Tibbs, who was from South Dakota, was a beloved figure in the
area during the gymkhana’s heyday after World War II
Gilroy – There won’t be any need to round up a posse to hunt down the varmint responsible for snatching Casey Tibbs’ hat. The downtown statue of the legendary bronco buster is sporting a new Stetson – the last one went the way of the tumbleweed, according to Charlie Haines, the man who replaced the hat.
Some residents suspected local pranksters had taken the hat, leaving a tie wrapped around the head of the statue perched atop the building facing Old City Hall, at the corner Sixth and Monterey streets.
“The wind blew it off,” said Haines, 71, who worked more than 40 years in the Hall family’s building. He said the “tie” that flapped from the cowboy’s head for several months was actually part of the old hat band that had slipped down.
“This time I took the band out from inside the hat and put the glue on just the straw,” Haines explained. “If it falls off again there won’t be any string hanging off his head.”
He said he asked his son Lenny to replace the hat in recent weeks at the request of building owner George Hall.
Known officially as the James Ellis building, it opened in 1872 and is the oldest building on the block. George Hall’s father, Bill, started a clothing business in 1931 that remained open until the late 1990s.
The structure is in need of extensive retrofitting and Hall said he plans to sell it.
Most of what was known about the statue of Tibbs riding his horse “War Paint” has been lost to history. It was installed above Hall’s some time after 1956, the last year of Gilroy’s annual gymkhana, or horse riding competition. A few years ago it was repainted and spruced up in anticipation of a move to Bonfante Gardens, but the statue stayed put.
Tibbs, who was from South Dakota, was a beloved figure in these parts during the gymkhana’s heyday after World War II. According to the Casey Tibbs Foundation, in 1949, at age 19, he became the youngest man to win the national saddle bronco-riding crown. And between 1949 and 1955, he won six such championships, which is still a record.
He also was a great ambassador for his sport, appearing in movies and television shows and introducing rodeo to Japan. He died in 1990, a few weeks before his 61st birthday. Gilroy Rancher Don Silacci remembers Tibbs “as just an all-around good fellow.”
