2009 Montana Draft Teamster Hall of Fame

       
Tom Triplett
Whitefish, Montana
Tom Triplett comes from a family of horsemen, dating back to the days when Tripletts were friends and neighbors of George Washington, and his ancestors took Washington's guests fox hunting and did the future president's carpentry work.
His parents moved from Missouri to Oklahoma in horse drawn wagons before his birth, then back to Missouri and later on to Montana. Four years before Tom was born they moved in wagons from Plentywood Montana to the Flathead Valley, west of the Continental Divide.
For Tom, horsepower was the only source of transportation and power into his early adult years. He logged with horses, worked mules in the forest service grading landing strips, skidding poles, putting up hay and more. Through his years of draft horse and mule work, he developed the depth and breadth of expertise and experience that can only come from daily hands on work- privately and professionally. His knowledge of the horse was clearly stated when one of his nominators into the Hall of Fame explained, "as a horseman, Tom Triplett may not be able to walk on water, so to speak, but he could sure enough get a horse or a mule to do it." Triplett's depth of knowledge, experience and patience, his commitment to safety and the comfort and the well being of the animals, and his obsession with figuring how to get everything "jeeest right"- which all combined, puts him in a class of his own among horsemen, said those who nominated him for this honor.
Tom has taught and helped innumerable people to drive and work horses, build and repair harnesses, as well as rebuild wagons and equipment. As an expert in his field, he has helped teach a teamster course at Flathead Valley Community College, and participated as an instructor in Doc Hammill's Workhorse Workshops for the last decade.
He has also shared his wisdom in Hammill's instructional Horsemanship Video series on driving and working horses in harness.
Tom Triplett is a true Montana treasure who has spent his entire life earning a living by training, shoeing, packing, riding and driving horses and mules. Even now in his eighties he continues to help those with an interest in horses and mules with sage advice, driving instruction, training assistance, and entertaining stories that always have an important message, safety point, or handy tip for consideration. For his dedication, we induct him into the Montana Draft Teamster Hall of Fame for 2009.

Rollie Hebel - 77
McAllister, Montana
Rollie Hebel has been living and breathing draft horse culture practically from the day he was born. Hebel, born in 1932, grew up on a dairy farm in southern Wisconsin as the second oldest in a family of four boys and three girls. He learned the tricks of the trade from his
father and grandfather, spurring a love of the draft horse that would develop throughout his life.
Rollie came to Montana in 1948 and "cowboyed" for ten years at the Diamond O Ranch near Dillon and later, in 1960,
settled in and went to ranching. His breeding of specifically red roan Belgians was not planned- little thought went into his color choice, besides the fact that he liked their color and no one else had them when he purchased two mares from Zavan Green of Firth, Idaho in 1970. Hebel first showed his Belgians at the Eastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot in 1971 and has showed continuously since- missing the fair only twice for the Bicentennial Wagon Train in 1976 and the Montana Cattle Drive in 1989. By the early 1980s Hebel's herd of red roans had grown to 22, with all home raised except the original pair.
Rollie is a registered judge with the Belgian Draft Horse Association and has judged numerous shows in the intermountain region. In addition to raising red roan Belgians and campaigning his hitch, he has served the draft and driving community by helping others with their hitches. Always concerned about safety, when Rollie gently but firmly growls about a twisted line or makes a suggestion of a better way to do things- we listen. He is an undisputed- and at the same time, modest- master when it comes to hitching and driving.
According to those who nominated him for the Hall of Fame, Rollie vowed to "slow down a little" at the dawn of the 21st century. He continues, however, to judge draft shows throughout the Northwest, including the Montana State Fair, the Montana Fair, the Ravalli County Fair, and the Eastern Idaho State Fair, among others. Rollie, as many will attest, is one of the rare draft judges who instills a desire in those he judges to do their best by encouragement, not intimidation- the sign of a knowledgeable master of his trade.
Rollie has taken first place at the Eastern Idaho State Fair, Montana Mule Days, and most recently, last year's 2007 Big Sky Draft Horse Expo- all while driving the Eden 4-abreast hitch.
For a lifetime selflessly dedicated to the art and science of driving draft animals, we induct Rollie Hebel into the Montana Draft Teamster Hall of Fame.

2008 Montana Draft Teamster Hall of Fame

Carroll Manuel
Winnett, Montana
Carroll Manuel began driving a stacker team for Jack Dunphy when he was 8 years old. Today, at 87, he owns and works the Dunphy property and continues to use teams to put up hay and raise feed for his stock. Manuel broke horses for use, raised draft horses, built stock water reservoirs for stock water and showed for decades at driving competitions and fairs. One of his favorite memories of driving are helping get new drivers settled in and starting out the right way. Manuel, before his retirement from driving this year, ran wagon trains- bringing in participants from all over the U.S. and Canada- each with their own wagon and mules in tow. After a teaching session on the basics of driving a team participants feel part of a unique experience and comfortable in driving their wagon.

Earl Stucky
Avon, Montana
Born in 1934, Earl Stucky was raised on his family ranch along the Gallatin River near Gallatin Gateway, driving teams to help with haying and other chores. Upon his marriage to Glenna Krueger in 1954 he purchased his family ranch from his parents, where he lived until the mid-sixties; he then took a job as the cow boss for the Flying D Ranch, near Bozeman. Work horses were used to feed the thousands of cattle on the ranch and Stucky was always on hand, riding his horse out to where the days' work was, instead of loading into a trailer. In 1976 Stucky and his family moved 14 miles north of Avon, purchased a team- Pat and Mike- and have been there for over 30 years. They continue to own and use draft horses at their ranch to this day. Many Percheron horses have been raised and broke by Stucky throughout the years on his ranch, using the horses for ranch work, parades, and pleasure- including winter sleigh rides treasured by his family.

Jake Frank
Park City, Montana
We are very sorry to hear that Jake Frank passed away on November 9, 2008
For Jake Frank, growing up fast was the way of life. The youngest of ten children, his dad dying before the age of 4, Frank and his older brothers took on the ranch responsibilities- he driving a team all day long in the fields before the age of twelve. At 93, Frank has been able to instill the skills of horsemanship and hard work into his children- teaching them how to work the animals and to respect each one for its uniqueness. Competing in the teamster driving contests later in life, after a successful stint as a rodeo performer and a top-notch pick-up man, he was always confident in his horses ability. As many can attest to, Frank could get his mules to do anything he needed them to do- leading his to win the Montana high-pint teamster award several times. He taught his children to drive and helped many more get started in teamster driving. Even after selling a team, he devoted many hours teaching the new owners how to drive them correctly.