Recently I was contacted by Howard Wilson, one of 4 brothers who were active in archery in the early half of the century.  Howard's brother Bob made all the bows he and his brothers used to win several regional and national titles.  Bob was considered one of the country's best bowyers at the time by the now famous Fred Bear.  I will be posting their stories here as I recieve them, so keep checking back.

You asked for some stories of our early years experiences.  One came to mind when you mentioned making bows out of other than "tried and true" woods. Bob and I were attending a state tournament at Seldia, Missouri in, I believe, 1939.  A new fellow arrived on the scene and was very vocal in expressing what fine and beautiful bows he had crafted.  He then proceeded to brace his most recent creation, a bow tillered from red cedar.  Although the finished product was, understandably, a rather cumbersome design, red cedar is a showy wood with its colorful contrast of ruby red heart and creamy white outer grains.  The bow had been carefully polished and, as he explained, finished with several hand rubbed coats of varnish.  It was impressive, a gleaming product of his personal handiwork.  As he proudly held it up for everyone to see, he said, "Just listen to the zip it has"!  With that, he drew the string back without an arrow and let it go.  Of course, without an arrow, this results in a violent shock that would amount to a test of survival for even the "tried and true" bow woods.  Red cedar is not only very beautiful, when fully seasoned it is, comparatively, also very brittle. Well, that bow literally exploded and its fragments rained all over the immediate area. With a dazed look on his face, the fellow then made a rather profound statement.  Glancing down at the handle that was still clenched in his hand, he said, "That's the first time it ever did that"!

--Howard Wilson