For the week of July 2 - 8, 2003

Beloved cowboy,
Ray Seal, takes his
last horse ride

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"He’d help pretty near anybody, who needed help with brandin’ and such. You could say he was an asset to the community."

— COTTON RILEY, long-time friend of Ray Seal

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By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer

People of all walks of life descended on the Wood River Chapel Friday, June 27, to pay their last respects to an old friend. By all accounts, Ray Seal was a cowboy who put his animals before himself. But, he was also a vital member of the human community.

Seal died Monday, June 23, moving cattle out of the Smiley Creek area of the Sawtooth Mountains as the result of an accident with his horse "Rich." At age 76 Seal was still working as a cowboy on contract.

"Dad was not one to brag on himself, but he was pretty proud of his horses," said Seal’s son Mike Seal. "If there is a good side to this it’s that we didn’t have to see him suffer. We didn’t have to see him as anything less than he was."

"He was the history of what Ketchum used to be," said local photographer David Stoecklein. "He was what everybody wanted to be 50 years ago. He was well respected and loved by everybody. Anybody he met he touched. He was a real Idaho guy."

As a man who spent his life on a horse, Seal got down often enough to connect with all kinds of people.

"I didn’t realize how many friends he actually had until the funeral," said his son. "He was a simple guy, who was true to his word. He had an impact on a lot of people."

Born in Jerome, Seal served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and settled in the Wood River Valley as a young man.

One of his first jobs in the valley was working with his friend Ted Uhrig to improve the Hailey airport.

"We made the airport bigger. It was a big job back then. We planted grass and put in the sprinklers," said Uhrig. "I’ve known him since the late-1940s when he got out of the Army. We cowboyed together. We were good buddies."

Seal spent much of the 1950s and ’60s working at the Sun Valley Stables, where he began to develop a lasting reputation as a wrangler. He and his father Edward Seal managed the resort’s stables until 1967.

During the Sun Valley years, Seal also developed a reputation as a backcountry guide working with fellow Sawtooth outfitter Eddie Bennett. He guided fishing and hunting trips for High Country Outfitters in the Big Smoky Creek area. His son Mike managed the outfit for 30 years. They continued to help with the operation after it changed hands.

In semi-retirement, Seal traveled between "jobs" working with his son in Antelope Valley south of Copper Valley and north of Craters of the Moon National Monument, his daughter Becky and son-in-law Bob Harrell on their Hereford-Quarterhorse ranch in Oregon, and for the Hensleys at the Smiley Creek Ranch.

"He’d help pretty near anybody, who needed help with brandin’ and such. You could say he was an asset to the community," said his long-time friend Cotton Riley. "I met him when he was 16. As a rodeo announcer I had a ringside seat to many of his performances. He was an easygoing guy. He saw the good things in people. We stayed close from when I met him. We spent 60 years playing around the rodeo."

"He went the way of his life," said Uhrig. "He lived as a cowboy and left as a cowboy."

"You can’t beat that when it comes to the jumping off point," said Riley.

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(An obituary appears on Page A17.)

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.