Late Logan Lake resident Prescott Patterson on his horse in an undated photo.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Laurie Norman

A cowboy in Logan Lake who departed the world as quietly as he lived in it, left a legacy of caring for wild horses in the area and raising awareness for their protection.

Prescott Patterson kept a small circle of friends, didn’t have contact with his family, and the only post on his Facebook account is a request for donations to help pay for burial costs as he died of aggressive lung cancer at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops in July, 2022.

He also didn’t use his real name, he went by Scott Oliver.

“He didn’t feel his given name sounded professional so would play with his names,” said Patterson’s friend, Logan Lake resident Laurie Norman. “He was private, definitely not a people person. He didn’t like crowds of people, but if he met someone who talked about horses you couldn’t shut him up.”

Norman met Patterson almost four years ago when he showed up on horseback in Logan Lake. Norman’s daughter approached him first to see his horse and the trio started talking. It was the beginning of a friendship that was unexpectedly cut short.

“He was travelling around parts of BC on horseback and camping as he was going,” Norman said. “I brought him to the house for a home cooked meal and shower, everything he owned fit in a backpack.”

Norman said the cowboy had “turned his back” on his family in Ontario 15 years prior but didn’t know why. He had been travelling around the country exploring and learning about wild horse herds.

Patterson soon moved in with Norman and started studying the wild herds in the Logan Lake area. He swiftly became an advocate for their well-being and for the land they roam on, becoming somewhat of an expert on their herd dynamics, behaviours and roaming patterns.

“He’d go hiking with his dog 20 kilometres a day to go monitor and check on the horses,” she said. “He kept his own horse with my friend on Mamit Lake but later rehomed it and didn’t get another one, continuing his monitoring on foot.” 

Logan Lake wildfires in the fall of 2021 dispersed the herds of wild horses there. Patterson was searching for a missing herd when he spoke with iNFOnews.ca on October 13, 2021.

“Every day since we were allowed to return from the evacuation I have been out walking many kilometres looking for them,” he said in the interview. “I came across hoof prints that tell a very clear and horrifying tale of terror the large Logan Lake herd suffered as the fire swept through their home. I won’t give up until I find them and know each one is safe.”

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Patterson said he saw some horses with burnt tails and expected to see other wildfire related injuries. He was concerned about food and water sources affected by the fires, and high predation from lack of cover. For almost four years, Patterson worked to raise awareness of the horses, hoping to find more government protection for them, even starting a website called Wild Horses Canada where he shared photos and educational articles, and took in donations he put toward vet care for injured horses.

When asked why the cowboy was so passionate about protecting the horses, Norman said: “The horses were kindred souls to himself, wild and free roaming the country wherever they want. That’s how he lived his life.”

“These horses are my life,” Patterson said. “I know them and they know me. They've been here for over 200 years and have a huge range. I've heard of hunters and others talking about killing them. I will help however I can.”

After the wildfires, the pair came down with COVID and were sick for weeks. Norman got better in time, but Patterson only got worse.

“He went to go back out to the bush but kept getting light-headed and dizzy,” she said. “Just coming up the stairs from the basement got him out of breath. It got worse and eventually he sucked it up and went to a doctor."

Patterson had tests done and was put on oxygen, eventually receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis. During his time in hospital he set up a GoFundMe, hoping for funding for a sustainable green burial, something a cemetery in Salt Spring Island does, and funds for his dog's care. But there wasn’t enough money and despite Norman's pleas, she said Patterson refused to contact his family. 

"He wouldn't contact them, they didn't know he was sick," she said. "I tried to get him to reach out. I don't know much more than that." 

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After Patterson's death, Norman took over funeral arrangements, tried to fulfill his wishes as best she could. 

"He like the idea of a natural burial where you get wrapped in a linen cloth and put in the ground with no coffin," she said. “He was cremated and the plan is to meet with a family member from the states and bury the cremation somewhere near the horses. I picked a biodegradable urn, trying to fill his wish as best as possible.”

She adopted Patterson’s dog that she takes with her regularly to visit the wild horses.

“The dog had such a terrible upbringing before Prescott took him, there was no way to rehome him,” she said. “They were very close and he was worried about it.”

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Wayne McCrory is a wildlife biologist in the Slocan valley who has been researching wild herds in the Chilcotin area for two decades, and is soon publishing a book about wild horses in Canada. He reached out to iNFOnews.ca asking for contact information for Patterson and was saddened to learn of his death.

“I’m sorry I never met the guy, his heart was in the right place and wild horse protectors are so few and far between,” he said.

He said there are over 3,000 wild horses in the province that are not legally protected by the government, nor the lands they roam on and it isn’t common to find people like Patterson because of stigma against the animals.

“The governments have had over a century of passing laws and misinformation against the horses to justify wiping them out and build a negative case against them,” he said. “They’ve been here for centuries and are part of the ecosystem, there’s no proof they’re overpopulated, overgrazing or damaging range. For anyone to challenge that or take this work on, it’s an enormous undertaking.”

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