It was 1957, in the era before “Helpin’ Each Other,” when pro bird dog handlers scouted for one another out of economic necessity. It was in the era when pro handlers traveled in stake-bed trucks instead of dually pickup trucks pulling goose neck trailers, and in the era when scouts were mostly black men employed year around as assistant trainers by the white handler they scouted for.
Those scouts were a band of brothers, low paid but loving their work and the dogs they scouted and helped train.
Traveling the circuit of trials presented special problems for them, for many of the motels or hotels where their handlers stayed did not accept black men as customers. Sometimes they stayed with local black families the host clubs lined up. Sometimes at nearby black-patron-only motels or hotels, sometimes in a room or two set aside for them by the white-patron-only motel or hotels where their employers stayed, and unknown to other white patrons.
It was an era of fierce competition, with handlers and owners often bearing grudges against one another. Comradery among handlers was mostly a myth. But comradery among scouts was real, as comradery among black men facing segregation and racial prejudice and discrimination had always been.
The season’s competition had come to its crescendo. It was time for the last brace of the National Bird Dog Championship, running on the Ames Plantation at Grand Junction, Tennessee. Paired for the three-hour brace were pointers Alabama Ace and Georgia Jimmy.
Earlier in the season, Ace had won the Continental, Jimmy the Free-For-All. Their handlers regarded one another with no love lost. The grudges held by them against one another were too numerous to list, built up over decades of competition, based mostly on suspected but unproved dirty tricks. By their nature, trials presented many opportunities for dirty tricks, real and suspected, or purely imagined.
Handling Alabama Ace was Bill Goins of Selma, handling Georgia Jimmy was Ralph Reed of Leesburg. Bill’s scout was Booty Blevins. Ralph’s scout was a rookie, Mack Pace, son of Ralph’s long-time scout, Sam Pace, who had died a year before of cancer.
When time was called at the end of the last brace, both dogs were out of sight to the front, each last seen five minutes earlier.
“You each have twenty-five minutes to show us your dog,” the senior judge announced to the handlers.
Everyone riding knew that if Georgia Jimmy could be found in time to show him to the Judges, he would be declared National Champion. They also knew that if Jimmy were not found in time, but Alabama Ace was, Ace would be declared National Champion. The season that had begun the first week of September on Manitoba’s prairie had come down to that. The judges halted on a rise to watch and wait, and the gallery riders halted behind them.
In fifteen minutes, Alabama Ace appeared to the judges on Bill Goin’s check cord in front of Bill’s mount. All now knew that if Jimmy were not found and shown to the judges in time, Alabama Ace would get the title and Bill and Booty would share the purse.
Most riding were hoping Jimmy would be found and shown in time, for his was clearly the better race.
Upon finding Ace, Bill Goins had blown three times on his pea whistle, letting his scout Booty Blevins know Ace was found. But Booty did not appear at once as Bill Goins expected. Bill’s blood began to boil with anger at Booty, and he again gave the three-whistle-blast signal. But still, Booty did not appear.
With only two minutes remaining in the grace period, Mack rode out of woods into sight of the judges and gallery with Georgia Jimmy on his check cord. All knew Jimmy would get the title. Booty was still unseen. He had found Jimmy and handed him off to Mack Pace, and the knowledgeable members of the gallery strongly suspected as much but no one knew for sure save Mack and Booty.
There were two other things only Booty and Mack knew: Mack was Booty’s godson, and Booty had promised his old friend Sam Pace he would look out for Mack in his rookie season on the circuit.
Bill Goins fired Booty Blevins as soon as they got home to Selma. But before the sun set Booty had a new job scouting for a handler based in Tennessee.