When Jimmy Danks broke Steamboat in 1899, he realized that the spirited 3-year-old would never make a ranch horse the moment he rode him out of the gate. The horse had a wild spirit and was said to be a natural bucker.
Steamboat was subsequently sold to live as a bucking horse in the western rodeos and eventually at the Irwin Brothers Wild West show where he received top billing over any of the cowboys as an Outlaw Horse.
From this humble beginning, he became a legend in Wyoming and across the Rocky Mountains. He had a signature style of bucking which included sunfishing, with his body twisting in the shape of a crescent. Steamboat possessed unusual stamina and was described as exploding like dynamite.
Today, his bucking silhouette is seen on license plates and apparel across Wyoming.
A Legend Lives On
Steamboat’s story had caught the imagination of children’s book author Casey Rislov and illustrator Zak Pullen.
After reading “Steamboat, Legendary Bucking Horse: His Life and Times, and the Cowboys Who Tried to Tame Him” by Candy Moulton and Flossie Moulton, Rislov was intrigued. Within the pages, she had found the story she wanted to tell.
In her tale, Rislov created an imagined story of a grandfather, based on the real Charlie who owned Steamboat, telling his granddaughter about the famed horse.
“Casey had been thinking about this idea for some time,” Pullen said. “I thought it was a fantastic idea. Everybody wears and sees the symbol but not everyone knows who he even is.”
Even Pullen and Rislov did not know the entire story before diving into their collaborative project about the famous horse.
“I knew about his nose being broken, and that made him whistle so they called him Steamboat,” Rislov said. “But I really didn't know all the other details.”
For more than a decade the duo have wanted to tell Steamboat’s story and their book, “A Home For Steamboat,” will be released in April.
Author Casey Rislov poses with an advertisement of her latest creation with Zach Pullen, the Wyoming children’s book “A Home For Steamboat.” (Courtesy Casey Rislov) 
Author Casey Rislov and Illustrator Zach Pullen, both of Casper, Wyoming, have just finished their children’s book, “A Home For Steamboat” which is about to hit the shelves in April. (Courtesy Casey Rislov) 
Author Craig Johnson is a fan of Casper’s Zak Pullen and Casey Rislov’s Wyoming children’s books. Both he and C.J. Box wrote reviews for their latest book, “A Home For Steamboat.” (Courtesy Casey Rislov) 
Casper, Wyoming, illustrator Zak Pullen first does pencil drawings of each illustration for the children’s book, “A Home For Steamboat,” and when the picture is finalized, he will use oil paint to finish the illustration. (Courtesy Casey Rislov) 
Casper, Wyoming, illustrator Zak Pullen first does pencil drawings of each illustration for the children’s book, “A Home For Steamboat,” and when the picture is finalized, he will use oil paint to finish the illustration. (Courtesy Casey Rislov) 
The storyboards for “A Home For Steamboat,” the latest collaboration between Casper, Wyoming, residents Casey Rislov and Zak Pullen. (Courtesy Casey Rislov) 
The storyboards for “A Home For Steamboat,” the latest collaboration between Casper, Wyoming, residents Casey Rislov and Zak Pullen. (Courtesy Casey Rislov) 
The storyboards for “A Home For Steamboat,” the latest collaboration between Casper, Wyoming, residents Casey Rislov and Zak Pullen. (Courtesy Casey Rislov)
A Wyoming Legacy
Steamboat, the subject of their new Wyoming children’s book, was said to be born to be a bucker. There were cowboys who successfully rode him, but most were thrown off as he kicked and landed hard. According to Moulton, most of the cowboys pictured riding him were at the original Cheyenne Frontier Days.
“He got his spunk from his mama, they say, and his size from his dad.,” Rislov said.
When a cowboy drew Steamboat, he knew he was about to have the ride of a lifetime.
“Steamboat is America's horse,” Moulton said. “He was such a famous horse that when he died in 1915, there was an obituary for him in the paper down in Cheyenne.”
It was after his death that he became the iconic symbol for Wyoming.
The bucking horse and rider logo was first used in 1918 where it was worn by members of Wyoming’s National Guard while they were fighting in France and Germany during the First World War. Although the original drawing was most likely based on another horse, the iconic symbol caught the imagination of Wyoming.
In 1935, to combat license plate counterfeiting, Secretary of State Lester Hunt commissioned Allen T. True to create artwork unique to Wyoming to be featured on a state plate. Using photos of Steamboat, True created the recognizable symbol that represents the Cowboy State. The cowboy, True later said, was a composite of all those pictured riding him.
In later years, Steamboat was inducted into the Professional Rodeo Hall of Fame, the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and even represented Wyoming on the commemorative state quarter.
“He is a rallying symbol for the state,” Pullen said.
Thirty Drafts
The story of Steamboat was not a simple story to tell, Rislov said. They were basing their fictional book on history and wanted to bring the era to life for their young readers.
“We had a lot of layers in there,” Rislov said. “One of the last edits for our Steamboat book was how to do the viewpoint. We first started with the horse telling the story, but that quickly got nixed because it just didn't feel right.”
They ended up telling the story from Charlie Erwin’s point of view. He was Steamboat’s owner since his second rodeo and in their story, he was a grandfather telling his granddaughter about the life of the famous horse.
The process of creating the book included 20 to 30 revisions as the two Casper residents worked through the storyline.
“Casey would bring the original manuscript over,” Pullen said. “Based on the movie that's playing in my head, I'm able to verbalize what I'm seeing and explain scenes to her that she could write to.
Pullen created a map for the book as he storyboarded and created little thumbnail drawings to visualize the finished project. They had started with 32 pages, a typical length for picture books, however, once he began putting together the storyboard, he knew the book had to be longer.
They were able to expand to a 48-page book and for the final illustrations, Pullen painted with oil. These painting are now framed and ready to be displayed along with their book launch.
Ultimately, Rislov wanted to tell the story of Steamboat and this spirited horse’s connection to Wyoming and the West.
“I feel like I had to show that he is part of the landscape of Wyoming,” she said. “He is the wide-open spaces.”
She changed how the terrain looked depending on what was going on in Steamboat’s life. Rislov used beautiful spaces to show when Steamboat was happy and then changed the landscape to a harsher scene for the times he was trapped.
“I use those landscapes to talk about those different situations,” Rislov said. “Steamboat didn't want to be a cattle horse and I wanted to show that.”
A Family Book
“It’s always great to take a story that's such an iconic story for our state and introduce a whole new audience to it in a new way,” Moulton said. “Kids are going to love this story because there's excitement and I know with Zak’s illustrations it's going to be just a spectacular book.”
Pullen admits that their new book is not a typical children’s book but said that it was more of a book for the entire family.
“It's almost like a coffee table book,” he said. “The target audience would be anyone from 6 onward. There's a lot of adults who don't know this story and would enjoy it, too.”
The duo included a history of the famous horse in the back pages of their book to tie their fictional tale with the real story of Steamboat.
“It's something that anybody that is tangentially tied to Wyoming will be proud of,” Pullen said. “The western flair is evident and that perseverance our state is known for.”
“It's a chance for all the generations to get to know the story behind Steamboat, the real horse that is everywhere in Wyoming,” Rislov said. “His is such an important story because it is a legend.”
Contact Jackie Dorothy at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
