A man stopped me in a business in eastern Oklahoma and asked if I was Dusty Richards. That’s not unusual. He said he knew me from all the years he attended the Rodeo of the Ozarks and how he had enjoyed it. He knew I had been on that board for years and he said he never missed a year.
During our conversation he told me about a friend of his who had a framed picture of Ditman Mitchel and wondered if I knew anyone who would display the picture. I said, “The Rodeo of the Ozarks has a collection of things in our office, including pictures of many past board members and cowboys. We would love to have it. He replied, “I’ll get it to you.” I gave him my card but didn’t get his name – but I am certain the picture is coming.
Who was Ditman Mitchell? For several years in the ‘50s and ‘60s he announced the Rodeo of the Ozarks performances. At one time when the Hereford cattle breed was number one, he auctioneered most all the large purebred sales. People say his knowledge of their bloodlines was unbelievable. He was born on a family farm on the White River towards Elkins. He served in World War II. He taught Cecil Phillips and Cotton Clem, along with a thousand others, how to auctioneer.
Years ago on a drenching rainy day I stopped for a cup of coffee at the Crossbow Restaurant in Huntsville, Ark. Sitting there telling yarns to each other was Ditman Mitchell and Jack Bushbaum. Jack had been a world champion bronco rider and then owned the Green Forest Sale Barn. So it was heady company and I’d gave $100 if I’d had a tape recorder.
When Ditman came back from Europe he was on a troop train crossing Canada, it stopped in Toronto and he got off after learning they were having a big rodeo there. So he went to the rodeo grounds and talked to the rodeo producer he knew who lived up there. He went home with him and he said they put up hay all day and rodeoed all night. He went on rodeoing with the man after that.
The stories went on and on that day in the cafe. Ditman had done a million things in his life.
Years later I was working for KFAY radio station in Fayetteville, Ark., as their farm director in the morning. Cecil Phillips called me and said Ditman was dying. Harry Vold, a big rodeo contractor, had gotten him a paid-for-phone in his room that he could use for free. But Cecil said that hospital room was sure bare. The next morning I made a plea on the air. I told them a little about Ditman and all he’d done for folks. The list was long and I wanted them to send him flowers. That was between 6 and 7 in the morning. At 4 p.m. the administrator at the Veterans Hospital called the radio station and asked them to please stop the flowers – every room and every patient and the halls were filled with flowers and plants.
Ditman’s sister called me crying about the wonderful send off. I told her it wasn’t me it was his friends. And it was them.
God bless you, your family and America, Dusty Richards
Western novelist Dusty Richards and his wife Pat live on Beaver Lake in northwest Arkansas. For more information about his books you can email Dusty by visiting ozarksfn.com and clicking on ‘Contact Us’ or call 1-866-532-1960.
