Bud Brown '25: Happy trails keep him smiling

Francis V. "Bud" Brown '25 is an American original. He looks, acts, and talks like a Western cowboy. He has been a dedicated horseman for most of his 82 years. Today he may be found riding a new horse trail through the Arizona desert or planning to drive a mule team over an old stage route.

Last October, for the third year, Brown was trail boss on the five-day Bradshaw Mountain Ride from Wickenburg, Ariz., to Prescott. Fred Fuld Jr., class of '40, who has been riding horses on the trails for more than 30 years, said, "The 1984 Bradshaw Mountain Ride was dedicated by the riders to Bud Brown. I rode 'Traveler,' one of Bud's well-trained mules. It was a pleasure and a privilege to follow Bud as he led 64 riders through mountain trails, some as high as 8,000 feet, over a five-day period. This took place after many 'pre-rides' on which Bud laid out the trails. In the eveftings, around the campfire, as well as on the rides, Bud related interesting historical facts about the Bradshaw Mountain area. Bud also sang, entertained, and introduced neighboring ranchers and landowners. 'Uncle Bud' was an inspiration to us all."

Bud Brown was born a long way from Arizona , in Middletown, Conn. His great-grandfather, Francis Brown, was the third president of Dartmouth College, and anotheancestor, Chad Brown, founded Brown University at Providence, R.I.

On graduation it was assumed that he would follow in the family's footsteps; his New England father was an Episcopal minister, and his mother was the daughter of a missionary couple. Brown had other ideas. In 1926 he decided to go West when he was offered a job as a ranch hand in the young and growing state of Arizona. It was there he met Isabelle Fuller, the daughter of a pioneer ranching family. They were married in 1930. Brown returned to school for his master's degree from the University of Arizona. He taught high school in Arizona for the next 22 years and was nationally honored in 1971. Besides teaching, Brown has been a rancher, the first Arizona breeder of the famed Peruvian Paso horses, restauranteur, entertainer, wagon master, trail boss, owner and operator of two children's camps, and devoted family man, with 15 grandchildren and ten greatgrandchildren today.

His family has always come first, but he and his wife, "Brownie," have a deep and abiding love for nature. Their interests in life have always centered around children, horses, and the outdoors.

Brown introduced the idea of conducting hayrides through the desert near Phoenix. These rides, followed by a campfire program and dinner, became so popular that he had to buy his own wagons and teams to drive different groups to the desert site, where eventually a concrete slab was poured for those who wanted to dance. Soon a barn was raised over the slab; thus was born Bud Brown's Barn, still a well-known Phoenix landmark.

The Browns also opened a Saturday camp called "A Day in the Country" for city-bound six- to twelve-year-old children from Phoenix. Their motto was: "We strongly believe in the value of an occasional respite for children from the froth and high tension of our modern, streamlined living. Our purpose is to try and recreate the values gained only from intimately participating in life in the country." This motto was also applied to a horse-oriented summer camp, Friendly Pines Camp on Groom Creek, near the original territorial capital of Prescott. It opened 44 years ago, with their own five children and five of their children's friends. The enrollment grew each year until the limit of 200 campers was reached, with a staff of 65 adults. Friendly Pines Camp tries to strengthen the values of home and school and offers a unique learning situation. Today the camp is run by the Browns' daughter Bebe and her husband, Jack May.

In 1962, when Bud Brown was secretary of the Arizona State Horseman's Association, he drove six mules hauling a 16-passenger stagecoach over an old stage route to Phoenix, a four-day, historic, 100-mile trip over mountain trails, rocky canyons, and desert. The stagecoach was a reproduction, built to three-fourths scale, of the Concord that carried the pioneers from the East Coast to the West more than a hundred years ago. "This was a good way to draw attention to the old Arizona trails, in an effort to protect and develop \them for the horsemen and riders," said Brown. "Besides, it's satisfying to perpetuate the traditions of the old West that seem to be dying out so fast."

In the Bicentennial Wagon Train Pilgrimage that included wagons from 50 states, Brown drove a mule team and covered wagon, representing Arizona, across the country, starting out on February 1, 1976, from Yuma, Ariz., and arriving on July 4 in Valley Forge, Penn. He has been wagon master of a sixwagon caravan, originating in Prescott and traveling to Scottsdale and back; he has led as many as 20 wagons to Patagonia each fall, and he trekked south to Mexico for several years with University of Oklahoma students in "Bud Brown's Hellbent-for-Leather Ride." He was Grand Marshal, riding atop a stagecoach, in the Prescott Frontier Days parade in 1981, and the list goes on.

The Browns have always been a team, even though he rides mules, and she prefers to ride horses. Their philosophy has influenced many and is reflected in all the rewards they have received over the years. One of his fondest honors is being called "Uncle Bud" by the thousands of former campers and friends whose lives he has enriched. He says, "We try to have fun every day. We have enthusiasm for everything we do. [lt's] contagious. .It needs no artificial props; it does need a little willpower, a little controlling."

Their enthusiasm has led to many honors. In 1971 Brown was awarded the "Gold Key" by the National Education Association, saluting the importance of teachers in shaping the lives of outstanding citizens. He had been selected "The Teacher Who Most Influenced Me" by Joan Ganz Cooney, creator of TV's "Sesame Street." Cooney said, "Bud Brown taught me to question assumptions, and I've been questioning them ever since. He always tried to get students to look at things in a new way . . . He taught me how to think. To me, that is a true educator."

In 1973 the board of directors of the American Association of Owners and Breeders of Peruvian Paso horses voted "to give Bud Brown a token of appreciation for the many years of service he has devoted to the advancement of the Peruvian Paso horse and to the Association." Bud was the founding father of the association as well as president for several terms and editor of their monthly publication, Que Paso.

Brown's knowledge and interest in the horse field was recognized by his appointment to the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the Horse Industry Advisory Council. In 1983 the Browns were given the "Spirit of Arizona" award during a special Arizona senatesession commemorating the 71st anniversary of statehood at the Admission Day celebration. The tribute was for their "spirit of independence, strength of character, sense of accomplishment, and special quality of caring for others." Isabelle Brown is the only living person to have a U.S. Forest Service trail named after her, "The Isabella," in the Prescott National Forest.

When the Browns retired from teaching, sold the string of breeding stock of Peruvian Paso horses to a Swiss syndicate and flew the 20 head to Zurich, sold the Barn and turned over most of the responsibilities of Friendly Pines Camp to their daughter and son-in-law, they gained the time to travel. They began to explore the world, to ride on foreign trails, to follow the hunt, and to look at horses in Europe, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and Iceland.

Said Brown, "I wouldn't trade tomorrow for the best yesterday I ever lived. And what keeps you going is wondering what tomorrow will bring."

Trail boss and wagon master Bud Brown '25 hasmade a career of introducing people to the historyand beauty of the West.

GLORIA-MARY FULD, the author of the profile, isa Dartmouth wife (Fred Fuld '40) and a Dartmouth mother (Brian Fuld '76).