New Workshop Added to Models in the Mountains 2016

Barrie Getz will share her techniques for creating stunning, lifelike model horses on Friday, June 17 at Chilao School. Her seminar will follow that of the world-renowned equine sculptor Susan Sifton. The day of workshops, food and socializing, followed by a sleepover and on Saturday, a model horse show, begins at 10 AM. There is still room left for several more artists for both seminars. A $20.00 donation for each workshop is suggested.

On Saturday, at least fourteen exhibitors will compete for ribbons, prizes and "NAN" cards - the coveted green card that allows a first or second place horse to compete at the national level with the North American Model Horse Show Association. The card is good for four years.

Models in the Mountain 2016 honors one of Chilao's more infamous residents - Tiburcio Vasquez.

Why name a horse show after a horse thief?

Tiburcio Vasquez is best known in the American version of history as a feared and ruthless bandit and horse thief. In Mexican history, he is a hero, and some sources claim that the character Zorro was based on him. ( Although Joaquin Murrieta is often noted as the character reference, and Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a missionary gone rogue who died in 1810, is also given that distinction, it is Vasquez who was most like the fictional Zorro).

In learning his history several things become apparent. He was embraced by the people who knew him, and welcomed into numerous homes. His friends were many, and included Indian people, who at the time were still being hunted - the bounty on Indian scalps was a hefty $25.00 at one point (and was only lifted a little over a hundred years ago).
He lived in and around Chilao for 23 years, probably very close to, if not exactly, at the present location of Chilao School and the Chilao Fire Station. He and his compadres stole horses from both Los Angeles and San Bernadino Counties, hid them in Chilao and nearby Horse Flats, and sold and traded them in the opposite counties. Vasquez Rocks, another favorite location of his, bears his name.

That he was able to survive for as long as he did, with so many people aware of his location and unwilling to surrender it, is testimony to his character. More than one officer of the law had been told that if they knew the man personally, they might not be so eager to hang him. Indeed, the judge that ultimately did have him hung would later state that justice may well have not been served that day. Although several people had been killed during his raids, there is no proof that it was ever Tiburcio who fired a fatal shot.

Wrote lauded historian Will H. Thrall of Chilao and Vasquez in 1948: “It was said that Jose Gonzales was guard for the camp and stock, living in a little log cabin near the present site of Newcombs Ranch Inn; that he battled with and killed a big bear when armed only with his knife, and this gained for him the nickname of "Chillio," or as we today would say it, "Hot Stuff." In those days the area was known by that name but down through the years the spelling has been changed, by those who did not know, to the Chilao of the present time.”

Few but the Native American people who came before him knew this land better than Tiburcio Vasquez. Its every trail, overlook, outcropping, canyon and stream was known to him. Its beauty was largely unspoiled. His was a life lived under incredible blue skies and star emblazoned nights. His horses fed on native grasses and drank pure mountain water. There were long periods of inactivity in his bandit career - when the bounty of this land carried Vasquez and his followers without need to leave the mountains. There are just a few people who have such a love for this place today, and probably none who know it as intimately. It seems fitting then, that as the spirit of the horse is brought back to Chilao, it is done so recalling his name.

To learn more about Models in the Mountains, see images and get directions to Chilao School:
http://modelsinthemountains.weebly.com