RECOLLECTIONS OF MEN AND HORSES 



dropped In subsequent catalogues. In the annual 

 publication of 1873 ^^ emphasized the blood of 

 Seely's American Star, and traced the stallion to thor- 

 oughbred foundations. He was partial to the daugh- 

 ters of Star, because he believed that they nicked 

 well with Rysdyk's Hambletonlan and his sons — 

 that they contributed to the nerve energy so essential 

 to win races of divided heats. As the years went 

 by the fact was made plain that the greatest of Stony 

 Ford brood mares was Green Mountain Maid, and 

 she was a self-willed thing, with a spirit that did 

 not brook harsh opposition, from the rose tints of 

 babyhood to the gray shadows of life. I made the 

 acquaintance of Green Mountain Maid before she 

 passed to the ownership of Mr. Backman, saw all 

 of her foals following her through green pastures, 

 and, when it was decided to erect a monument to her 

 memory, I was asked to be one of the party assem- 

 bled at Stony Ford in the latter part of November, 

 1889. The snow was silently falling when we gath- 

 ered around the massive shaft of red Missouri gran- 

 ite on the brow of the commanding hill, just back of 

 the stables, and all stood with uncovered heads while 

 I made a few remarks. 



Sentiment was not a stranger to the social gather- 

 ings at Stony Ford. If you wish proof of the fact, 

 you will find it in the appended remarks made at a 

 formal round-table dinner in the big dining-room 

 on Memorial Day. Mr. Backman was the courteous 

 host and Henry W. T. Mali was the toastmaster. 



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