr Labowskie's records it left the Sharps factory as a Model 1874 Sporting Rifle on January 5, 1878 and was shipped to Schuyler, Hartley and Graham. The cost was $38.00. The serial numbers are barely legible on the barrel and forearm but they match. It might not look like much, but Austin was pretty proud of this and it worked good for him at 1000 yards. That's what mattered to him. Last spring one old timer came up to me and told me that around the turn of the century hunters used Sharps to shoot seals with around Whidby Island.

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[Don McDowell]

Keep them coming Janet, you've got some very interesting stories to tell.

[waksupi]

If any of you are interested, Janet did a book about this collection that she sells. She hasn't got enough posts on the board to actually advertise it yet, but I will give it a plug for her!

[Kenny Wasserburger]

It's a great book enjoy mine.
KW

[Don McDowell]

Facebookers can like this https://www.facebook.com/sharpsriflesofmontana?ref=profile

[janet monk]

Thanks for reading all the stories. Don't forget to write down the history of your own guns. Otherwise they will be lost.

[janet monk]

Austin always referred to this gun as a Creedmoor. I don't know the difference between what should be called a Creedmoor, a long range or a Sporting rifle. Someone should straighten me out?
He bought this gun sometime before 1984. It was used in a range war near Belt, Mt to murder a rancher. Years later it belonged to a young lad who was engaged to the daughter or grand daughter of the rancher. She would not get married until her fiancee got rid of the gun. The young guy got a hold of Austin and he bought the offending gun. Austin said the gun was shipped to the Walter Cooper hardware store in Bozeman territory. According to Dr. Laborskie's Sharps records, it left the Bridgeport factory on August 31 and was sent to Schuyler, Hartley & Graham. The total shipment consisted of three Sporting Rifles, identically configured, one Hunter's Rifle and 3 sets of globe and peep sights, 3 followers .44 caliber, 3 lubricant molds, 3 cap anvils and 3 wad cutters. The net total of the order came to $120.55. Don't you wish!

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[Don McDowell]

Janet I might be wrong, but generally a Creedmoor gun had the shotgun butt and pistol gripped stock much like the Borchardt, this last one you have pictured here would be more along the lines of a sporting rifle.

[janet monk]

Thanks, I knew someone would tell me what is the difference. Janet

[Don McDowell]

Ubecha, thank you for letting us drool and admire your dad's collection.

[Yellowhouse]

Yes, that's me. I'm glad you like the stories.

Keep them coming!!!

[waksupi]

It's nice to see a Cooper Sharps, a real Montana gun. When I lived at Rollins, Mt., my neighbor Ralph Heinz, western artist, had a collection of Cooper Sharps, probably around 30 of them. His interests changed, and he sold off the collection, and started collecting 20th century military arms. I still scratch my head over that one.

[Dusty Ed]

Howdy Don & Janet
I believe the Creedmoor was only allowed a single trigger ,no set trigger

Dusty Ed

[Don McDowell]

Ed it's true that the rules on Creedmoor prohibited set triggers, except at the end of the era, but single triggers were standard on about all sharps models.
The best way to judge if it was/might be a Creedmoor gun would be the pistol grip and shotgun butt, round barrel, single trigger and fancy wood, and the relief in the butt for the comb sight.

[DangerousDrummer]

Hi Janet,
I noticed the the picture of the sharps collection on the wall was titled "small gun room" which leads me to wonder, was there a "large gun room"? Is so... WOW!

[janet monk]

Just one gun room! Even though he had a gun room, he still liked to keep his guns handy. There was always one or two at attention in the corners of the living room. We lived on a ranch and often had bear and moose in the yard. I'll tell a story later of one of his late night bear stories. It wasn't a happy ending for the bear, but when Austin got back into the house, he noticed he had a couple of the spent brass cartridges in his hand. You could tell he was a true black powder shooter.

[janet monk]

Sometime in the 1980's Wolfgang Droege, the original owner of Shilo Sharps, used Austin's 45 2 7/8 to make a pattern for one of the Sharps that his company made. Wolfgang unveiled his gun at the Buffalo Runners Shoot in Virginia City, Mt. and presented it to the winner of the shoot, which was not Austin. He had won the shoot and the traveling trophy a couple of times with his old gun, but not that time. Austin bought his gun in a Seattle pawn shop in 1935 for $50.00. He was a young lad of 22 at the time and running a drag line in the Seattle harbor. I don't know if Shilo is still making this gun or not. The barrel on Austin's gun is about an inch and a quarter in diameter and the gun weighs a little over 15 pounds. Dr. Labowski's letter shows it as being shipped from Sharps in 1876 and going to Schuyler, Hartley & Graham.

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[Don McDowell]

Janet they still make that rifle, it's a Hartford with a patch box.

[Mumblypeg]

This thread is better than Saturday Night at the movies !!!

[janet monk]

Thanks Don, You are like a walking encyclopedia. Shilo probably thought it was made in Hartford, but it came from Bridgeport according to Labowskie's records. I didn't order his letters until Austin died. Here's some pictures of Austin shooting at Hooterville. He was in his late 70s at the time. Can you imagine shooting that big heavy thing prone?

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[Don McDowell]

Janet that milled ring around the barrel just ahead of the receiver is/was thought to denote a Hartford built gun, hence the "Hartford" moniker used by Shiloh and C Sharps.
Those heavy guns are nice to shoot, I have two rifles that weigh over 12 lbs.
Thanks for sharing this stuff with us. I grew up amid a bunch of gun folks tho in our little farming/ranching community east of Cheyenne, we didn't have as many of the good stuff as you guys up in the northern range had access to, so I come by my fondness of guns and the love of real history sort of honestly.

[waksupi]

Austin always referred to this gun as a Creedmoor. I don't know the difference between what should be called a Creedmoor, a long range or a Sporting rifle. Someone should straighten me out?
He bought this gun sometime before 1984. It was used in a range war near Belt, Mt to murder a rancher. Years later it belonged to a young lad who was engaged to the daughter or grand daughter of the rancher. She would not get married until her fiancee got rid of the gun. The young guy got a hold of Austin and he bought the offending gun. Austin said the gun was shipped to the Walter Cooper hardware store in Bozeman territory. According to Dr. Laborskie's Sharps records, it left the Bridgeport factory on August 31 and was sent to Schuyler, Hartley & Graham. The total shipment consisted of three Sporting Rifles, identically configured, one Hunter's Rifle and 3 sets of globe and peep sights, 3 followers .44 caliber, 3 lubricant molds, 3 cap anvils and 3 wad cutters. The net total of the order came to $120.55. Don't you wish!

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You have me racking my brain, trying to remember who Austin bought this gun from. I remember clearly hearing the story of why the guy had to sell it. I'm pretty sure he got it down at Virginia City at one of the shoots.

[Bad Water Bill]

waksupi

Thanks for posting this fantastic story.

Janet

Please start writing down any and everything you can remember about those great guns.

I was at a gunshow and mentioned to a collector I had an old model 99 in 22 Hi Power. He offered $500. I started mentioning some of the stories and he immediately said wright the stories and the price for the grey ghost AND the stories will be $1,000.

Yes a little history can go a long way.

Keep posting those memories as most us are waiting with baited breath.

By the way Girty is waiting for your book to arrive so I can read it to her.

[Don McDowell]

Janet do you by chance have any information on the ammunition your dad used in those rifles?

[janet monk]

I recently found, in his gun room, quite a bit of notes on his different loads. That's one of the few things he wrote down. He was constantly tweaking the powder and different weight and types of bullets and combinations. He was always experimenting. Many years ago his powder came in little duPont red oval cans. Fortunately he saved the cans, which are now collector items and there must be 20 or 30 of them left. Later he bought his powder in 50 pound boxes, several of which are still sitting around in the shop. I keep it dry and away from flames, so it should be ok. It doesn't seem like something a little old lady should have around, but my son wants to keep it. Those old ranchers often kept dynamite around. There was several sticks in my uncle's shop on the ranch next door that were sweating last summer. My cousins got the bomb squad to come out and remove it and set it off. It was kind of fun as they brought a cool looking bomb swat mobile. When they set the dynamite off it made quite a noise and scared the dogs. It's too bad Austin and his brother weren't alive to see the swat mobile driving up to their ranch. Austin left a case of ditching powder in his shop for me to tend to.

[Don McDowell]

Thanks Janet.
I found a permit they issued to my Dad during World War 2 that allowed him to purchase powder and explosives for farm use.

[ShooterAZ]

Wonderful thread, pictures and stories! I'd love to see and hear more. Thanks for posting and sharing with us.

[shdwlkr]

Janet
When you can post your book I want one. Wow to read about someone that really used some great rifles. I can never afford one but very interesting to read about them. Thanks for the posts, keep them coming, yes some of us are really interested in real history of real people in America.

[Don McDowell]

It's my birthday and my giveashxt is out on sick leave today, so anybody that want's to further pursue acquiring Janet's book can go here.
http://www.sharpsriflesofaustinmonk.com/

[janet monk]

Happy Birthday Don and thanks, you rebel you!

[Don McDowell]

You're most welcome Janet.:drinks:

[MT Gianni]

Janet, these are some amazing stories, Thank You for sharing them.

[country gent]

Don Thanks for the link Im going to make use of it. And Hoping you have a great birthday and many more.

[Don McDowell]

I think you're going to enjoy that book.

[janet monk]

When Austin was about 17 years old, which would have been around 1930, he had a job near Choteau, Mt. working on a farm. There was an old gun out in the old granary and the farmer told Austin he could have it. Austin turned up his nose at that dumb old gun, but he did tuck it up under the eaves of the granary so it would be protected from rain and snow. Not very many young fellows wanted an old percussion gun when they were 17. About 40 or so years later that gun became more interesting to him. He went back to Choteau and found the old farm and hunted up the old farmers grand daughter. She still lived on the place but the granary was tumbling down. She told him she was sure there wasn't any gun in it, but if there was Austin could have it. He reached up under the rafter and there was this old gun just where he had put it away for safe keeping. It wasn't any worse for wear and he had it cleaned up and in good working order in short time. It's marked on the barrel, "Sharps Rifle Manufg Co Hartford, Conn." "New Model 1859 and C Sharps Pat Sept 12th 1848, and C Sharps Pat Oct 5th 1852. R S Lawrence, is stamped on the hammer side.


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[Don McDowell]

That's a neat story.

[waksupi]

The way I heard that story, was the guy asked if Austin would help him put up some hay, in exchange for a deer rifle. Austin said he was figuring the guy would give him a .30-30 lever action. He said he was pretty disgusted when the guy gave him the Sharps, so just stuck in up in the barn and left it.

[janet monk]

Quite a few Borchardts seemed to just follow Austin Monk home. He shot them all, but when competition got hot and heavy, he usually relied on his 45 2 7/8 "Old Reliable." He had that big old gun for just short of 70 years, so I don't know if it was accurate or if after that amount of shooting he was just used to it.
This Borchardt is marked J P Lower, Denver, Col and was engraved by Austin's long time friend Tony LaGeosse in the early 1990s.


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[Don McDowell]

Wow..

[mnfarmboy]

Wow I never knew Austin Monk was a rifle man? All the stories I have ever heard alway had to do with steam. But it could be because of Gary talking about all them great Austin stories on smokstak.

[janet monk]

Thanks, Austin collected and shot guns all his life. My grandmother said he took naps with an old gun and she'd have to wait until he went to sleep to take it out of his bed. When he died at age 91, he had about 110 and every now and than I find another one in a drawer or under the floor joists in the basement. About a week before he died I hauled 65 black powder rifles up from my aunties' basement. They were all on a twin bed. A layer of guns, a blanket, another layer of guns, an old bedspread etc. They were stacked up like cordwood. I lugged them upstairs two at a time...except for the biggest Sharps. It came up by itself as it's heavy. I loaded them into the back of my old Toyota, which was quite a heavy load. When I drove the guns cross town, I drove very slowly and carefully. I could just see the headlines if I had gotten stopped.
Everybody told me I better clean the guns 'cuz if they had black powder in them, they would be dirty and maybe corroding. I found one of his friends and we had a gun cleaning day. Those guns were clean. I don't think we even dirtied up one white cotton patch. Austin would sit at the table with a gun across his knee cleaning it after he shot them. There was no rust anywhere.

[Frank Savage]

Nice, perfect and-not have enought fitting words. Hat down to Your father, he had blood very close to mine-a gun is for shooting. And what he got together seems to be the nicest what I can think about.
BUT PLEASE, PLEASE more detailed as well overall photos of the first Rigby-Borchardt. I´m drooling over nd idea and a 1:1 sketch I made several years ago when making plan for my ML (still not finished sadly), about a perfect rifle. From the utilitarian as well as aesthetical point. Sth like Sharps/Highwall, 35-36" barrel, 14,5 LOP, straight comb as close to bore axis as practicaly possible, pistol grip. Haven´t ever seen anything as close as Your gun is. Probably not only for me it´s somewhere at borders of the utmost ultimacy in gun porn. (sorry for the last word, but it´s the shortest way how to say it).
Don, I envy you you can get along only with a new droolrag. I will need a set to get over bathtub to prevent local flooding :D

Generaly, the bigger the photos will be, the better. Or please, make a gallery out of them over time. Would make a perfect study material for lot of us. Personaly, I´m also extremely interested in photos of your Beach Sharps. The processes it went through nicely uncovered any voids, flaws etc in material, just like acid bath does on damascus. I think it can say us something about processing of the metal at least. If only photos and measures of the bore and chamber can be made, to see what can be made to shoot...

[janet monk]

I'll do some more work on the details of the guns. Son will be home Saturday and he can tell me more specifics.

[Bad Water Bill]

Keep up the great work.

Girty is pestering me every night.

Wen U gitn er neXt book.

I keep telling her that great books take time.

[janet monk]

Another of Austin Monk's Borchardt. 40 - 50 Short Range Sporting Rifle. Austin purchased this rifle in 1986. Or maybe it just followed him home. That happened frequently around this time...or so he told my mom. It has an octaganol barrel stamped with Old Reliable Sharps Rifle Co. Bridgeport, Conn. On the side of the barrel it is marked Cal 45, then something that looks like 2 1/10 followed by 2 7/8. Someone please tell me what that means. On the receiver, it is marked Borchardt PAT, Sharps Rifle Bridgeport USA. It weighs nearly 11 pounds and is 46 inches long. It is gun number 98 in Austin's inventory.

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[bigted]

just takin a guess here ... it was rechambered to the 2 7/8ths after being a 2 1/10th or 45-70 into a 45-110.

[Kenny Wasserburger]

Ted is correct it started life as a 45-70 that's the 2.1 chamber length. At a later time it was rechambered to the 2-7/8ths aka the 110 and so marked by the factory it was common too do this.

Kenny W.

[.22-10-45]

It may have been re-chambered for the longer .45 case..but the real puzzle is now it's a .40-50? Relined bore & chamber? Sure wish these old irons could talk!

[bigted]

I read it to mean 40 - TO - 50 rifles ... could be wrong tho.

[janet monk]

This is one of Austin Monk's later Borchardts. He went through a phase of these guns showing up. This one he got after 1986 as it was never on his latest inventory. It is marked on the receiver, Sharps Rifle Co, Bridgeport, Conn,USA and on the round barrel, Old Reliable Sharps Rifle Co, Bridgeport, Conn. It is stamped Cal 40, 1 7/8 on the round barrel. The stock has some checkering but not the forearm. Total length is 41 1/2 inches and it weighs 8 pounds 5 Oz.

I don't know the story about this gun but I remember a little story about Austin as a young lad driving cattle. Often the easiest way to move cattle in the 1920s and 1930s was to drive them. No goose neck trailers and big diesel pickups then. He and a group of cowboys were to move a large herd of Hereford cattle from Cut Bank, Mt to the main ranch in Pleasant Valley, a distance of about 150 miles. Not to mention, they had to cross the Rocky Mountains. They got the cattle safely home, but his mother needed some fresh meat to feed this crew. Austin's dad told Austin to go out in the meadow and butcher a fat steer for meat. Austin rode up on a hill and spotted a nice round steer and shot. Nothing went down so he thought he must have missed. He aimed carefully and shot again. When he rode down to get the steer, he found he had killed, not one, but two of his dad's registered Hereford bulls. Oops! He had the same darn thing happen in the 1950s when a Moose was hanging out in the ranch yard. More about that one in another story. Does anyone know what the statute of limitations is for Moose?

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[Don McDowell]

:grin: Nice story Janet.

[waksupi]

Go ahead Janet, the moose ain't talkin'!

Was that Marias Pass they drove the cattle over? That would have been a tough trail to handle a herd on. I would have seriously considered pushing them south to the Swan Valley, even though it would have been further.

[HollandNut]

awesome reading here

have ta git one a the books

[country gent]

Great piece of history in that Ms Janet. And a fine rifle too. In your Dads era things were way diffrent than now. I can remeber Grandma ( born around 1901 we think) telling everything she had seen come into use cars, radio, television, telephones, the Moon Landings, and many other things. Alot has changed but has it been for the better?

[janet monk]

I always thought Marias Pass. It was considerably shorter and there were several places where they could stop with good feed. I'm thinking it probably took more than 2 weeks but less than 3. Cattle can go 20 miles in a day pretty easily but they can't do it everyday without a rest. We had no trouble driving them from the ranch to Island Lake which is about 14 miles in a day. Sometimes we would ride our horses back all in the same day. If there were real young calves they would haul them up in a truck and then we could hitch hike our horses back on the truck. If it was getting late or if we were tired we would just turn our horses loose and by morning they would be right back in the meadow. I and my cousins were a bunch of tough little girls back then.

[doc1876]

I just took delivery of Janet's book, and have to tell you that the pictures are great, I would like to have had some loading info from Austin's notes (maybe the next book). but I have to say, for a small book, there are a lot of great stories, and as I say pictures.
I will be giving one to my son for his Birthday when he gets in next week.

[janet monk]

Thanks for your kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed the book. Janet