This story was born months ago when I happened to be introduced to Richard Connolly following a town council meeting. How we got on the topic I can’t remember, but somewhere in our brief getting-to-know-you discourse he mentioned his work restoring wagons here in Patagonia. A lover of any story that increases my knowledge of local folklore, I knew I had to follow up on this one, and Connolly was happy to get me started.
I wasn’t far into my research when it became clear that the wagon building and restoration industry that flourished in this modest town in the latter half of the 20th century was perhaps the premier facility of its type in the world. In its heyday it drew the attention, and the dollars, of such lofty clients as Budweiser, the National Park Service and Hollywood moviemakers.
The story of how the wagon trade became such a prominent part of Patagonia’s persona in the latter part of the 20th century begins with Anne Stradling, an easterner who, enabled by the considerable wealth her family derived from Bethlehem Steel, chose Patagonia as the place where she would bring to life her dream of building and operating a museum dedicated to the horse.
A woman of vision and the financial means to reach it, she acquired the property that now houses the retail shops, hotel and other businesses on the southwest corner of McKeown and Third Avenues in the 1960s. It was here that she erected a new metal structure over top of some of the existing structures in which she would operate her museum. Soon after, she also built a hotel to host the throngs of visitors she envisioned (unrealistically, as it turned out) being drawn to town to tour her new museum.
For some years leading up to the opening of the museum, Stradling had been collecting all manner of western and American Indian art and memorabilia including original paintings, sculptures and numerous horse-drawn wagons and coaches, many of which were in need of extensive restoration to make them museum-worthy.
Enter Doug Thaemert, a blacksmith from New Mexico who had trained under renowned blacksmith Frank Turley. How Stradling came to know of Thaemert is not clear but she persuaded him and his wife, Claire, to leave their home in New Mexico and move to Patagonia where he would assemble and head up a team of skilled artisans to restore Stradling’s collection of horse-drawn vehicles.
The business of restoring wagons to their original condition was meticulous, demanding work requiring the services of a number of specialists including carpenters, wheelwrights and carriage smiths. Thaemert hired Lee Gordon as his wheelwright, Dick Volz and Sonny Showalter as carpenters and Richard Connolly as his carriage smith. Together they constituted a team that quickly gained widespread recognition for their rigid adherence to the highest standards of museum-quality restoration.
Whether by design or by happenstance, Thaemert’s blacksmith shop, by virtue of its location, was incorporated into the museum experience. This was no fake smithing operation in which Thaemert and his team would forge little trinkets for sale in the museum gift shop while pretending to be restoring wagons. No, this was the real deal and museum-goers were able to interact with Thaemert in real time as he and his staff brought all sorts of horsedrawn conveyances—wagons, buckboards, stagecoaches, you name it—back to life. And if my sources are correct, Thaemert was a truly dedicated artisan who did extensive research on many of his wagons and demanded exceptional attention to detail. He also loved demonstrating and explaining his art to those touring the museum.
As Thaemert and his team worked on Stradling’s many wagons, gaining valuable experience and distinction in the process, he realized there was a demand for his services well beyond the museum. He thus decided to start his own business, which would continue to serve the museum but take on other clients as well. This decision led to his purchase of the Lopez Pool Hall building on Duquesne Avenue which, at the time, was also owned by Stradling. Using local tradesmen, he more than doubled the new space and added a paint shop and other special facilities in preparation for the launching of his new enterprise: The Southwest Wagon and Wheel Works.
Part II—Craftsmen at Work (and Play) will appear next month.