One of the South Cariboo’s most courageous and much loved cowboys has passed away, leaving a hole in the hearts of friends and community.
Dan Lytton of Sheridan Lake succumbed to cancer on June 17, 2012, but leaves a legacy that is rich in ethics, fortitude, love and respect for his fellow man.
Dan was a true cowboy, having been born on May 26, 1949 to a pioneer family in Sheridan, Wyoming and lived his life amidst horses, cattle and country folks. His earliest years were spent on the family’s homestead ranch on the nearby Powder River, and in 1957, they moved to the Flathead Valley of western Montana.
His Uncle Loy and Aunt Behulah Finley bought, and moved to, the Mound Ranch in Clinton in 1967 and that’s where Dan was introduced to the Cariboo. He spent the summer months working at the ranch, gaining experience as a cowboy and honing his roping skills.
Each fall he returned to Montana to attend Bozeman Agriculture College, but in 1969, the lure of the Cariboo got the best of him and he made a permanent move north.
He got settled as a hired hand for Charlie and Pat Baker at their Loon Lake Ranch and later went on to work for ranchers Don and Jackie Eden of Watch Lake and Chris and Helen Horn of Horse Lake before buying his own ranch, with his wife, Pat, at Sheridan Lake.
The couple raised four children – Ty, Tana, Jodie and Leon – while cattle ranching and staying involved with the community. Dan also worked as a farrier and made a name for himself in the rodeo circle as a top-notch team roper.
For nearly 30 years, he placed consistently in the top 10 at the professional level. Among his many accomplishments were a first-place result at the Williams Lake Stampede, a roping and penning high-point bronze in 1993 and a placement at Stockman’s Choice at High River, Alberta in 1991, which earned an impressive stock trailer.
It was in the rodeo ring on Sept. 16, 2000 that his life took a twisted turn. While competing in a team roping event at the B.C, Finals in Princeton, the unthinkable happened when his horse fell on him and left him a paraplegic.
Earlier that same year, he made a home with his best friend, Linda, and she remained by his side through the days of uncertainty and many months of recovery.
Although resigned to a wheelchair, Dan pushed himself to carry on with a lifestyle as close as possible to the one he had always known.
He continued to raise cattle, and in situations that would have once seen him on horseback, Dan rode his quad. It wasn’t always easy and there were some tense moments, but he pushed on.
Prior to the accident he had enjoyed driving all four of his children wherever was necessary to compete in rodeos and with changes made to his truck, he was able to continue with that role. In 2002, Dan hauled a stock trailer and two horses to New Mexico, so Leon could compete in the National High School Rodeo Finals.
The Interlakes community was important to Dan and he enjoyed volunteering his time as chairperson and spokesman for the annual Interlakes Rodeo. He was also a driving force behind the construction of the rodeo arena.
“Community was the most important thing to him,” says Linda, who became his wife on July 17, 2009. “He wasn’t about material things.”
She notes that anywhere they went, Dan would run into someone he knew.
“He was always connecting with people. It was important to him, and whether on the street or sitting down, he would always stop and there was always a story.
“He reached out just as much in a wheelchair as he did before the accident and you could expect a handshake, and for the ladies, it was a hug. He touched a lot of lives, and it wasn’t just in Interlakes or 100 Mile or in the rodeo circle.”
Dan’s dedication and contributions to rodeo and the cowboy way of life didn’t go unnoticed, and in 2005, he was inducted to the BC Cowboy Hall of Fame.
His son, Ty, says his dad was very humble about it and most other things that put him in the spotlight.
“He didn’t think that what he’d done was anything special, but he was honoured. That’s just the way he was.”
