For 18 years, I had a booth at the National Reining Horse Association Futurity in Oklahoma City. At some point every year, I would notice one hat picking its way through the cowboy-looking throng. It was shaped a little differently and stood out. As the snap brim fedora got closer, the figure beneath it would materialize in a tweed jacket. A pair of narrow spectacles and a walrus-style mustache completed the picture, and briefly made me think of Teddy Roosevelt. A braided bosal with reins and headstall would be slung over one shoulder of the professorial jacket. With a smile on his face and a new adventure to tell me about, Len Yule would have arrived.
Len was born in Winnsboro, Louisiana, in 1946. He was raised in the community of Nebo on Catahoula Lake.
“The land we lived on had been homesteaded by my great grandfather after The War Between the States,” Len told me.
Len’s family went back even farther than the Civil War though. The name Yule was given to a Scottish ancestor lucky enough to be born on Christmas day. Len could trace his family back to the Mayflower and the Jamestown Colony. Virtually every generation since then has had artists and craftsmen, many of whom passed their knowledge on to the next. Len’s great-great-grandfather, Chauncy Remington, was cousin to Frederic Remington, the famous western artist. Another cousin, Eliphilat Remington, became famous in the firearms business. Len’s great-grandfather came over from Scotland, in 1857. A master blacksmith and carpenter, he passed his trades on to Len’s grandfather.
Len’s father, James Edward Yule, was an art and biology teacher “with an itchy foot.” The family followed him from Louisiana to Oregon, on to Alberta, and back again. They moved from Louisiana to Oregon three times. In spite of the travel, James found time to pursue his love
