A Mid-Century Ranch Family’s Living Legacy, Mission of Heritage, and Commitment to Lifestyle Cultural Preservation
The Morgan Family
After several decades of experiences and people, we look around, reflect upon what has happened, and what is coming.
We thought they were mere ordinary times that everyone just did. Now with a big rearview mirror, we see that they were instead extraordinary. We were gifted with a life that deserves recording in history’s annals as authentically as possible.Our history has been recorded up to a point. The school books talk about Jeremiah Morgan and Morgan Territory during the California Gold Rush. The libraries have records of the Morgan family. We have kept the family bible up to date with brother and sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Today, we continue the recounting of the mid-century ranching family, the Morgans with the cornerstone of Richie and Marge Morgan. Decades from now, perhaps a Morgan descendent will, technologically, come back in time and relive these special gifts with us. For now, we have our legacies, heritage, and stories to pass on to present and future generations.
Heritage Edition
One Man’s Collection
of Early California Spade Bits
The Legacy of Richie Morgan
By Merrilee Morgan Doss
Every bit has a story to tell and especially, the iconic spade bits.
Merrilee Morgan Doss, the daughter of a
mid-century cowboy to cattleman, horseman to bridle man, Richie Morgan, has used the bits the Morgan family collected over 70 years to tell the story of the life, legacy and heritage of the northern California ranch culture.
From quitting high school in the Depression to embracing the evolution of the 21st Century, this family’s patriarch led many in the riveting adventures featured through the photographs, actual dictation to his daughter, Merrilee, and the reflections of the people met, the horses revered, and the bits that were even honored by their display on the living room walls.
Beyond the lifestyle, 151 bits, most of them historic, intricate spades, are studied in fine detail by style, engraving, maker, mouthpiece and the why it is considered a “good usin’ bit.” The shared correspondence between Richie Morgan and Eduardo Grijalva, a famous mid-century bitmaker from Mexico, adds further color and perspective.
The heritage burns strongly in the Morgan family, It has become a purpose of passion and an intensely dedicated mission as exhibited in this book…not to be read once and put away. But rather, the book is beautifully crafted as a collectible and coveted experience with the bits calling the readers back again and again with the same allure that bit Richie Morgan in his lifelong journey.
