 "Photo: Sarah Koepke / Staff Photographer")
When people hear the word “cowboy,” they often think of the hat-wearing, lasso-throwing, gun-shooting glamorized actors riding horseback in old Hollywood Western films. And while these portrayals may be close to the real thing, many do not realize the values of family, honor, hospitality and resourcefulness one can learn from a cowboy.
Stephen Crutchfield, graduate student in the department of television, film and new media at San Diego State, set out with his camera, boom microphone and lighting equipment to a hidden ranch in Descanso in search of vaqueros (Spanish cowboys). What he captured was hours of raw footage that recounts the history of the fading culture from those who are still alive to tell the tale.
Crutchfield directed, edited and produced a 14-minute documentary titled, “The Last Vaquero.” He entered it into the California State University’s 19th annual Summer Arts Media Arts Festival and won second place for documentaries last month.
Every year, MAF showcases some of the best student work in animation, documentary, experimental, interactive, music video, narrative, television, feature screenplay and short screenplay from the 23 CSU campuses. This year the judges chose 30 finalists among 171 entries. Crutchfield was the only student from SDSU chosen as a finalist.
“I really enjoyed ‘The Last Vaquero,’” MAF Director Joanne Sharp said. “It had an interesting cinematic style and truly captured a fading lifestyle.”
“The Last Vaquero” was screened before an audience of industry professionals, professors and students at the MAF in Fullerton before winners were announced. Crutchfield did not attend the ceremony and was out of town celebrating his 10-year wedding anniversary when the good news was announced.
Crutchfield first became intrigued with the vaquero lifestyle and began researching it after attending and videotaping a cowboy poetry event, which is a form of Western storytelling usually told through song and playing a guitar.
“Most of what we know about the American cowboy today started with the vaquero,” Crutchfield said. “The vaquero was perhaps the most skillful horseman the world had ever seen and many believe the vaquero way of ranching is more beneficial for animals than today’s modern ranching techniques.”
After years of researching vintage magazines, books and Internet sources, he met a saddle maker in Descanso. Crutchfield found an article by Garry McClintock titled “Hey, Mr. Vaquero!” that outlined the vaquero lifestyle and talked about McClintock’s friend, Granville “Granny” Martin, whom many claim to be the last vaquero.
Martin, who died in 1991, is the main figure in the documentary.
Martin was resourceful, self-sufficient and could survive in the backcountry for weeks.
Black-and-white footage of Martin making a reata (lasso) weaves back and forth with new footage of McClintock teaching the same process to a young cowboy, who wants to learn the traditional techniques of making a rawhide lasso.
Crutchfield developed a close bond with McClintock and Martin’s family through the filming process and became a part of the tight-knit ranch community.
“It’s a great honor to tell these stories of what the world was like 100 years ago and try to learn something from that,” Crutchfield said. “Those who knew him well exclaimed that if you spent any time with Granny ‘and had at least a half a brain’ you’d learn something.”
After numerous interviews, days of shooting, 50 pages of transcripts and 12 hours of raw footage, Crutchfield was ready to begin editing.
“Sometimes it felt like it would not be possible to edit a scene together (because) the challenge seemed too great,” he said. “Then, by process of elimination and refinement, a scene was created.”
Crutchfield said he wants to tell stories that are interesting to him as well as others. His film was shown to colleagues and professors to critique and several edits had to be made before the final cut.
“‘The Last Vaquero’ is a thoroughly professional documentary,” TFM professor Mark Freeman said. “Because Stephen is a tenacious and meticulous filmmaker, his research uncovered a little-known story. His documentary is beautifully shot and well written.”
One of the advisers who oversaw the project, TFM professor Greg Durbin, said Crutchfield has an abundance of innate talent.
“Stephen did an excellent job structuring the material so that it captured the viewer’s imagination and even had a dramatic shape,” Durbin said. “I found myself quite caught up in how a leather lasso is made, something I would not have guessed would interest me before watching this doc.”
Before filming “The Last Vaquero,” Crutchfield directed the short narrative film, “One Cold Night” and directed “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” His documentary titled “Tissiack: The Great Northwest Face,” won first place from Videomaker magazine in 2007.
With “The Last Vaquero” Crutchfield hopes others will reflect on lost traditions in their own lives and the people that have impacted them.
“I enjoyed the relationships that I established through the making of this film,” Crutchfield said. “They left a mark on me, just as Granny left a mark on them. I hope that this film will inspire viewers to reflect on their own lives to consider those who have left a mark on them.”
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