Kruse, A.D. Flores Inducted Into Hall of Fame

A.D. Flores Kruse was born in 1918 in the log homestead house with no attending doctors or mid wives. His father, 2015 WCHOF Inductee William (Bill) Kruse, had left home at an early age to cowboy in the Dakotas, Montana, and Wyoming. His mother, Jennie Flores Kruse, was the daughter of the bodyguard to the man who founded Amarillo, Texas and later became a noted lawman.

A.D. was an only child and there were no other children around to play with, so he rode to other homesteads to visit the mostly bachelor neighbors and help them for entertainment. Sometimes he would be gone for several days, but he always had a good horse so his parents didn’t worry. The closest school was near Lance Creek, so he rode 12 miles there for the school week, and returned on weekends. His parents had a small house where A.D. and his mother stayed during school. His first two years of high school were spent in Lance Creek. The last two years of high school, he boarded with a family in Lusk and grad- uated in 1936.

During those years, the Kruse cattle were trailed 45 miles to Lusk, Wyoming and loaded on the train to be sold in Omaha, Nebraska. A.D. said those two and half to three days of trailing cattle every year was the most boring job he ever had.

A.D. was the first person in the family to attend college at the University of Wyoming, graduating with a bachelor’s degree of Animal Science/Animal Husbandry. After graduation, he worked for the Soil Conservation Service before being drafted during WWII. He was commissioned as an officer and fought in the European theatre from D-Day until the German surrender. His unit, the 133rd Combat Engineers built bridges, roads, and cleared land mines so General Patton’s tanks could attack. He attained the rank of Captain and was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star with V for Valor, and a Purple Heart.

After his discharge, he was assigned to work in Dubois, Wyoming for the SCS and spent his free time riding in the mountains, hunting and fishing.

In the fall of 1948, A.D. returned to the family ranch North of Lance Creek. There, with his wife Hazel and children Kathy, Jim, and Paul, he spent his time riding and checking cows. Because of the lack of water on the ranch, the cattle were widely dispersed and 30-40 mile days in the saddle were the norm. He would also ride the Joss Ranch 20 Mile Creek pasture, which at that time was 30,000 acres. A.D. would ride up 20 Mile Creek and its tributaries, spending the night with Art and Peg Joss. Returning the next day, he would cover the 20 Mile Gulch and as far east as the Lance Creek and 20 Mile divide. He gathered his strays as well as the other neighbors, returning them on his way home.

The ranch headquarters are on the East side of the ranch, so cattle that needed doctoring were roped and treated in the pasture, generally just by himself. A.D. always tied hard and fast and in the winter he put sharp shoes on his horses. A.D. believed if it was too cold to do anything else, it was a good day to ride! In addition to his saddle horses, he always had a team of horses and used them to rake hay and feed.

A.D. bought most of his horses as colts, first from Bob Dixon and then from Bill Grey at Orin Junction, both WCHOF inductees. One time he bought a broke horse at the big horse sale in Edgemont, South Dakota. After the sale, he was asked why he bought that outlaw named “Satan”. The horse was bad news, but A.D. took him home and got along with him, except for the one time when Satan bucked him off and shattered his collar bone, broke all his ribs in front, and half of the ribs behind! He was laid up for a short time after that spill.

He broke all of his own horses until he was about 60 years old, then he let his son Jim break them. While not a great bronc rider, A.D. was not afraid of any horse and could usually find a way to get along with them enough to get the job done.

His last ride was when he was about 80 years old, helping his son Jim cut cull cows out of the herd, in November. After that, he hung his saddle up.

A.D. never owned a horse trailer and rode from the ranch headquarters to all corners of the place. He was the happiest when he was horseback, but he did every job on the ranch, from meticulous record keeping to building and maintaining excellent fences. He is remembered for wearing custom made Blucher boots and ox-bow stirrups while riding horses that you could do most anything on. He always loved horses and had a corral full, even when he passed in 2006, at 88 years old.

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