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Topo History / Lesson #1
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Thanks to Edwina and Barbara for the
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Ranch History, as told by Barbara Breen, J.E.
Breen’s daughter and Nana’s sister.
EL CAPITAN, THE HORSE 1900-1932
If ever there was a love between man and beast this was it. “Cap” was born on the Topo in 1900. JEB owned his mother. From the time he was small he was a pet. When he was old enough to break JEB did it with a gentle hand. He always talked about how easy Cap was to break.
Cap became one of the finest stockhorses in California, winning the Stockhorse Class at the California State Fair in 1910. He was a heavy stockhorse with white feet and blazed face on a sorrel background. He and JEB went to Cheyenne Frontier Days in 1911-1912.
In the early years of the Salinas Rodeo, Cap was shown in exhibition on “The Track” with horsehair rope around his chest, performing all feats as if he had a bit in his mouth. Spurs were never used on him.
One time during the Salinas Rodeo JEB was goaded into riding Cap into the Abbott House Hotel lobby. After re-moving Cap’s bridle JEB complied with the request and rode him up to the front desk.
When JEB was forced to put sheep on the Topo he had four great Basque herders. In the late summer and fall the sheep were put on stubble. This particular year it happened to be the Cornwall Flat east of King City. By now Cap had been retired so he went with the sheep in order that the others could watch out for him. Cap died there. John Chembro dug a big hole and buried him there. JEB was away on a hunting trip in Nevada but the following spring he went to the grave, dug up the bones, loaded them in the pickup and took them back to the Topo. He buried them on a knoll in front of the barn and added a pile of rocks to mark the place.
The large picture of JEB on Cap was taken by Ed Borein, the famous Western artist. Borein was a young man em-ployed on the Topo as a “hand.” JEB used to say that he drew his pictures on the bunkhouse walls. The picture, as you can see, is touched with charcoal and his signature is at the bottom. Borein was a great photographer and did most of his drawings from photos.
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