Former Teen Actor Gave Up Hollywood Hills For Wyoming Mountains

Stewart Petersen is proof you can take the boy out of Wyoming, but not the Wyoming out of the boy.

Petersen wrestled his way to a Wyoming state title at 145 pounds in his senior year of high school while also grappling with the notoriety he had as a young actor starring in a sequence of movies from age 13 through his late teens that includes “Where the Red Fern Grows,” “Seven Alone,” “Pony Express Rider,” “Against A Crooked Sky” and “Rivals.”

But while many kids dream of one day being movie stars, Petersen said all he ever dreamed about was getting back to Wyoming.

“I just never liked the way people seemed to be so awestruck with people in the film industry,” Petersen told Cowboy State Daily. “When the crowds would come around and be pushing for autographs it was just something that I absolutely didn’t like. It had no appeal.”

What did have appeal were the mountains of Wyoming, ranching, family life and his faith.

So the boy who grew up in tiny Cokeville, Wyoming, walked away from Hollywood opportunities and turned to the things he knew and loved.

That has led to his lifetime roles as husband, father, a successful building contractor, outfitter and faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Petersen, now 63, said he has no regrets, except that maybe he didn’t “dream bigger” as a high school wrestler and win a state title before his senior year.

Timely Visit

Petersen grew up on a ranch and credits his parents with instilling a strong sense of faith and moral values in their children.

His brief career in the movie industry came about through his mother’s brother, Lyman Dayton, who at the time was the producer for an independent film project to translate the novel “Where The Red Fern Grows” to the big screen.

The 13-year-old Petersen had gone to his grandparents’ house after school, something he often did. While there, his uncle arrived with a recently approved script by author Wilson Rawls for “Where the Red Fern Grows.” Another young man was at the house to read the script for Dayton, having been recommended by a teacher at Petersen’s school.

But Dayton also turned to Petersen and asked him to read the script as well.

“I was hesitant, but he coaxed me, and I didn’t think there was no harm, no foul done,” Petersen said. “And I read for him and thought, ‘Well, I’ve seen a real movie script.’ That was about as far as my interests went.”

That summer of 1973, his uncle called and asked Petersen to fly to California to read for the director of the movie. Again, Petersen said he didn’t want to do it, but his brother helped convince him that he would at least get a free airplane ride — and Petersen had never before flown on a jet.

He went and read for the director and returned home.

A short time later, his uncle called and asked if he would do a screen test they had set up for him at Brigham Young University. Petersen said he had no desire to go down there, but reluctantly did and went through the motions, indifferent to the “coaching” he received from a young man hired to do the test.

As his summer was ending, Dayton asked his nephew to fly to Oklahoma for some additional screen tests with three other boys who were vying for the lead role of “Billy” in “Where the Red Fern Grows.”

“I was apprehensive, but my brother said, ‘Stewart, you’ll be back in a few short days, at least you’ll get another free airplane ride out of it.’ I looked at him and said, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’” He said.

You Got The Part, Now Take Those Shoes Off

Once in Tulsa, Petersen said he enjoyed meeting the other boys trying out for the part, but his competitive nature kicked in.

“I thought, you know, I’m not really interested in having the part, but I want to win. That’s kind of how I saw it, that if I won the part, I might achieve something,” he said. “Little did I know that (after) I won the part, I (would start) thinking, ‘What did I get myself into? And I thought, ‘I’m not sure this is the road I want to travel.’”

Things moved fast after being selected for the role. His uncle told him to be prepared to talk with journalists and others writing stories about his selection and then he learned he wouldn’t be going home — that filming would be begin in a week.

And there was one more request from his uncle.

“He said, ‘I would really like you to take your shoes off and start toughening up your feet,’” Petersen said. “Because the part required that I would be barefoot, and I had never in my life — being raised on a ranch — gone barefoot. That was another downer for me, but I thought nevertheless, I will do that.”

The movie was filmed in Oklahoma and for two months Petersen learned how the film industry worked. He said the actors treated him well and veteran actor, James Whitmore, who played his grandfather, seemed in real life to be a grandfather-like figure.

A classic scene translated from the book involved a mountain lion attack on Billy as he hunted with his hounds. Petersen said the director used two mountain lions — one tame and one wild that was tethered on a cable — and very specific camera angles.

“I never had to be in any proximity to any of the mountain lions because of the way they would shoot the angles,” he said. “They were very protective of my physical state.”

‘Seven Alone’

“Where the Red Fern Grows” was released in 1974 and Petersen was on his way to making films for a few summers to come.

“Seven Alone” followed, a project that involved working with his younger brother and three younger sisters as they portrayed the Sager family who lost their parents on the Oregon Trail. Petersen’s role was as the older brother who pushed and preserved the family through to Oregon.

The movie was shot around Cokeville and in the nearby Wyoming mountains. Petersen said doing the movie with his family members came naturally. And the history surrounding those who braved the mountains and challenges of the Western migration continue to fascinate him.

“With me, everything was pretty contemplative to what if I could have been one of those people in the wilds and the wilderness at the perils of their lives,” he said. “To this day I love that kind of history, I love to hear about people who had character and had the ability and wherewithal to endure the almost daily tragedies of the west.”

The next summer, he starred with Richard Boone in “Against a Crooked Sky” and the following summer filmed “Pony Express Rider” in Texas.

In all of his roles, Petersen said he never considered himself to be “acting.”

“Because of the characters that were chosen for me to portray, I never felt like I had to do a lot of acting. It closely mirrored my own behavior and experience of life,” he said. “It was just me portraying me under the circumstances of what the story (or script) might have been.”

No To 'The Sacketts'

In his later teens, Petersen was offered a role as one of the Sackett brothers in “The Sacketts,” a TV miniseries, but he turned it down after reading the script because it involved a relationship with a woman and typical Western “partying” on weekend nights, and he didn’t want to compromise his values to do the role.

Instead, following graduation from high school, he went to Brigham Young University and wrestled for a semester. Then he went on an LDS mission for two years to the Netherlands, where he said he tried to learn the Dutch language and as much as he could about the nation.

“I also learned a lot about me,” he said.

After the mission, he followed a desire to play college football that took him to Ricks College in Idaho, where he played for two years. That college is now called BYU-Idaho, and it’s where he met his future wife, Chemene Goodwin.

Following marriage and a short return to BYU, another Petersen uncle offered him a partnership in an outfitting business in Cokeville. His wife agreed to the move and the couple settled into the community where Petersen was raised.

Construction And Outfitting

Petersen said the outfitting business did not provide enough income to support a family, but his choice for additional income proved just as enjoyable.

“I always had an interest in working with my hands and I loved woodworking,” he said.

Petersen had experience building homes in Utah, so he started his own construction firm.

“When we moved back, that was the fit that not only helped us put food on the table, but it also helped subsidize my love of the outdoors as an outfitter,” he said.

Petersen’s Crooked Sky Outfitters has been featured on MeatEater, an outdoor lifestyle brand that includes podcasts and a reality TV show.

He and his wife have six children, and Petersen said his children all have seen his movies — and his wife has made sure they have copies of their own. They’ve taken their dad’s acting career in stride.

For the future, Petersen said he plans to make more cabinetry and furniture and do a little less custom home building. He also will be in the mountains helping lead outfitting expeditions July through October.

“I continue to love to do what I do,” he said. “I was raised up on a ranch, love horses and love to be in the mountains on a good horse, and as a result, I will continue to do that.”

Over the years, Petersen said he has been approached on occasion about acting roles, but he doesn’t see a return to doing movies or television anytime in his future.

“I probably have not been very encouraging to them that way. Everything would have to be exactly the way (I would) want it to be to feel comfortable,” he said. “I just don’t want to do anything that would devalue my faith or my trust in God.”

Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.