Mountain Man
Now here's a striking young Marine! Do you know him? He served with the 3rd Marine Division, the 9th Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Company F, during World War II.
During his tour of duty he decided he wanted to do a little boxing.
He told them he was pretty good so they had better send their best. They did!
"I don't remember if I ever even hit him", he told me with a smile.
But that's just the way this man is, loving a challenge, willing to go for the best, and always telling it just the way it was. That same reputation sticks with him today. His "salt" has been tested many times through the years. On February 19, 1945 at 8:59 a.m. the first Marines hit the beaches of Iwo Jima, and this man became part of one
of the most famous battles of Marine Corps history. Just another unsung hero
of the American people, who gave so much, and ask so little.
He was born on April 22 of 1924 high in the mountains that divide Tennessee and North Carolina. Even as a child, he had a special relationship and respect for the animals around him. From his boyhood Collie to the massive bulls of the neighboring meadows, their strength and courage inspired him. It would not be until 1941 at the age of 17
that he would find a canine companion, no, a partnership that would last a lifetime;
The American 'Pit' Bull Terrier.
After his return home from WW II he went into construction work. This occupation took him all across America. He told me that he had returned a while back, only thing is, he seems to be the only one who knows it! Today he still lives not three miles
from his place of birth. Amazing for anyone of these modern, fast moving times.
One of his most remembered dogs was one called ole "Ranger", a Colby bred dog and as cantankerous as they come. I must add at this time that he also had a fondness for Allen-Roundheads, a strain of gamecocks started by Will Allen that still survives today. One day, upon his return home, he noticed that ole Ranger was loose. Looking around for kaos and distruction as Ranger met him, nothing seemed amis. Then, there it was, a small hole in the side of the chicken pen, just the size of Ranger. Moving inside the pen he found nothing. No chickens, dead or alive! In wonderment, he looked down
and around again. That's when he noticed a feather sticking up out of the ground,
then another, then another, several, here and there, all over the place!
Ranger had killed and buried every last one of those chickens,
leaving their tail feathers sticking up out of the ground like markers.
As I had looked to this man to learn some truth, I wondered who he had looked to. When asked, he replied, "Howard Teal was one of the best dog men I knew. He helped me out the most and always gave good solid advice". Others he held in high regard
were Leo Kinard, J.R. Loposay, and John Shivar.
You may remember him from the Hillbilly Club of the 1960's. Later in the 1970's it was his friend Irish Jerry Holcomb that labeled him, "The old man from the Mountain". Today in the 1980's he is known to all as the "Mountain Man", a fitting title.
Still don't know him? Perhaps you are more familiar with the dogs...Does the names Zebo or Homer mean anything to you? It sure does to many fanciers. That is right,
he is none other than Lester Hughes, the one and only "Mountain Man".
His advice to new comers to our breed...."Deal with reliable individuals, someone who's been around. Listen to their advice. Don't jump in too fast and Don't become involved in back yard trash. Be honest, be up front, and always be professional".