Jacks Valley man preserves wild-horse history

Charlie Fisher said he and his horse, Napoleon, have covered more Nevada territory than any other two mammals.

"I pulled him into the world, and we never were more than an acre apart during the 27 years of his life," Fisher said.

Fisher, 83, first broke a wild horse when he was 8 years old. Although he does not currently own a horse, he said he has spent more time with his horses than his wife.

Covering the walls and tables of Fisher's Jacks Valley home is an extensive wild-horse exhibit and pictorial guide. On a card table in the center of his living room is a large wild-horse scrapbook, detailing the history of the species in the United States, specifically Nevada.

"I have enough to make the book damn near a foot deep," he said. "I have all the newspaper articles related to the subject and a long history."

Fisher worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a range conservationist in Nevada for 27 years. He worked closely with Velma Johnston, aka Wild Horse Annie, a woman made famous by the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act. The legislation placed wild horses under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management and said the horses could not be sold for commercial use.

Although Fisher agreed with the premise of the legislation, he noticed many flaws.

"They adopt the good horses and sell the others for $125 or more," he said. "Then (the horses) stand around eating expensive food until they die of old age. There should be a sale clause.

"The Humane Society tells the story that we must preserve wild horses because they are part of the American heritage, but what they don't realize is that it is a waste the way it is now."

Fisher was also appointed to then-Gov. Richard Bryan's wild-horse committee in 1983.

"I was appointed because I was such a good kid," he joked. "Because I had such good looks."

Fisher said he spoke to the Rotary Club, Legislature and many other advocacy organizations, but his words fell on deaf ears.

"They spend all the money on leaving the wild horses alone, but more stand around sick in corrals and then the BLM spends more money on vet costs," he said. "They only spend one-10th of the money on the wild horse; the rest goes to administration costs."

Olivia Fiamengo, director of the Comstock Wild Horse Museum, set to open in a few weeks in Virginia City, collected a series of Fisher's slides to help the museum document the history of the Wild Horse Act.

"Charlie worked closely with Velma Johnson and has told us much of the background," Fiamengo said. "We hope to use this in the museum."

In addition to Fisher's museum donation, he said he plans to donate his scrapbook and vast collection of articles to Nevada 4-H. Fisher was a 4-H leader for 54 years. He will speak at Carson's 4-H extension office at 6:30 p.m. July 17.

Fisher has degrees in chemistry, biology and animal husbandry. He was also president of the Nevada Section of the Society for Range Management, a member of the Nevada Landmarks Society and Wildlife Federation, and director of the Sierra States Improvement District.