|
 Several
years ago I wrote an article about a man who changed
his life based on what he believed in. This man
moved from a setting of seascapes in the east to the
southwest. His childhood dream of being a cowboy was
finally fulfilled when he moved to Arizona in 1972.
In the fall of 1975 the Arizona desert was a burning
inferno with temperatures well above the one
hundred-degree mark. Only after sundown did the air
begin to cool. It was in my swamp cooled classroom
on the extension campus of Central Arizona College
in Apache Junction that I met my first real
“Connecticut Yankee”. He was dressed in a big
Stetson hat, a western shirt, Levis, and pointed-toe
cowboy boots. His better than six-foot frame made a
real striking figure in a room filled with senior
citizens and other students. Momentarily I thought
John Wayne had joined my class. At the time I was
teaching a special interest class titled
“Prospecting the Superstitions.” As fall changed to
winter on the Arizona desert this “Connecticut
Yankee” would forever alter my philosophy about life
and why a lot of people move to Apache Junction.
 During
the many class sessions that followed he was so
inquisitive, so charged with enthusiasm, and so
sincere about accumulating knowledge on cowboys and
the region. He wasn’t the typical instructor-student
challenger; he wanted to learn everything he could
about the Superstition Mountains and the American
West. Sometimes it appeared he was trying to crowd a
lifetime into a few short months. After our formal
introduction I understood the motivation behind his
drive to acquire all the knowledge he could. He was
a “Connecticut Yankee” in search of a dream, a dream
of learning and experiencing the life of a real
cowboy. Something he had dreamed about since
childhood. Allan Blackman was a man in search of a
dream and had forgone his previous lifestyle as a
successful Easterner to fulfill this burning desire
to go west.
No longer would he do lapidary work, paint schooners
on the high sea, or build brass cannons for
Revolutionary War re enactment groups. Allan was an
accomplished seascape painter and had oil paintings
hanging in thirtynine states. He traded all this for
a chance to prospect for gold in the West and find
the legendary cowboy’s way of life.
Allan was born during the “Great Depression” on
February 27, 1932 in Bridgeport, Connecticut and
graduated from high school in Stamford on June 6,
1950. As a child he traded his piano lessons for art
lessons and by the time he was fourteen he had his
first one-man art show at the Stamford Museum. He
sold ten of his thirty clipper ships and seascape
scenes that day. His oil paintings found their way
into banks and homes in thirty-nine states of the
United States. Allan continued to paint and sell his
work throughout high school.
His first introduction to the West was when he was
four years old. All dressed in cowboy attire he
would ride his tricycle around his parent’s living
room while absorbing the music of Montana Slim who
sang each morning on Radio WOR, New York City, about
8:15 a.m. His mother use to say the only thing he
would sit still and listen to was a cowboy singer.
From this point on Allan grew up dreaming of being a
cowboy and living the cowboy’s way of life.
The beginning of World War II, when our nation was
at its greatest turmoil, Allan passed time at the
movie theater watching Tom Mix, Gene Autry and a
host of Hollywood cowboys who where his heroes. It
was from these characters Allan’s first impressions
of the West came. However, nothing stirred him as
much as the film, “Lust for Gold”, starring Glen
Ford and Ida Lupino in 1951. This film incorporated
as one of its basic themes the legend of the Lost
Dutchman Gold Mine in the Superstition Mountains of
Central Arizona. Now young Allan had both the West
and lost gold to nurture his desire to see the West.
Allan joined the United States Army in 1951 shortly
after high school. He served a tour of duty in
Germany and was honorably discharged in 1953.
Blackman was employed as a tool-die maker at the
Pitney-Bowes Company. He worked his way up to
foreman by 1967. Allan had an excellent job, a
beautiful home in West Redding, Connecticut and a
wonderful family. In his West Redding home he
continued his art and developed his lapidary skills
and work. He traded oil paintings for uncut stone to
finish and polish. During the twelve years he worked
for Pitney-Bows he continued to develop his painting
ability for seascapes.
Allan planned a vacation in 1968 to San Antonio,
Texas, but instead traveled to California. It was on
his return trip from California he stopped in
Wickenburg, Arizona, the “Dude Ranch Capital of the
World.” It was here, he met his first cowboy. A man
he could talk to about the West and the life style
here.
Early in 1972, after a severe winter of rain and a
problematic asthmatic condition of his son, Bruce,
he decided to move to Arizona. This unusual set of
circumstances prompted Allan to ask for a transfer
to Arizona from Pitney-Bows. Company officials
arranged a transfer for Allan. The Blackman’s sold
their house that day and by October 10, 1972, Allan
was finally living the legend he had dreamed about.
He was only forty years old.
Allan always believed “cowboys were the
swashbucklers of the desert.” As he settled into his
new life it was a learning experience. He changed
from a station wagon to FWD pickup. He had to learn
cowboy talk and special cowboy skills just for his
personal satisfaction. He read just about everything
he could about cowboys, the West and lost gold.
Blackman first moved to Mesa, Arizona on one acre of
land. On this land he had his horses, goats, and
sheep. The first two horsemen he met were Gary
Hunnington and Joseph Bailey. Allan learned his
basics from these two men. They hauled their horses
out to the Superstition Wilderness and rode to
various destinations. This Connecticut Yankee
thrived on the Wild West and the legends of
Superstition Mountain.
Allan lived in Mesa eight years before moving to
Apache Junction. He claimed meeting me in October of
1973 broadened his knowledge of the West, the
Superstition Wilderness and the life of the cowboy.
He was sincerely dedicated to learning about the
legends and stories of Superstition Mountain.
Blackman and I rode in the mountains for ten years
together. He often volunteered to work for Bill
Bohme in the eastern end of the Superstition
Mountains during roundup. Royce Johnson, Bill
Bohme’s foreman, once said he made quite a cowboy.
He was tall in the saddle and a very strong rider.
Allan loved his horse, Apache. The bay quarter horse
was a powerful animal that carried him throughout
the Superstition Wilderness from Black Top Mesa to
Mound Mountain for more than 10 years.
Blackman was an impulsive and stubborn person. One
day he was driving through Globe when he saw a
fiddling contest. He became interested in fiddling,
bought a fiddle from a Mesa pawnshop, and began to
fiddle his way into competition around Arizona.
Allan’s last remarks I recall were somewhat
philosophical. He said, “Live each day of your life
to the fullest, you won’t live it again.”
Allan Blackman was an ordinary person with a dream.
He left his name on the Superstition Wilderness by
having a trail he blazed named after him. The trail
is known today as the Blackman Slope Trail to
Circlestone. He found his niche in the West and
became a son of the West. His dream had been
fulfilled.
Blackman had many friends in the East Valley and the
Apache Junction area. He lived in and around Apache
Junction for more than fifteen years. About a year
ago he had open-heart surgery and never really
regained his health. Allan Blackman passed away on
Sunday, July 5, 2008. He is survived by his two
children, Bruce Blackman of Cottonwood, Ariz., and
Nancy Foffett of Camdemton, Mo. Allan had five
grandchildren. |
