DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the marker on this site tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Joe Stroud came into this world in 1877, and by 1903 he'd made his way here from a place called Bigfoot — and yes, that's a real place, don't get me started — and he set up a blacksmith shop right on this very site. The craft wasn't new to him.
He'd learned it from his father, so when he fired up that forge, he knew exactly what he was doing. Now, a blacksmith is a blacksmith, but Joe Stroud had a particular gift. Word started to spread — not just around the county, not just around the region — but throughout the southwest, all on account of his branding irons.
You want iron work you can trust, iron that'll mark your cattle clean and true for decades? Joe Stroud was your man. And if you had a horse that needed shoes, well, friend, you were in exceptional hands.
The marker tells us Joe had a reputation as an expert farrier, and it doesn't just leave it at that. It backs it up with a number. He once shod all four feet of a horse in nine minutes.
Nine minutes. Four feet. You go ahead and think about that the next time you're in a hurry and can't find your keys.
Joe kept at it, too. He didn't retire to a rocking chair when the years started stacking up. He persisted in working in that shop until shortly before his death in 1966.
The business has expanded since those early days, but here's the part that'll stay with you: the original anvil is still there. And it still rings loud. Sherille Stroud is the one swinging the hammer now, keeping the Stroud family tradition alive on the same ground where Joe first built his fire.
Some things, it turns out, are worth passing down.
What the marker says
Joe Stroud (1877-1966) came here from Bigfoot in 1903, and established a blacksmith shop on this site, continuing in the craft learned from his father. Stroud soon became known throughout the southwest for his branding irons, and had a reputation as an expert farrier, once shodding all four feet of a horse in nine minutes. He persisted in working in the shop until shortly before his death. Although the business has expanded, the original anvil still rings loud from the blows of Sherille Stroud, who maintains the Stroud family tradition. 1975