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Show Feature From horse and buggy days to astronauts in space By Barbara Pyles walked into the home of Harold Pratt, and it didnt take me long to realize that I had met one of Fredonias finest. He had many stories to tell and none of them were boring. Pratt retired from the Fish and Game Department 10 years ago. For 36 years his districthad been the Arizona Strip, and it covered everything north of the Colorado River to the Utah, Nevada Line. We were all state officers, said Pratt. Our primary duty was law enforcement hours a day. twenty-fou- r Pratt roamed the rugged hills. He arrested poachers, wrote tickets for people who fished and hunted without a license, and pursued those who tried to get away. He was Badge 18. But the Harold Pratt story began November 14, 1923 in Fredonia, AZ. I was bom on the modem edge of the old west, says Pratt. I was fortunate enough to live in the era from the horse and buggy to astronauts going to the moon. It was the best of two worlds. Pratt had a normal childhood. He tramped the sandy streets of Fredonia, shot rabbits from the front porch, and listened to his heart pound as he watched the dust of mustangs from his classI room window. Back in the days when bootlegging was alucrative business, his dad was deputy sheriff. Pratt recalls being with his dad during a alcohol related shootout. Father and son were traveling north towards the Utah boarder. A car was on the side of the road, and the sheriff knew exactly what was going on. As the sheriff loaded the intoxicated men into the car, one scoundrel hit him. Another rascal threw a keg of whiskey into the car and away they raced. Father and son didnt submit meekly. We spun after them going 20 miles an hour. There were gunshots. It was quite an experience for a said Pratt. The Fredonia native also re five-year-ol- ESgHEfi) Muffler & (East pig-green- s. sun-warme- d WEDNESDAY JANUARY 26, 1994 an anonymous call of poaching at the Grand Canyon National Park. The informer described the poachers car, and Pratt waited all night for the car to leave the park. He heard crackling branches and underbrush. A beautiful young doe leaped in front of the him, Pratt was resolved to catch the poachers. The next morning, Pratt drove into the park and found the car parked at ranger headquarters. He contacted the law enforce- wasnt easy. It took six wagon ment ranger ofthe park service, loads of cedar wood and two loads but was sent on a wild goose of pine to keep the stoves going chase. The next day Pratt inch ed all winter. The family hauled his way into the park through the fuel 15 miles by team and the back way. He recovered sev- Harold Pratt worked for the Fish and Game Department for 36 years on the eral quarters ofdeer buried in a Arizona Strip. Photo by Barbara Pyles. wagon. Pratt tells ofhow the people of manure pile at the mule sheds. Fredonia caught rain water in I had enough evidence to con- of one such friendship. Pratt was glad he didnt meet Old Charlie ofthe Riviera and Hoffa. Those people lived in a cisterns and pumped it into their vict two of the head donkeys. I houses. When there wasnt mean park rangers, said Pratt. I were good friends. He often different world. Around the much rain, we used ditch water Pratt recalled another story. invited me to visit him in Las camp fire they are having fun to wash with, says Pratt. There After giving several tickets for Vegas, and I did. My supervisor with you and you with them. It were times we had to drink ditch fishing without a license at Lake and I ran onto his him ting camp gets down to their telling stowater too. Im sure we were im- Mead, he started back to his and he insisted we camp with ries, among themselves and mune to typhoid. truck. One man kept walking in them. The men had sleepingbags youre left out. They ask what He was attending college in front of him as others watched and all the modem conveniences happen to so and so. An answer Tempe, Arizona when Japan and snickered. He knew they of home. Levi and I didnt have mightbe, he gothis throat cut. It hardly anything. We used paper was a world that I didnt want towels. When we were washing anything to do with. "I to Pratt says he has always tried up for supper, Old Charlie broke had enough evidence convict two of the head donkeys, I mean park rangers," Pratt recalled. bombed Pearl Harbor. Pratt be- came a marine, and saw his share of action. It was after the war when he began his career with the Fish and Game Dept. Pratt was on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In those days, he was the only Fish and Game Warden on the Arizona Strip. He patrolled in a pickup, and on horseback, and it wasnt dull or boring. I have been places where I know no other human being has been, well not many anyway, says Pratt. One person in that big of an area wasnt all that effective, but I properly made some poachers look over their shoulders. Pratt related one of his most satisfactory cases. He received ffiS 6hust Service Computer d, calls less exciting times. On hot August days, he helped his mother bottle just about everything. Wood stoves burned full blast, and it was hot. Venison hung on the shady side of porches and boys picked tomatoes and You gorged yourself on what was in season. I dont remember the stores selling lettuce or anything like that. According to Pratt getting ready for the winter months SOUTHERN UTAH NEWS 3IG3? Complete Broke Service Alignment-Balancin-g Hwy 89 Across from IGA) ( 644-25- 57 wanted to see the Game Warden go swimming. Determined not to go swimming, Pratt put his han d on hi s gun , but di dnt dra w . Is the ranger scared? bellowed the man. You bet I am, said Pratt. And theres nothing more dangerous than a scared officer. The man backed off. He knew the Game Warden had made up his mind not to go swimming. Pratt tells another story that occurred in Pine, Arizona. I was called on backup to assist in a poaching case. After it was over, I turned away and heard a ranger yell. The poacher had grabbed a ranger, and held him close to his body. Kill him son, yelled the poacher. The boy jammed a Remington Pump into the rangers belly. It snapped on an empty chamber. The boy would have killed both the ranger andhis dad if the gun went off. Pratt smiled. There was a big scuffle. During his early career, Pratt spent a lot oftime policing hunting camps, and writing tickets for infractions of the law. He recalls many owners ofthe casinos in Las Vegas hunting quails and deer. Pratt got acquainted with them, and over the years they became pretty good pals. The following is his description open a whole bundle of Riviera bath towels and threw one at us. The next morning we reached for our same towels and Charlie yelled, oh no and threw us another towel. They had their own cook, they hunted in style. When we came back from patrol the men were gone, but they left us their supplies. At noon , we decided to eat and Levi got to looking at the wine. Levi said, boy, this is stuff you read about. It went down smooth. We were still doing this at dark. Later, I got a call from Old Charlie and he wanted me to go hunting with him and a friend. I was prepared to go with them to show them the best places to hunt deer. I got a call a week later and he told me the trip was off. I asked who his friend was and he said, Jimmy Hoffa. What he was looking for was another gun. (Hoffa disappeared on July 30, 1975. It was believed he was a victim of gangland execution). to be above board, no favors. And he thinks he has that reputation. Back in those days, I was tough. After all, I was a marine. Pratt says a contributing factor he was in law enforcement wasbecause of the Marine Corp. I got addicted to an adrenaline high in the Marine Corp. Law enforcement is a real adrenaline getter. At times it is boring, and at times it is as exciting as hell. The lazy people shoot dope into their arms, the people who excel go in for natural adrenaline. Pratt said the two most out- standing true sportsmen that he ever knew was Dr. Aiken and Abe Bonham. They were law abiding outstanding sportsmen, and I was proud to know them. Pratt has enjoyed his life, and he is enjoying this time of his life. I dont have anything to prove to anyone, he said. Pratts story isnt over. |
