Horse 4

This is a William H. Dentzel I stander circa 1915. One sees Cherni's wonderful detail carving on the trappings. Not all of the decorative carvings were as classical as this one, sometimes sea monsters and other strange creations were put on the sides of the horses. The Dentzels did not go as far in this area of embellishment as did the makers of English roundabouts and some Coney Island carousel manufacturers. The eagle on the cantle of the saddle was a Dentzel trademark, thought by some historians to be a carryover from the German tradition when in reality, it was actually a message from the elder Dentzels to the younger Dentzel generation. The message has been interpreted as follows, "go west young man and keep the eagles as your rear guards". Edward thought of these words many times as he and Emma rode in their black model "T" Ford from Germantown to Angeltown (L.A.). In those early days the hills of Los Angeles were full of eagles, the one Edward got to know well was the Beverly Eagle who led him to the mayor's office on the top floor of the city hall. There, right under the gold and turquoise dome was the nest, the Pacific Ocean on one side and Hollywood on the other.

Years later, young William III drove his fledgling family up to Port Townsend, Washington in a U-haul van. They didn't really know where Port Townsend was but this enormous Bald Eagle that they were following on the freshly built I-5 roadway led them to the place and then vanished, just like that. Bill, Penny and Zaryn weren't able to go any further, not because the eagle left them but because simultaneously they ran out of gas, ran out of money, ran out of U-haul rental time, ran out of road, and ran out of diapers and ran out of time. Thirtyeight years later they are still in Port Townsend roughly in the same rarified situation, only Sophia and Noah have since joined them toting along Francis, Lucy, Casper and the pigeons. Recently, eagles have been turning up in the sky over their home, circling and futzing around. At the same time everyone in the family has been getting itchy feet except Francis, he has always had them, that is why he can jump so high and swim so well in the 47 degree water.