Cowboy State Daily
Eighty years ago, Frank “Wild Horse” Robbins was rounding up mustangs with an airplane in the Red Desert near Rawlins, Wyoming, when he spotted a rare palomino stallion running with the herd. He sent for his photographer, Verne Wood, to take a photo, unaware of the sequence of events that he was about to unleash.
This photo caught the imagination of the world. The horse, now known as Desert Dust, had posed in sage and rock the day of his capture, still untamed and wild. More than a million copies were sold worldwide appearing at such prestigious places as the House of Commons in London.
Wood hired a team to colorize the copies he sold, and life was good. However, his good fortune was about to change. Realizing the stunning popularity of his horse, Robbins sued for the rights of the famous photo, especially since now he planned to shoot a movie about Desert Dust with Universal Studios.
It was this first photo of Desert Dust that sparked an investigation by the Las Vegas detective into just who this horse was. What began as mere curiosity of a wild horse ballooned into a lifelong passion to tell the true tragic story of Desert Dust. More
In elementary school (1960’s) I read a series of books about a wild golden Palomino, told from the horse’s perspective. I loved those stories.
What an awesome story. Thanks Doc tar.
On I-90 just east of the Vantage, Wash. bridge on the Columbia River in central Wash. state are 15 life sized iron sculptured horses called Grandfather releases the horses all looking like they’re running down the hill towards the Columbia River. There is a pull off area off the freeway where you can get a close walk-up glimpse of these magnificent statues and works of art. It is quite a sight to see every time I drive by there. It is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Wash. state. My uncle who was a master craftsman and made small steel art figures as a hobby and sold them all over N. Idaho made a small copy of those iron statues which I inherited from my dad as well as his older brother after they both died. I have it on display on a shelf in my dining room.
BEAUTIFUL PALOMINO, BORN TO RUN FREE
BENITO
The fact that our Government wants to kill wild mustangs bothers me to no end. I don’t get it. And no I’m not a Lib. Or a tree hugger.
Brad, I agree, it’s not like wild horses prey on cattle, sheep, and poultry? And if you surprise them in the wild they are not likely to attack. They’re beautiful animals.
BRAD AND JOE6, 100%!!
If you like horse stories, read ‘Traveller’ by Richard Adams. Traveller was Gen. Robert E. Lee’s horse that he rode all through the Civil War. The story is told from the prospective of Traveller as told to other barn animals after the war’s end. Most of the story is historically accurate. The book is very well written. Richard Adams also wrote ‘Watership Down’.
What I believe is called a smoky palomino.
What isn’t told is the airplane that was used. Believe it or not it was a Piper Colt.