Jane Anne Rogers Pattie was born January 15, 1935 in Fort Worth, Texas and died June 8, 2021. She was a writer for over sixty years. In her career, Jane has written over 3,000 articles for more than three dozen different magazines. She has also written several books.
One of her books was “Cowboy Spurs and Their Makers” in which she discusses cowboy spurs, not only as being functional but as works of western art. She tells how spurs were once made from buggy axles and later from Model T axles since those were the materials that were available. She added that good steel made a jingle when cut and beaten by hand. Her book also told about the different types of spurs and provided biographies of some of the old spur makers. In a 1989 Associated Press newspaper interview as her book was soon to be released, Jane told of coming across a rack of spurs at a cousin’s house when she was much younger. Before she left, the owners gave them to her. This began her long fascination with the subject. The writer of the article closed the interview with this quote from Jane, “They were a symbol of the horseman. Knights had to earn their spurs, which sometimes were made as part of their armor. And if you did something that wasn’t chivalrous, they’d hack your spurs off.” Over the years, she added to her collection of spurs and in connection with the publication of the book, her collection was on display for a while at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
In 2008, Jane released a book she wrote with Tom Kelly on spur maker Ed Blanchard whose creations are now collectible. Kelly was a New Mexico rancher and a cousin of Blanchard (1894 – 1982). This volume deals with the life of Blanchard, whom she had interviewed for her earlier book. This book, called “Cowboy Spur Maker, The Story of Ed Blanchard,” tells how he learned and practiced his craft. Blanchard had worked as a cowboy and as a fire lookout for the New Mexico Forest Service and began to make spurs as a sideline and later as a full time vocation.
Jane also wrote “Cattle Brands, Ironclad Signatures” centered around the branding iron collection of former brand inspector Leonard Stiles (1920 – 2001), who had collected the irons over forty years during his long career with Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and the King Ranch. His collection numbered 1,096 irons and was donated in 1988 to the Cattle Raisers Museum in Fort Worth. Stiles had extensive files and accumulated personal stories about the ranches represented by the brands in his collection. Stiles had worked for the Association for eleven years before going to the King Ranch where he managed the Santa Gertrudis Division of the ranch. The first half of the book tells the history of brands, which interestingly goes back four thousand years, while the second half shows the brands in Stiles’ collection along with comments. The author also discusses cattle rustlers and how they might attempt to alter the brands.
Among brands mentioned in the book are Four Sixes (perhaps not accidentally on page 66), the Spur Ranch, the XIT Ranch, John Wayne and Louis Johnson’s 2 6 Bar Ranch in Arizona, the Pitchfork Ranch, the Kokernot O 6 Ranch, the Hat Ranch of Bill Wittliff (screenwriter of Lonesome Dove miniseries), various divisions of the King Ranch, Scharbauer Cattle Company, Yturria Ranch, Nolan Ryan’s N Bar R and many, many others.
As a writer, she also was fond of J. Evetts Haley and in 2004 she was asked to give a fifteen minute talk about the author at the Haley Memorial Library and History Center event known as the Gathering. Fortunately, this talk can still be found on the internet. Pattie recalled an occasion in 1983 in which Haley had addressed the Western Writer’s Association in Amarillo, Texas which she attended. Byron Price had given the introduction of Haley and attributed this quote to him, “Write like you talk and talk like a cowpuncher walks. Use short choppy sentences, vigorous active verbs; shun useless adjectives and phrases.” Price added that he doubted that any of his introduction met those criteria, but that Haley was a great model to follow. In her presentation, Jane commented that in addition to being a writer of integrity, Haley also included humor in his books and speeches and drew heavily on his own background on ranches.
Jane Pattie was a fourth generation Texan. Her parents were Robert Allie Rogers and Juanita Vashti Cahill Rogers, both of whom were born in Texas. All four of her grandparents and all eight of her great grandparents lived in Texas. She was married to Lyle Byron Pattie in April of 1955.The couple later settled in Parker County where they raised quarter horses and thoroughbreds.
From these and other experiences, Jane either wrote, co-wrote, edited or collaborated on the following books: “Jasbo – Biography of a Rodeo Clown,” “John Wayne – There Rode a Legend,” “John Wayne – A Western Celebration,” “Training Tips for Western Riders” (Volumes III and IV) and “Fundamentals of Barrel Racing.” Jane was a member of Western Writers of America (board of directors 1979 – 1980, 1991 – 1994), Fort Worth Westerners International, Texas History Society and International Platform Association. In addition to her many writing honors, Jane was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 2015.
Jane Pattie: Youtube – Haley Museum (2004) on J. Evetts Haley
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