Nine Years in the Saddle

The twin-engine plane had delivered me to a small air terminal at Springfield, Missouri, which was nearly empty. As I entered the terminal, I heard a woman whom I had never met before exclaim,

"Here he is! I found him!"

She led me to a waiting television crew, which began to film this historic meeting between me and the elderly gentleman who accompanied her.

Dressed in western attire from his wide-brimmed hat to his cowboy boots, his six-foot frame retained a certain vigor that belied his y...