Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
Harold Curtis Palmer, wildlife expert, 85
155 views
Skip to first unread message
tom6...@gmail.com
Jan 28, 2018, 5:12:50 PM1/28/18
to
He was also involved in troop 22 in Atlanta Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
Leesa Bongers
Mar 4, 2023, 2:24:45 AM3/4/23
to
Hello Fata. I live in Central Queensland, Australia and I am researching an American who my father knew around about 1959 by the name of Harold Palmer. I believe he had red hair and his nickname was "Red" although my father always referred to him as "the Yank" when telling stories of the interesting time they had together. I believe this may be the same man.
My father was about 20 years old at the time and working as a "Ringer" - a stationhand - on a remote cattle property, 600 square miles, approx 580,000 acres. The cattle were mostly cleanskins, large sharp horns, and WILD. The young men would seek the wild cattle on horseback, chase them until they were too tired to run any more, jump off and grab them by the tail and spin them off their feet. They would then jump on them and quickly remove the tying strap (a thin strip of leather) and tie their back legs together. Then they would push some quiet station cows up around the wild beast, let it settle, remove the strap and jump back on their horse hoping not to be chased and horned. Many horses were gored in this process (but not as many as you would think.) There are heartbreaking stories of the favourite horse being horned and dying in the stockmans arms. The men were sometimes injured too, but usually the horse or dog would save them. It was dangerous work.
Somehow, via radio or newspaper, my dad heard about an American who had developed a Tranquilizer gun and was trialling it in Africa on lions and tigers. He spoke to the management and they agreed it could work on wild cattle. They contacted Harold Palmer and he came to Australia after he'd been in Africa. I believe he trialled the tranquiliser on cattle in America on King Ranch before he came out. My father developed a close relationship with him in the short time he was there and spoke often of the adventures with "the Yank" while he trialled the darts on Glenhaughton Station. He never saw him again but Harold recorded many photographs of his time there. My dad Lex Smith, is now 85 years old in the early stages of dementia. It is devastating to watch but the silver lining is his remarkable memory from his youth. I have started to capture his stories so they are not lost forever. Times have changed considerably and generations do not know of how things were done in the pioneering days in outback Australia.
I am studying a university subject on making documentaries so I can do the stories justice. I am happy to share my first assignment if you are interested. The second assignment is focused on the introduction of the tranquilizer dart to make it safer to catch the wild cattle. Could you possibly put me in touch with the late Harold "Red" Palmers family or anyone who might be able to help me with this? I am really hoping it is the same man and his family have kept the records from the time he spent in Australia with my family. The photographs would be priceless and I would love to share the stories with them.
You can also contact me via Email - lbon...@bigpond.com; Facebook or Messenger or Instagram (Leesa Bongers).
Dad thinks "the Yank" came from Maryland, and could have been a Professor at the University there. He also mentioned "Georgia" so I'm crossing my fingers and my heart!
I hope you can help or put me in touch with someone who can.
Kind regards,
Leesa Bongers
Biloela
Queensland, Australia
PS:
Dad worked on "Glenhaughton Station", Taroom, Queensland Australia. A great deal of this station is now The Expedition National Park. If you look at images of the park, it is hasn't changed since Harold Cook was there - very remote and rugged bushland.
On Tuesday, May 16, 2000 at 5:00:00 PM UTC+10, Fata Morgana wrote:
> DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. (AP) --
> Harold Curtis ``Red'' Palmer, a wildlife expert who developed the tranquilizer gun to
> render fearsome animals harmless without killing them, died Sunday of complications from
> heart surgery. He was 85.
> Palmer ran a laboratory in Atlanta, making cold and headache remedies, when he got the
> idea for his Cap-Chur Equipment gun in the 1950s after watching someone use a blowgun.
> Family members said he had assistance from many people with the chemicals and the dart,
> but it was his idea.
> ``Before then, to get an animal for the zoo you used to have to kill the mothers to get
> the babies,'' said his wife, Bobbi. ``He just saw a big need and worked to fill it. And he
> loved the idea of inventing something that saved animals because he loved animals.''
> Palmer founded Palmer Chemical and Equipment Co. in Atlanta but moved it in the 1970s to
> 600 acres in Douglas County, where he could keep lions, tigers, elephants and other exotic
> animals and research dosages needed to fell each species.
> Cheers,
> Fata Morgana
My father was about 20 years old at the time and working as a "Ringer" - a stationhand - on a remote cattle property, 600 square miles, approx 580,000 acres. The cattle were mostly cleanskins, large sharp horns, and WILD. The young men would seek the wild cattle on horseback, chase them until they were too tired to run any more, jump off and grab them by the tail and spin them off their feet. They would then jump on them and quickly remove the tying strap (a thin strip of leather) and tie their back legs together. Then they would push some quiet station cows up around the wild beast, let it settle, remove the strap and jump back on their horse hoping not to be chased and horned. Many horses were gored in this process (but not as many as you would think.) There are heartbreaking stories of the favourite horse being horned and dying in the stockmans arms. The men were sometimes injured too, but usually the horse or dog would save them. It was dangerous work.
Somehow, via radio or newspaper, my dad heard about an American who had developed a Tranquilizer gun and was trialling it in Africa on lions and tigers. He spoke to the management and they agreed it could work on wild cattle. They contacted Harold Palmer and he came to Australia after he'd been in Africa. I believe he trialled the tranquiliser on cattle in America on King Ranch before he came out. My father developed a close relationship with him in the short time he was there and spoke often of the adventures with "the Yank" while he trialled the darts on Glenhaughton Station. He never saw him again but Harold recorded many photographs of his time there. My dad Lex Smith, is now 85 years old in the early stages of dementia. It is devastating to watch but the silver lining is his remarkable memory from his youth. I have started to capture his stories so they are not lost forever. Times have changed considerably and generations do not know of how things were done in the pioneering days in outback Australia.
I am studying a university subject on making documentaries so I can do the stories justice. I am happy to share my first assignment if you are interested. The second assignment is focused on the introduction of the tranquilizer dart to make it safer to catch the wild cattle. Could you possibly put me in touch with the late Harold "Red" Palmers family or anyone who might be able to help me with this? I am really hoping it is the same man and his family have kept the records from the time he spent in Australia with my family. The photographs would be priceless and I would love to share the stories with them.
You can also contact me via Email - lbon...@bigpond.com; Facebook or Messenger or Instagram (Leesa Bongers).
Dad thinks "the Yank" came from Maryland, and could have been a Professor at the University there. He also mentioned "Georgia" so I'm crossing my fingers and my heart!
I hope you can help or put me in touch with someone who can.
Kind regards,
Leesa Bongers
Biloela
Queensland, Australia
PS:
Dad worked on "Glenhaughton Station", Taroom, Queensland Australia. A great deal of this station is now The Expedition National Park. If you look at images of the park, it is hasn't changed since Harold Cook was there - very remote and rugged bushland.
On Tuesday, May 16, 2000 at 5:00:00 PM UTC+10, Fata Morgana wrote:
> DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. (AP) --
> Harold Curtis ``Red'' Palmer, a wildlife expert who developed the tranquilizer gun to
> render fearsome animals harmless without killing them, died Sunday of complications from
> heart surgery. He was 85.
> Palmer ran a laboratory in Atlanta, making cold and headache remedies, when he got the
> idea for his Cap-Chur Equipment gun in the 1950s after watching someone use a blowgun.
> Family members said he had assistance from many people with the chemicals and the dart,
> but it was his idea.
> ``Before then, to get an animal for the zoo you used to have to kill the mothers to get
> the babies,'' said his wife, Bobbi. ``He just saw a big need and worked to fill it. And he
> loved the idea of inventing something that saved animals because he loved animals.''
> Palmer founded Palmer Chemical and Equipment Co. in Atlanta but moved it in the 1970s to
> 600 acres in Douglas County, where he could keep lions, tigers, elephants and other exotic
> animals and research dosages needed to fell each species.
> Cheers,
> Fata Morgana
Leesa Bongers
Mar 5, 2023, 12:26:05 AM3/5/23
to
On Saturday, March 4, 2023 at 5:24:45 PM UTC+10, Leesa Bongers wrote:
> Hello Fata. I live in Central Queensland, Australia and I am researching an American who my father knew around about 1959 by the name of Harold Palmer. I believe he had red hair and his nickname was "Red" although my father always referred to him as "the Yank" when telling stories of the interesting time they had together. I believe this may be the same man.
>
> My father was about 20 years old at the time and working as a "Ringer" - a stationhand - on a remote cattle property, 600 square miles, approx 580,000 acres. The cattle were mostly cleanskins, large sharp horns, and WILD. The young men would seek the wild cattle on horseback, chase them until they were too tired to run any more, jump off and grab them by the tail and spin them off their feet. They would then jump on them and quickly remove the tying strap (a thin strip of leather) and tie their back legs together. Then they would push some quiet station cows up around the wild beast, let it settle, remove the strap and jump back on their horse hoping not to be chased and horned. Many horses were gored in this process (but not as many as you would think.) There are heartbreaking stories of the favourite horse being horned and dying in the stockmans arms. The men were sometimes injured too, but usually the horse or dog would save them. It was dangerous work.
>
> Somehow, via radio or newspaper, my dad heard about an American who had developed a Tranquilizer gun and was trialling it in Africa on lions and tigers. He spoke to the management and they agreed it could work on wild cattle. They contacted Harold Palmer and he came to Australia after he'd been in Africa. I believe he trialled the tranquiliser on cattle in America on King Ranch before he came out. My father developed a close relationship with him in the short time he was there and spoke often of the adventures with "the Yank" while he trialled the darts on Glenhaughton Station. He never saw him again but Harold recorded many photographs of his time there. My dad Lex Smith, is now 85 years old in the early stages of dementia. It is devastating to watch but the silver lining is his remarkable memory from his youth. I have started to capture his stories so they are not lost forever. Times have changed considerably and generations do not know of how things were done in the pioneering days in outback Australia.
> I am studying a university subject on making documentaries so I can do the stories justice. I am happy to share my first assignment if you are interested. The second assignment is focused on the introduction of the tranquilizer dart to make it safer to catch the wild cattle. Could you possibly put me in touch with the late Harold "Red" Palmers family or anyone who might be able to help me with this? I am really hoping it is the same man and his family have kept the records from the time he spent in Australia with my family. The photographs would be priceless and I would love to share the stories with them.
>
> You can also contact me via Email - lbon...@bigpond.com; Facebook or Messenger or Instagram (Leesa Bongers).
> Dad thinks "the Yank" came from Maryland, and could have been a Professor at the University there. He also mentioned "Georgia" so I'm crossing my fingers and my heart!
>
> I hope you can help or put me in touch with someone who can.
> Kind regards,
>
> Leesa Bongers
> Biloela
> Queensland, Australia
>
> PS:
> Dad worked on "Glenhaughton Station", Taroom, Queensland Australia. A great deal of this station is now The Expedition National Park. If you look at images of the park, it is hasn't changed since Harold Palmer was there - very remote and rugged bushland.
> Hello Fata. I live in Central Queensland, Australia and I am researching an American who my father knew around about 1959 by the name of Harold Palmer. I believe he had red hair and his nickname was "Red" although my father always referred to him as "the Yank" when telling stories of the interesting time they had together. I believe this may be the same man.
>
> My father was about 20 years old at the time and working as a "Ringer" - a stationhand - on a remote cattle property, 600 square miles, approx 580,000 acres. The cattle were mostly cleanskins, large sharp horns, and WILD. The young men would seek the wild cattle on horseback, chase them until they were too tired to run any more, jump off and grab them by the tail and spin them off their feet. They would then jump on them and quickly remove the tying strap (a thin strip of leather) and tie their back legs together. Then they would push some quiet station cows up around the wild beast, let it settle, remove the strap and jump back on their horse hoping not to be chased and horned. Many horses were gored in this process (but not as many as you would think.) There are heartbreaking stories of the favourite horse being horned and dying in the stockmans arms. The men were sometimes injured too, but usually the horse or dog would save them. It was dangerous work.
>
> Somehow, via radio or newspaper, my dad heard about an American who had developed a Tranquilizer gun and was trialling it in Africa on lions and tigers. He spoke to the management and they agreed it could work on wild cattle. They contacted Harold Palmer and he came to Australia after he'd been in Africa. I believe he trialled the tranquiliser on cattle in America on King Ranch before he came out. My father developed a close relationship with him in the short time he was there and spoke often of the adventures with "the Yank" while he trialled the darts on Glenhaughton Station. He never saw him again but Harold recorded many photographs of his time there. My dad Lex Smith, is now 85 years old in the early stages of dementia. It is devastating to watch but the silver lining is his remarkable memory from his youth. I have started to capture his stories so they are not lost forever. Times have changed considerably and generations do not know of how things were done in the pioneering days in outback Australia.
> I am studying a university subject on making documentaries so I can do the stories justice. I am happy to share my first assignment if you are interested. The second assignment is focused on the introduction of the tranquilizer dart to make it safer to catch the wild cattle. Could you possibly put me in touch with the late Harold "Red" Palmers family or anyone who might be able to help me with this? I am really hoping it is the same man and his family have kept the records from the time he spent in Australia with my family. The photographs would be priceless and I would love to share the stories with them.
>
> You can also contact me via Email - lbon...@bigpond.com; Facebook or Messenger or Instagram (Leesa Bongers).
> Dad thinks "the Yank" came from Maryland, and could have been a Professor at the University there. He also mentioned "Georgia" so I'm crossing my fingers and my heart!
>
> I hope you can help or put me in touch with someone who can.
> Kind regards,
>
> Leesa Bongers
> Biloela
> Queensland, Australia
>
> PS:
0 new messages