Clure Smith was born on March 19, 1897 in LaBarge, the son of Frank DeForester Smith and Minnie Maude Towell Smith. Frank had a homestead on Little Cottonwood Creek, at Halfway, Wyoming. Clure was the third child and he grew up helping his father and siblings. At an early age he started riding for the Mumblie Peg Association on Beaver Creeks and Horse Creek.
Clure courted a local girl, Lola Delores Johnson, and they married in 1918. After their marriage, Clure got drafted and spent some time in the military at the end of WW1. His first daughter, Opal, was born while he was gone. Upon his return, for several years he cowboyed all over the Cottonwood area and worked for the Cottonwood Cattle Association. During this time, he and Lola had two more daughters, Violet in 1920 and Marjorie in 1922.
Clure had to break most of his own horses and sometimes ranchers would send him some of their ranch horses, especially ones that needed a lot of riding. A lot of those were a little rank, so Clure would get them because he could handle them. Also, it was required for the cowboy to doctor anything that needed it, often on a green horse. Clure did all of his jobs with competence and a true love of the lifestyle. Clure also always had a good dog. Not only was a good dog a companion to share the loneliness, but also a good partner to help move cattle.
“Not only was Clure a cowboy, but he always looked like a cowboy.” Said Mrs. Pat Campbell. “He stood about 5’6” and weighed 175 pounds, with bowed legs, a big cowboy hat, and high heeled boots with spurs on them. He was outgoing and very friendly and loved visiting with people.”
He also loved to pull pranks. According to the book, Daniel, Wyoming the First One Hundred Years, Clure was feeding cows for Don Jewett one winter, both of them using four horse teams. Don like to get going at sun up. One day Clure found a moose hide and buried it in the snow in front of where the lead team would be standing. The next morning, Don couldn’t get his team to start going. Clure hollered “Let’s get going or we’ll be all day feeding!”
Sid Roberts, who cowboyed with Clure a couple of summers in the Hoback, said “Clure always knew when everybody ate breakfast. Sometimes we would get invited to eat two breakfasts. That sure suited me as I was just a growing kid.”
Charles Price said his dad, Clay Price, would send him and his brother Marvin up to sometimes help move cows when Clure was riding for the Sherman Association. He said that Clure always wanted to start as soon as it got light and try to get the cattle moved before ten o’clock because that’s when the heel flies would come out and cattle would throw their tails in the air and run every which way. This made it impossible to work with the cattle.
Dorothy “Swede” McAlister, remembers cowboying with Clure in the Fall River ”Hoback” Basin when his daughter, Marjorie was riding with him. Swede said that she and Marjorie became the best of friends. This was when Clure was riding from a cow camp on Cliff Creek. Swede said that there was an overweight lady who owned property on both sides of the road in Bondurant. She was crossing the road one day when Clure was riding his horse towards her. He hollered “Hold still.” “Why?” she asked. “I’m going to jump you. It’s too far to ride around you,” She said “Awwwe, Clure.” That Clure always liked to go to all of the dances that were held in Bondurant and to all of the picnics, especially the Bondurant Barbecue, was echoed by lots of people. Sandra Strobel Brewer said of him that he was happiest when horseback, with his dog working cattle.
He rode for the Hoback, Cottonwood, Sherman, and Rye Grass Associations throughout his life, going back and forth between them. Clure started hiring out as a cowboy in his teens and never wanted any other job for all of his 67 years. In 1961, he became the foreman of the Little Jennie Ranch, but he didn’t like that job because there wasn’t enough cowboying and he only stayed there a short time. After he left that job, he returned to the Sherman Association and was the cowboy there when he became ill. He never recovered and died November 5, 1964. He is buried in the Pinedale Cemetery.