Burney Chapman by Linda Cline

A Lighter Side of Burney Chapman

By: Linda Cline

I was asked to write a few words in memory of Burney Chapman whom I first met through my company at that time. My husband, Barrie, and I hit it off immediately with this long, tall Texan.
    Burney wanted to see parts of British Columbia that everyone doesn't get to experience and he wanted to do it on horseback. He and Rhonda Parks came out on two occasions and we took them on a couple of pack trips into the far northern parts of the BC wilderness.
    Our first trip was most memorable. The trail boss we hired took us by surprise when he came to meet us with twelve mares - foals at their sides. Apparently this was his cowboy way to break in these babies to the rough terrain and mountain climbing. YIKES! One foal got hung-up in some ropes. Barrie had to wrestle him and bite an ear so Burney could cut away a hunk of dead hide and doctor his wounds as best he could.
    The trail boss had an unbelievable vocabulary and we had to listen to him cuss these horses for an entire week.Storing perishable food was not an option, so we found ourselves eating hotcakes that the cook made for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I couldn't even look at a pancake for at least two years after this trip. Burney never complained even once.
    We had some picturesque and memorable moments with tons of laughter. Camping along the river, we watched Burney try to bathe in the icy water and then walk around in his shorts and cowboy boots. That was truly a sight to behold. Sun tanned arms and white, toothpick legs.
    On our second trip, (different outfitter) Burney decided to save time by gathering firewood on horseback. The packhorse was new to the game so when the wood began to rattle in the panniers, the rodeo began. He started to buck and the firewood was flying everywhere. Burney's horse had to get into the act and started bucking too. After several jumps, off comes Burney. Luckily he only suffered a few bumps and scrapes. It was a fortunate thing as we were far from any other humans or hospitals. Farrier, Dan Craig from Arizona, was along on the pack trip with us also that year.

We were honored to have met Burney Chapman, a man of stature, who, we are sad to say, we only had in our lives for a short time--the times were great, the whisky good and the friendships forever.

Barrie and Linda Cline