Olaf Wieghorst, Artist
Tommy "Snuff" Garrett, Bob Nolan and Olaf Wieghorst at a party given by Snuff
(The Calin Coburn Collections ©2004)
Snuff Garrett, describing a party he held for Olaf Wieghorst whom he called "King":
"Olaf
Wieghorst was like another father to me – a very, very close friend. I talked to
Olaf practically every day. He lived down past San Diego. I told Olaf about Bob
[Nolan] and he said he remembered him when Roy was doing Madison Square Garden
every other year. Olaf was a New York City mounted policeman from 1924 and
retired in 1944.
"One day I was at Roy’s museum and I saw this painting. I knew exactly what it
was. I said, “Where in hell did you get that?” He said, “Some fan did it for
me.” So I called Olaf and I said, “I just saw a painting you did of Trigger.” He
said, “I know. I was a cop in NY and I was down at Madison before the rodeo
started and I painted it and gave it to Roy.” So I told Roy who it was and he
had already met him with me. They got to know each other around me and we were
together a lot on fishing trips and so forth.
"
Roy said, “Are you kidding?” I said, “No. It’s worth a ton.” It was hanging in
the entrance of the first museum in Apple Valley. He was glad to know who the
“fan” was – the finest American western painter. He left it hanging there in
front.
"So I asked Bob, 'We’re going to have a party
two Saturdays from now. Out at the house at Bel Air. Would you come?' He said,
'I’d love to come.' "
And so, with others who knew him betting that Bob wouldn't appear, Snuff planned his party and hoped. Bob, against all odds, did come and this incident became one of Snuff's favorite Bob Nolan stories. Bob had originally purchased Wieghorst's sketches when Olaf was still a NYC mounted policeman and Bob was appearing with Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers at Madison Square Garden in the early '40s. Neither men realized how popular Wieghorst's art would become, or how valuable. Bob left Calin a print and a sketch.
