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"Peter McCue" Article by: Frank Holmes *portions of this article have been condensed*
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By this time Peter McCue had matured into quite a horse. He was a dark bay with no white on either his head or legs, he stood 16 hands and weighed over 1400 pounds. He had a good head, with prominent jaws. His back was a bit on the long side, and his hip a bit short. Conformational faults not withstanding he was readily accepted by the mid-western horsemen of the day. While in Illinois, Peter McCue sired three of his most famous sons, Harmon Baker, Hickory Bill, and John Wilkins. All three were foaled on the Watkins Farm; John Wilkins in 1906, and Harmon Baker and Hickory Bill in 1907. In 1901 or 1902, Peter McCue was leased to a Mr. Michaels who lived near Lincoln, Illinois. Several years later he was sold to the same John Wilkins who would purchase Hickory Bill. Milo Burlingame had kept track of Peter McCue and, in 1911, he wrote to Wilkins and asked if he would consider selling the horse. Wilkins wrote back that he had used him about as long as he could, and reportedly priced him for $10,000. Burlingame never even went to look at the horse he just sent a man to pick him up.
When put into production, the sons and daughters of Peter McCue spread his blood like wild-fire through their progeny. Such legendary foundation Quarter Horse sires as Old Sorrel, Wimpy P-1, Peppy, Bert, Joe Hancock, Ding Bob, Midnight, Midnight Jr., Grey Badger II, Pretty Boy, Pretty Buck, Blackburn, Nowata Star, Poco Bueno, King Fritz, Cowboy P-12, Plaudit, Nick S., Skipper W., Jessie James, King's Pistol, and a host of others were all descendants of Peter McCue, and the list goes on and on and on.
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| This page last updated 02/24/2005 | ||
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The
story of Peter McCue begins before the turn of the century,
near the town of Petersburg, located in west-central Illinois.
This was the land of land of Abraham Lincoln. From the
mid-1800's through the first decade of the 20th century, it
was also where a prosperous farmer by the name of Samuel
Watkins raised cattle, crops and good horses. In 1894 there
were two top-notch stallions at Watkins' Long Grove Stock
Farm. One was Duke of the Highlands, a Thoroughbred, and the
other was Dan Tucker, a descendant of Cold Deck and Steel
Dust. In 1895, seventeen Watkins-owned mares had foals, with
fifteen being credited to Duke of the Highlands, and two to
Dan Tucker. One of the mares, a Thoroughbred by the name of
Nora M. foaled a stud colt on February 23, 1895 who was
subsequently named Peter McCue, family and friends of Sam
Watkins definitively established Peter McCue's sire to be Dan
Tucker, and this is how his pedigree is recognized by the
AQHA.
Peter
McCue remained under the ownership of Milo Burlingame until
1916, when he was purchased by Si Dawson of Hayden, CO.
Dawson, along with his friend and neighbor, Coke Roberds, had
become interested in the horse after seeing a gelded son of
his named Buck Thomas burn up the tracks at Denver. Dawson was
inclined to go in search of a top son of Peter McCue, but
Roberds lobbied in favor of buying the old horse himself. Both
Dawson and Roberds were serious horse breeders. After
corresponding with John Wilkins, George Clegg, and William
Anson regarding their sons of Peter McCue, Si Dawson made a
trip to personally check him out. Dawson liked what he saw and
gave Burlingame $5,000 for the 21-year-old horse. He then
arranged to have the horse shipped to Colorado by rail. On
December 3, 1919, Dawson's appendix ruptured and he died at
the age of 49. After Dawson's death Peter McCue was given to
Coke Roberds, under whose care the stallion remained until his
death in 1923, at the age of 28.
