The Grand Generation
Presenting Your Findings


Organizing a "Home Museum"
Rod Rosebrook's Collection of Western Tools and Memorabilia

Rod Rosebrook, an 86-year-old rancher and blacksmith from Redmond, Oregon, spent years collecting old tools and equipment connected with his way of life and work: barbed wire, brands for sheep and cattle, horseshoes, leather punches, spurs, bits, bridles, wrenches, pipes, and stove tops - tools that he had grown up with and that he had seen his father and grandfather use in "the old days." When he retired from ranching in the late 1960s, Mr. Rosebrook set about the task of organizing and completing his collection and transformed his barn into a "home museum" of western tools and memorabilia.

He enjoys giving tours of his collection to friends, neighbors, local schoolchildren, church groups, 4-H clubs, and visitors just passing through, explaining what each tool is, the way it was used, and the changes he has seen in ranching over his more than 75 years of experience. Through his "home museum," Mr. Rosebrook has helped to document and preserve a valuable part of the folklore and history of his region.

 

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