It's About Time

I got a call last Thursday that I have been waiting on for about 15 years. Joey Goodman, long-time sports writer for the Lawton Constitution, called and gave me some of the best news I have had in a long time. Howard Council, a world famous saddle maker from Lawton, Oklahoma, will be inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in April and receive the Chester A. Reynolds award for lifetime achievement. Chester A. Reynolds was the founder of the Cowboy Hall of Fame, which is now known as the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. To some of us old people, we will always know it as “The Hall of Fame”.
Howard Council has been making saddles from his little shop down on South 2nd street in Lawton for as long as I can remember and I have been told that it was over 50 years. Mr. Council, now in his 80s and battling health issues, still goes to work everyday that he can and works from a hand-written order list that he will never finish. That list is not only made up of folks from the Texhoma area but from some of the top nationally known cowboys from across the United States and some of the best calf ropers to ever shake out a loop. In fact, Howard has made saddles for not only professionals, but also hobby ropers like George Strait. I know of at least two saddles and maybe more that Howard built for George. I also understand that he has built a saddle for Garth Brooks and of course many of the greats from rodeo circles like Roy Cooper and many others. All these notables from the pro rodeo ranks, as well as from the country music world can buy any saddle from anybody in the world. The ones they covet and cherish the most are the ones that are handmade every step of the way by who I and many others consider one of the best in the world, Howard Council.
Howard’s craft is much like fine wine. It has definitely become better with age. I have seen a good many Council saddles, some early ones as well as well as some later models. He has absolutely created works of art with each one he built. Many greats in the saddle business like John Rule in Oklahoma City have studied at the feet of who they consider the guru of their craft. The man who has spent his life taking common cowhide and turning it into a functional work of art that the world’s best cowboys use as a tool of their trade to make a living on the back of a horse. In these days of synthetic material and plastic saddle trees, it is refreshing to see a man that still will not short-change quality to meet a price point. Asking how much a Council Saddle costs is much like asking a price of a Mercedes. If you have to ask, you cannot afford it. But, it is a lifetime investment. I know several people who are fortunate enough to own one that would not sell at any price because they know that at some point, there will be no more.
I set up an event two or three years ago with my good friend, the late Clem McSpadden, at the Medicine Park Music Hall. The event was called The Night of Living Legends. I had to resort to some trickery to get Clem to come down because really my goal was to put Clem on film telling his old cowboy stories so that they could be recorded. My other living legend guest that night was Howard Council. I had to tell Clem that he was helping me as a political fundraiser, because Clem never would have agreed to have done that for himself or his family. I admit it, I tricked him. He came down and it was pure magic. The most fun was watching Clem and Howard visit while sitting out on the rock ledge at the Medicine Park Music Hall. It was so neat to watch two legends from different facets in the pro rodeo business telling stories between themselves. Clem and Howard had never met but knew stories of the same people. Clem had spent his life on the microphone and Howard had spent his life equipping cowboys to go out and make a check. Many of their friends and acquaintances were the same folks. My other ulterior motive was to engage Clem in helping us find a place in the Cowboy Hall of Fame for Howard. Of course, that connection I believe was part of the reason that Howard was finally recognized and will take his place in that hallowed hall. I was honored to be a small part in helping my friend go down in history. Congratulations Howard, it is about time.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call
1-800-522-8502 or send an e-mail to donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

“Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”