By Susan Jacobson
Since 1977, Dick and Karen Rhett have lived a peaceful life overlooking the Clearwater River in Lenore. Their memories there are full of Idaho adventures.
Dick grew up working for his father on a cattle ranch. They hayed all summer and fed all winter. Coming from a long line of cowboys, Dick followed the rodeo circuit for 3 years as a bull rider, making it to the high school finals.
“I got smoked when I went to the pros, ended up in the dirt, and that was the end of my career,” Dick says.
Rodeo may have ended, but the love for adventure and adrenaline didn’t stop. The Rhetts raised mules for 40 years, and each 1 of those mules kept Dick on his toes.
“They’re just like a dog, standoffish until that day that they’re your best friend because you find something they really like,” he says.
Dick recounted the story of Pat, the pancake-eating mule.
“I had this mule, Pat, and he loved pancakes,” he says. “One morning, Dad was cooking pancakes in the tent when, all of a sudden, the zipper opened about halfway up on the tent. Pat stuck his head underneath the zipper, looking for a pancake.”
Bull riding wasn’t the only time he tasted the dirt of a rodeo arena. For years, Dick, Karen and their 2 children participated in mule shows. They entered every division, from showmanship to barrels and even buggy racing. In 1 of those buggy races, he teamed up with his friend, Marvin, but things didn’t go as planned.
“We tipped it over in the arena, and I hung on to the buggy,” Dick says. “The mule drug me and Marvin. When we got up, he jumped up and grabbed the mule, put everything back together and we finished the race.”
Daisy, a favorite mule of his, was bought at a Lewiston auction. She was a big and beautiful mule that won many awards, including grand champion in a mule show that used to be held in Orofino. Over the years, they had success in every event and were awarded many trophies, buckles and ribbons. The Rhetts were known for their spotted Appaloosa mules.
It wasn’t all showtime for the mules. Dick also operated an outfitter guide business for years. Guiding hunters into the backcountry offered new adventures. Even a mule that had to be blindfolded to be loaded in the trailer couldn’t keep them from getting the work at hand done. Stories of hunters and the backcountry, when there weren’t as many people in the wilderness, are full of laughs and adventure—goats, bears, elk, and deer were everywhere.
Dick recalls a night they were sitting by the campfire having a drink.
“We heard this commotion just past the trailer, and you could tell it was probably a wolf, and then we heard a bear growling and snarling,” he says. “The next morning, we went to check that out and see what was going on the night before. As we stepped into the meadow, this big old bear jumped up and out of the creek, and then he took off up through the trees. We looked, and there was a dead Hereford cow in the corner of the creek, and you could tell by the tracks there had been a wolf there.”
Some trips required a ride on the river to the ranch. Dick recalls a time when he picked up 2 guys in his jet boat. 1 man, whom Dick remembers looked young, was worried about whether Dick could run the river or not.
“I said, ‘Well, I’ve been up and down a few times,’” Dick says.
That day and many other times, he transported folks up from the launch to the lodge. Then, there was a trip from Lewiston all the way to the Pacific Ocean 1 year.
“We went all the way down river, through 8 dams to the ocean and back,” Dick says. “Wow, that was a fun trip.”
Like many other hearty Idahoans, retirement doesn’t mean the Rhetts sit and watch the world go by, although many days they do watch the wildlife. Instead of them being out in the woods tracking wildlife, the wildlife comes to them.
“There’s a doe that has her babies in the fenced goat pasture each year,” Dick says. “The fawns can’t get out, and the coyotes can’t get in. So she just stays in there.” Sometimes, the fawns will even play with the baby goats.
Even in retirement, Dick and Karen keep active and give back to their community. They have been part of the volunteer-led Lenore Community Center, on Highway 12 across from the Lenore Bridge, for more than 15 years. Dick spent 8 years as the program president; before that, he was the activities director. The nonprofit organization continues to grow with people from all over the region.
As a partner of The Idaho Foodbank, they helped feed the community with drive-thru food distributions during the pandemic, despite being in the at-risk category themselves. The community center continues to provide food, serve dinners and share fun and fellowship. Gold prospectors, musician jam sessions, bunco players and more gather in this vibrant place the Rhetts have nurtured.
Having lived in the area for more than 4 decades, Dick says the biggest changes he sees are how many people are in the area now and how fewer animals are around. Yet, the Rhetts have welcomed the change with open arms. Their animated storytelling and love for the land, the wildlife and the people create a patchwork quilt of memories to be shared with those fortunate enough to cross their paths.