Cowboy Craftsman
Former Mechanic Creates Highly Detailed Spurs Designed to Last Generations
By Drew Myron
John Wilson has the hands of a worker and the mind of a maker.
For 30 years, he worked as a mechanic at an aluminum manufacturing plant in The Dalles while also breeding and raising horses. A cowboy craftsman, John has made hunting bows, created custom rifles, built horse trailers, raced motorcycles and restored classic cars.
“I’m kinda like the weather,” he says. “I keep changing. I still don’t know what I want to do if I grow up.”
John has dedicated years to a steady passion for crafting handmade spurs, snaffles and spade bits. In a world of mass production, he’s a rare artist, shaping form and function.
Worn over cowboy boots, spurs are metal tools used as an extension of a rider’s heel. Spurs can help reinforce commands and a horse’s responsiveness. Spurs are not intended for discipline, and John is careful to choose patterns and materials that will not harm a horse.
“I’ve never been mean to a horse in my life,” he says.
Spurs have 3 parts: the heel band, shank and rowel. The heel band is a U-shaped piece of metal that wraps around the boot heel. The shank is a longer, thinner piece of metal that comes out of the heel band and supports the rowel. The rowel is a small, spiked wheel.
Horse bits rest inside the horse’s mouth between a natural gap in the horse’s teeth to apply direct pressure or leverage. A rider moves the bit by adjusting the reins. A snaffle—the most common bit—consists of a mouthpiece with a ring on each side that applies pressure. Snaffle bits allow a rider to communicate with a horse, John says. They are often used to train young animals and by beginner riders.
Spur making is both art and craft. It requires steady hands and great attention to detail.
Like small sculptures, John’s spurs are solid but complex works of silver, iron, and steel. A spade bit, for example, can contain 70 to 80 small pieces.
Starting with raw metal, spur artists forge mouthpieces, file bit shanks, and engrave heel buttons and bands. Akin to an heirloom, these works are durable pieces designed to last decades.
Most spurs today are mass-produced from factories in China and Mexico. They often lack the elegant detail and longevity that handmade spurs provide.
John patterns his works after the intricate spurs of the early 1900s.
“Back then, there were no cars,” he says. “Your Cadillac was your fancy bits and spurs.”
A set of John’s spurs once fetched $650, but he is more interested in making than selling. He sometimes donates his work to charitable causes, or gifts pieces to friends and family.
“John is 83 years old and says he’s still striving for perfection,” says Linda, his wife of 43 years.
The couple live 10 miles south of The Dalles on Upper Five Mile Road.
Born and raised in North Carolina’s Hill Country, John was 1 of 15 children and is the last living sibling. At 14, he left home and school and headed west for opportunity. Along the way, he found work on a mushroom farm and an orchard.
In 1959, he secured a job at the aluminum smelter in The Dalles, a position he held for more than 30 years.
A self-starter, John has always been willing and curious.
“I learned early on that if you didn’t go to school, you have to work hard and listen,” he says in the rounded drawl of Appalachia. “People say I talk funny, but this is how mountain people talk.”
Though a bad back and sore hip have ended his riding days, John keeps busy in his workshop and adjoining garage filled with 1950-era Chevy trucks he’s painstakingly restored. Years ago, while lifting a 300-pound motor, he burst an artery. He was rushed to a hospital in Portland but insisted on returning home.
“I had hay to stack,” he says.
Not long after that, he was bucked off a horse and sustained a broken rib and punctured lung.
Still, habits make the man. Today, John wakes at 5 a.m. to feed the horses, just as he did while training equines for a living. With his calm and steady disposition, coupled with a peaceful property that features indoor and outdoor riding arenas, he has raised and trained more than 100 horses.
What’s next?
“I want to learn leather tooling and stamping,” John says. “I see something, and I just want to figure out how to make it.”