Pony Penning 1962 - After the Storm

   The Ash Wednesday Storm smacked the islands of Assateague and Chincoteague with a vengeance, ruining homes, livelihoods, and dreams. It killed the plans of another Ocean City-like resort on the northern end of Assateague; 48 houses out of 100s planned had been built, only 10 survived.

   On 12 March 1962, The Daily Register of Red Bank, New Jersey had an article on page 11 that read:  145 Ponies Die  -  Chincoteague Toll  -  Chincoteague, Va. (AP) -  The most famous Chincoteague pony of them all foaled a filly even as a count showed 145 ponies died in last week's savage coastal storm.

   Misty, the storied 16-year-old pony who was evacuated from this ravaged island when the floods struck, gave birth to a third offspring at Pocomoke City, Md., yesterday. [She was removed after the flooding subsided, on Friday, 9 March.]

   But that was about the only bright news to reach pony-owners and fanciers on Chincoteague.

   A final count showed 55 of the little ponies perished in the flood on nearby Assateague Island, where they roam wild.  In addition, 90 horses on Chincoteague died.

   Four Army helicopters will remove the dead animals from the two islands today, lifting them by rope and depositing them in trucks, which will take the carcasses to a mainland farm for burial in great holes made by bulldozers.

   Plans for Army helicopters to drop water and food to the surviving ponies on Assateague were abandoned last night when rain fell and purified the contaminated water on the isle."   ***

Misty and Stormy with the Ralph Beebe family, April 1962

Photo by the National Geographic magazine

   On 18 March, The Daily Press of Newport News, Virginia ran this story on page 3:  " 'Misty' Rides Again  -  Movie Of Famed Pony Helps Replenish Herd  -  Misty, the Chincoteague pony of book and film fame, is adding her "whinny" to the island's disaster relief efforts.

   Last week's vicious storm, which caused such devastation to the people of Chincoteague, also wiped out about 50 per cent of Misty's renowned relatives - the ponies which run wild on Chincoteague and adjacent Assateague Island.

   The lost animals, owned collectively by Chincoteague's volunteer fire department, support both the fire department and much of the community's economy by attracting tourists from all over the country to an annual roundup sale and carnival.  So Misty is galloping in by way of film to replenish the lost pony stock.

   According to the Chincoteague Mayor, Robert M. Reed, the motion picture film based on Misty's life is being released again, free of charge, by its producers, Twentieth Century Fox, to movie theaters, for benefit showings, with the proceeds to be used to rebuild the Chincoteague herds.  Mayor Reed explained that the Town Council, which will administer the fund, will attempt to purchase Chincoteague ponies which have been sold to people in the past.   

   Mayor Redd commented:  "You might call Misty's film a horse of a different Red Cross color."  The Red Cross will help the people.  Misty's film will help the ponies.  Misty herself didn't say neigh. "   ***

Ralph Beebe and Misty at a movie showing benefit in Richmond

  The local Salisbury Maryland newspaper carried a story on 2 April that spread across the United States in which Ralph Beebe stated that the annual Pony Penning would take place on the usual days in July.  Appearing with Misty and her new filly Stormy at benefit showings of the movie "Misty," Beebe  stated that with the benefit showings proceeds the CVFC would be able to  purchase enough Chincoteague ponies and/or their progeny to replenish the herds for Pony Penning.  He said that more than 30 owners had contacted the fire company and offered their ponies for repurchase.   ***

   On 3 April, The Richmond Times-Dispatch noted in a small article on page 27, that the Neighborhood Theater chain, located in their city, had just sent a check in the amount of $1,104.24 to the town of Chincoteague to help replace the ponies lost in the Ash Wednesday Storm.  Of that amount, $979  was from the sale of tickets; the rest came from the donation boxes placed in each theater's lobby, plainly marked as donations for replacement ponies.  -  And that happened across the eastern United States.  

   On 10 April, in a Bloomington, Illinois newspaper's "Letters to the Editor" column, a librarian of that city shared a letter she had received from author Marguerite Henry, asking that the library ask children and adults to donate to the Misty Disaster Fund to replenish the ponies on Assateague.  Ms. Henry stated that "pennies, dimes and dollars help" and she gave out an address of "Mr. Tom Reed, Misty Disaster Fund, Chincoteague, Virginia" as the place to mail checks.    ***

Ponies swimming to Chincoteague, 1962

   The Daily Times of Salisbury, Maryland placed the following article on page 1, on 18 April:  "32 Ponies Sold To Chincoteague  -  Dublin, Va.  (AP)  -  Thirty-two head of Chincoteague ponies were sold here Tuesday to the Chincoteague Fire Co. to help the firemen replenish their herd in time for the annual pony auction July 25.

   The ponies were purchased from G. G. Dobbins, a Pulaski County farmer.

   Dobbins said the herd came originally from 12 ponies he purchased at the annual auction six years ago.  He said he paid $100 a head for the ponies, but he did not disclose what he received for those he sold Tuesday.

   The fire company, which sponsors the sale, has sent offers across the country for offspring of the long legged ponies which live on nearby Assateague Island.  The present herd was severely depleted by last month's tidal storm."   ***

   In early July, Melvina Shepherd of the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce gave an interview to the Associated Press in which she stated that the island expected the largest crowd ever for this Pony Penning, due to the national press the island had received after the Ash Wednesday Storm.  She stated that every inn, hotel, motel and rooming house was booked solid for the annual event, and that her desk was piled high with accommodation requests from people from all fifty states.   ***

Ponies arrive on Chincoteague after the 1962 Swim

   Page one of The Daily Times of Salisbury, on Wednesday, 25 July, had this headline:  "Ponies Swim Today  -  Island Is Crowded For Penning  -  By Melvina Shepherd, Times Correspondent  -  Chincoteague  -  "Well, they're here!"

   The wild ponies arrived on this Eastern Shore of Virginia island at 10:15 a.m. today.

   A crowd estimated at 20,000 or more saw the little animals, driven across the channel from Assateague Island, come out of the water.  Another 2,000 or more, hurrying to the scene on the island's narrow streets, missed the spectacle.

   A rain which began to fall earlier in the day halted for about 15 minutes as the swim began.  It resumed just about the time the ponies reached island and began the march into town.

   The 225 ponies which made the swim was called one of the largest roundups in years, the result of farsighted Chincoteague firemen who bought broodmares to replace ponies lost in last winter's storm.

   The rain failed to dampen the holiday spirit which pervaded the island community.  Thousands stood in the downpour awaiting the main event. 

   Thursday many of the ponies will be sold to the highest bidder, never to return to the tiny isle where their kind has roamed free for generations.

   Under the prodding from volunteer firemen from this island off Virginia's Eastern Shore, about 200 ponies each year are herded across the narrow channel separating Assateague and Chincoteague and placed in corrals to await the next day's auction.

   Proceeds from the sale help support the volunteer fire department, and the ponies that find no buyer are herded back to Assateague to await another year's sale.

   Because of the violent coastal storm of last March which killed some of the pony herd on Assateague, fewer were expected to be herded to Chincoteague this year, and fewer sold.  It's estimated that there are 300 ponies on Assateague - or were, before floods following the big storm wiped out a substantial number.

   Guesses as to the number of ponies that perished in the floods have ranged from 30 to 150.  In any event, the volunteer firemen have tried to replenish the herd by buying back some ponies sold in previous years as well as the offspring of these ponies.

   The pony-penning and sale is the highlight of the annual Firemen's Carnival here, a celebration that lasts the better part of a month.  This year the carnival ends July 30."   ***

A boy pets a pony on the Carnival Grounds after the swim, 1962

   The Progress-Index of Petersburg, Virginia had the headline "130 Frisky Ponies On Auction Block" on Thursday morning, the day of the auction, but had nothing new to add to Melvina Shepherd's report from the previous day.   ***

   The 27 July (Friday) edition of Newport News' The Daily Press had this short article about the Pony Auction:  "Ponies Sold At Chincoteague  -  From Wire Services  -  Chincoteague  -  Auctioneers disposed of 77 colts in sales Thursday at the Chincoteague firemen's annual pony penning.  

   Top price of $127.50 was paid for a mare colt.  A horse colt brought the low, $37.50.

   Weather was fine for Thursday's events of the firemen's carnival, highlighted by the pony roundup and its attendant features - in sharp contrast to the day-long rain that fell Wednesday when 130 ponies were herded across the channel from Assateague Island.

   The auction sales held the spotlight from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with the afternoon program calling for the usual wild pony rides and other carnival attractions.

   The unsold ponies will be herded back across the channel to Assateague today for another year of roaming in the salt marshes, and another roundup a year hence."

   Personally, I find the discrepancies in the numbers of ponies reported fascinating - in every year.... - And I apologize for the darkness and graininess of the last 4 photos; they're from printed newspapers, and I did my best to clean them up.