Craig Daily Press

"It's guts and love and glory,

One mortal's chance at fame.

His legacy is rodeo

And cowboy is his name."

-- from Baxter Black's

Legacy of the Rodeo Man

I have little idea what it's like to ride a bucking bronco.

The closest I've ever come was when I begged my mom for a quarter to ride a plastic one outside of a store.

I can only imagine that it has to be a rush.

For Wes Hertzog, one of the few cowboys I've known, it was the ultimate rush.

Just look at the picture that Daily Press photographer Michelle Perry took of Wes at the Ride'N'Tie rodeo this year. In the photo, he and the bronc are almost perpendicular to the ground, and Wes has an ear-to-ear grin.

I would guess that's the image that most people in the rodeo world have of Wes.

It's probably the picture that he would prefer.

Wes touched many lives in Craig and across the country. That was evident here in Craig last week. The football team prayed for him, T-shirts were ordered in his honor, and Lube Plus reminded the community with a sign that read, "Pray for Wes."

When the news came that he had passed away from injuries he sustained during a ride, the general sentiment was, "He died doing what he loved."

For four years, Wes stopped doing what he loved. His joints were too bad to take the pounding. When he found a pill that loosened up his joints, he was back in the saddle again for what he liked to describe as a "one-on-one scramble."

That one-on-one scramble brought him four World Championships in the National Senior Pro Rodeo Association after his return.

As I thought about Wes this week, there was one other picture that I kept remembering. It's one that we ran on Dec. 18, 2003. In it, Wes had his newborn grandson Thayne Wesley Kitchen in his lap. Thayne had a buckle on him that looked big enough to be a professional wrestling belt.

Wes was on the road when Thayne was born. He had the buckle made because "I knew they were thinking about naming him after me, so I had to make a belt buckle with his name on it so they wouldn't change their minds."

In my opinion, that picture shows the best of Wes. He loved his family and his rodeo. I know this because of how much gratitude his daughter (and Thayne's mother), Robyn, showed after the story ran. She couldn't stop thanking me and telling me how much it meant for her family.

In the story about Thayne, his grandpa said, "I enjoy (rodeo) more now as I get older because there is less pressure. You still have to be a little lucky every time you go out there."

At first thought, some would say Wes' luck ran out. But I don't think about it that way.

His last memory was of him in the air, holding on with all he had trying to conquer the beast.

I would wager most cowboys are envious.

I have little idea what it's like to be a cowboy.

I can only imagine that it has to be a rush.

For Wes Hertzog, one of the few cowboys I've known, it was his final rush.