Chasing Horse Ghosts: telling Greyhound's Story pt.4-Red Gate Farm

Join me on this next stop as I researched my upcoming Greyhound biography!
Red Gate Farm, St. Charles, Illinois. The burial site of Greyhound.

June 10, 2023
My final stop was Red Gate Farm and Greyhound’s grave. As a writer, one of the most significant parts of my process is to walk, stand, breathe, feel, and experience the places where the people and horses I'm writing about lived, worked, visited, etc. I'm not alone in this, I've talked to other authors who write about the past that feel the same way. It's not really something I can explain but being where they were, helps me to understand and capture their story. Red Gate Farm is one of two farms owned by Baker that have not been razed and/or developed. It is the only farm still intact that housed Greyhound, albeit briefly.
       Red Gate Farm is located north of St. Charles. It is small-a home, some fields, and a few barns- but thick with history. I wish I could have met with the owners but still, enjoyed my self-guided tour of the barns and of course spent some time paying my respects to the great one himself, Greyhound.

       I contacted Lori Cooke, one of the owners of Red Gate to ask permission to visit.  Unsure of exactly when I'd be able to go to Red Gate, I wasn't able to give much notice when I planned to visit and unfortunately Lori wasn't able to meet with me. She did however welcome me to come out for a self-guided tour which I was thrilled to do. 
       My primary objective was to visit Greyhound's grave. It is maintained by the Cookes and well cared for. The monument Baker erected decades ago stands over the four main horse graves: Greyhound, Labrador, Winnipeg, and Volo Song. Still in the information collecting stage on Baker and St. Charles (vs. reading and writing), I didn't yet know the significance of the the other three horses. I later learned Labrador was Baker's first champion, Winnipeg was Baker's first two-minute horse (a pacer), and Volo Song was a top trotter who regrettably died young after an accident. But it was Greyhound I came to see and I spent the most time lingering over his grave, trying to imagine this piece of land some sixty-five years ago when Baker first made arrangements for Greyhound to be buried there when the time came. 

Screen grab from the 1939 film shows the main barn in gray with white trim. That is Jimmie Wingfield presenting Greyhound to the party guests.

       A man, I believe an employee, came out and greeted me. He'd been expecting me. He couldn't tell me a lot of history but welcomed me to have a look around the property and to feel free to take pictures. The barns and house were there in Baker's day though the house has been added on to. I recognized the layout from a 1939 film I'd seen at the St. Charles Historical Society. The film showed Greyhound during one of his "Greyhound Day" parties that Baker held each year. He invited people from the community and from the sport of harness racing. Hundreds of people came to see Greyhound and the other horse guests of honor. 
       In the film, which is in color, the barns are gray with white trim. Presumably Baker had not yet had everything painted to match his stable colors. All buildings would later be painted white with red trim which is how they are maintained today. The film is on YouTube HERE.

       Please enjoy my pictures from Red Gate Farm below:

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Hope, Horses, and Healing Book #2