Empty Saddle Ceremony
William “Bill” T. Sweigert Jr.
Sonoma County Trail Blazers Ride 2008
Cottrell Ranch, Bridgeville, California
As a final and fitting farewell to William “Bill” Thomas Sweigert Jr., The Sonoma County Trail Blazers held an
“Empty Saddle” ceremony at 7:30 am sharp on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008.
SCTB Member, and dear friend to Bill, Colby Martin and president, Ken Wilson generously invited Bill’s oldest son, William T. Sweigert III and his youngest son, James Martin Sweigert to represent the family at this very hallowed event. We were invited to join up in the middle of the five day ride on Tuesday afternoon and spent the night in the Richardson Camp, (named for the founder, Warren Richardson). We awoke at 6:00 am sharp to the crow of a rooster that echoed through the foggy meadow, followed by “Oh Its a Beautiful Morning” from the public address system. The ceremony was quite emotional as eight members who had passed since last years ride were also honored while many of their sons looked on. It was amazing to watch 500 cowboys fight back their tears, that is until they played an old folk song titled the “The Old Man”. That damn song put everyone over the edge. I learned from the seasoned riders that “...dark glasses are strongly recommended for this event”.
The memorial was followed up by a breakfast feast and a ride over the hill to a beautiful meadow where they had erected a temporary rodeo arena. The rodeo, or “play day”, commenced with quite a bit of pageantry and horsemanship. We saw old mule teams and draft horses leading wagons and buggies. There were quite a few “wrecks’ where over-confident cowboys ended up on the losing end of an ornery steer.
We stayed for a hearty supper, said good bye to our hospitable hosts, then drove off West into the sunset with great memories and a lot of new friends. I think the best part was, when anyone would see our leather name tags with the name Sweigert on it, they would all stop to say what an a mazing guy “Bill” was, and what a good friend he was to them. This was usually followed by some story about how “Bill” had touched them sometime during the 29 years of his membership as a Trailblazer. He was well respected by a great number of men for working hard to maintain the great tradition that runs deep in this unique group. Billy dropped Jimmy off at the airport then headed South to return to Bill’s hat and boots to Trudi, his loving wife, to whom I dedicate this site. Enjoy.
High above Bridgeville, CA
Main Camp
Richardson Camp
Richardson Camp
The Richardson Boys
Colby & Bill at the Bar
Farah, Bill’s Last Mount
Jimmy, Roger “Doc” Daniels & Billy III
Jimmy the Mule, (another ass)
Jimmy, Billy & Billy
A “napping” Joe Goss with Venison Salami
Dad’s Saddle
Billy III Hard at Work
Humbolt Timber
Main Camp Commissary & Bar
Jerry Welch & Billy
Supper
The Andy Giambroni & Roger Daniels Show
Late Night Entertainment
A Cold, Foggy Morning
The Oaks & Moss Behind Camp
Farah & Billy
Colby throws Dad’s Saddle on Farah for the Last Time
Jimmy
The Boys Trying to Stay Warm
Jimmy, Farah & Colby
The Sun Breaks Through Just Before the Ceremony
Dad’s Empty Saddle
The Color Guard
Dan Steadman Gets the Tears Flowing with “Empty Saddle”
Joe Goss, Farah, Colby, Jimmy & Billy
Quite a Moment
Not a dry eye to be found
Bill’s Boots in the Stirrups for One Last Ride
The Group Getting Ready for Chow
Breakfast is Served
On the Trail to the Rodeo
A Man Outstanding in Someone Else’s Field
Jimmy on the Fence About Something
Billy Checking his Belt Buckle
20 Degrees Cooler in the Shade
Coming Around the Bend
Billy Above the Rodeo Site
Heavy Hitch
Just Like Old Times
You Don’t See this Every Day
Bill Neilsen, Bought His Best Horse from Jack Swanson
Original Teamsters
Billy
Judging the Wagons
Russ Harmon and Co. Judging the Trail Class
There are always some Assholes on the Ride
The Old Guard
John Martin Getting Close-lined
John Martin Getting Even
The Steer Getting Even-er
Never Give Up
The Boys Look On
Colby & John Martin (Nephew)
Billy, Colby & Jimmy
WTS
