WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington County, Utah)
WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY PHOTO COLLECTION
Photo WCHS-01357
Photo of a set of Mormon Puzzle Hobbles.
Contributed by Lyman Forsythe on February 21, 2012.
E-mail from Lyman Forsythe accompanying the photo:
When I was a boy my grandfather Ambrose M. Cannon had a set that he took great pleasure in displaying. I have no idea of the provenance of this set and they have since disappeared through several estates. There was a set at the Jacob Hamblin home in Santa Clara and at the Visitors Museum at the Temple years ago. Last year I found a blacksmith by the name of Dennis Manning who forged several sets for me with "In Memory of Ambrose Cannon" stamped on them. He first saw a set at the Temple Museum 44 years ago, he became intrigued and has researched them. I insert an excerpt from his (Dennis Manning) email.Dear Lyman,I attach a certificate that he sends with the hobbles and a video link to a Texas horseshoer taking a set apart.
The St. George area has been a prime location for iron puzzle hobble research. It was at a little museum on the temple grounds that I was first introduced to the hobbles. That was 44 years ago next week. The museum in long gone but there are still many specimens of the hobbles in the area. Better yet some of the most valuable journal entries found so far in our research come from the area. The blacksmith at Grafton is known to have made and used the hobbles. At Kanarra frustrated Indians shot a pair of mules that were hobbled with them and out in Clover Valley Indians were caught in the act of trying to break the iron hobbles by pounding them with rocks. My research on the last story is in the Dixie Library.