Horace D. Henderson, 97

Horace D. Henderson, 97, of Grangeville, passed away Saturday, December 29, 2007, at the Grangeville Health and Rehabilitation Center, of causes related to age.

Horace was born October 24, 1910 to Idaho County Pioneers Carl and Margaret Harriman Henderson at the Brust Ranch on Joseph Plains. His early years were spent at his father’s homestead at Fly Blow, as well as his uncle’s homesteads on High Range and Spring Camp, all on Joseph Plains. In his early years on Joseph, he broke horses for the Van Pool Brothers Ranch. He continued to break horses for a living for numerous people throughout the years.

Dad watched and learned from the old cowboys on the family ranches and it was there that he learned the cowboy craft of rawhide braiding, a skill that he would eventually become world renowned for. It has been said that Horace Henderson was to rawhide what Ray Holes was to saddle making. Articles about him and his rawhide work have been featured in publications such as the Western Horseman and the Quarter Horse Journal. In 1984, his work was selected by the Idaho Commission of the Arts to be displayed in a traveling exhibition that went to places around the world such as Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan and Algeria. He often would receive phone calls from people as far away as Australia wishing to purchase his rawhide tack. Even phone calls from Hollywood celebrities were not uncommon. When told that he didn’t charge enough for his rawhide ropes, hackamores or reins, he would just say “A cowboy out workin’ for wages can’t afford those kind of prices!”, and therefore, dad never got rich doing it. He continued to braid rawhide until the age of 94, when failing eyesight just wouldn’t permit it anymore.

When Horace was a small child, the family would spend the school months in White Bird so that his older sister could attend school there, returning to the cattle ranch in the summer. Later, the family sold the ranch and moved to Grangeville where he helped his father with his dray (freight hauled by horse or wagon) business.

He attended schools in Grangeville where he excelled in sports. He started as a freshman on the football and basketball teams and was the starting catcher on the high school baseball team as an eight grader.

His father later sold the dray business and moved the family to a small ranch on the South Fork of the Clearwater River, just below the old Washington Water Power dam and power plant. Dad worked at the power plant for a number of years and then in the late 1930’s seeking some new adventure, he rode the train from Grangeville to Seattle and boarded a steamship for Alaska. He spent two years working in Alaska on a fish trap. He returned about the time World War II broke out.

On May 16, 1942, he married Marjorie Lee of White Bird at Nezperce. The war was going strong then and because of his experience running the power plant on the South Fork, he took a job as a power plant operator at the Tungsten mine in Stibnite, Idaho. This mine supplied the allied forces with the majority of their Tungsten. He worked there until late 1944, moving his family then to Fenn where he worked for Hauger farms for a short time. In 1945, he purchased the family home in White Bird where his four children were raised.

He worked briefly for the “Sage of the Salmon” Bill Jackson at his small sawmill on the Herb Brown ranch on Skookumchuck flats. Later he worked for Everett Cox at his sawmill on the Clearwater. In the summer of 1948, he helped build the sawmill at White Bird, where he worked until the late 1950’s. He then took a job at a small mill located on the old Remington homestead near White Bird. In 1959, he went to work for the U.S. Forest Service at Slate Creek where he worked until his retirement in 1972. He and Marge separated in 1971.

In 1972 he married Marine Twogood, sold the family home in White Bird and moved to Grangeville. Marine passed away in 2004. In 2005 he moved into the Meadow Lark Assisted Living Home. In July 2007, he married his long time friend, Lillian Holes, and they resided together at the Meadow Lark until he was admitted to the Grangeville Health and Rehabilitation Center in November 2007.

Dad was a life long lover of horses and the cowboy lifestyle. He said he didn’t remember the first time he rode a horse by himself, but he suspected it was before he could walk. He was an avid hunter, killing countless deer and elk in his lifetime, as well as a Bighorn Sheep at age 75 and an Alaskan Caribou at age 85. He served as the Grand Marshall for Border Days in 1988 at age 77. Spectators at the Rodeo still talk about how he “buzzed” the arena on his horse during his grand entry. In June 2007, he was chosen to serve as Grand Marshall of the White Bird Days celebration, but was unable to attend due to ill health.

Horace is survived by his wife, Lillian, of Grangeville; Richard Henderson of Anchorage, Alaska, Allen Henderson and wife Janet of Lewiston, Idaho, Marie Henderson Ingram of Clarkston, Washington, and Rita Henderson Mundt and husband David of Grangeville; nieces Barbara Brotnov of Clearwater, Pat Vessey of Stites, and Carly Key of Grangeville. He is also survived by seven grandchildren: Cliff Caldwell of Portland, Oregon, Gina Henderson Heath of Fairbanks, Alaska, Shae Henderson Hollandsworth of Soldotna, Alaska, Guy Ellibee of Clarkston, and Brad Mundt of Grangeville; nine great grandchildren: Mia Heath, Brock Ellibee, Brandon Ellibee, Samuel Ellibee, Meagan Ellibee, Hunter Caldwell, Jordyn Nielson, Jeylin Neilson and Kierra Nielson.

Cremation will take place and at his request, no services will be held. A private family memorial will take place at a later date.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Blackmer Funeral Home in Grangeville.

Send condolences to the family at Blackmerfuneralhome.com.