Appaloosa Territory

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Chief Navajo F-1970


Many of you will recognize Absarokee and Ulrich as familiar names in Appaloosa history. The Absarokee horses were known for being outstanding performance horses. Ulrich has become synonymous with leopards, much as Money Creek Ranch was known as the Leopard Capitol of the World in the seventies. Have you ever wondered who was behind them? Did you know these two lines are related?


The common ancestor was a horse named Chief Navajo. Foaled in 1944, he was a descendant of the Marcus Crowley Appaloosas. Marcus bought a leopard mare named Esther from Bert Babcock. Both of these men were early Appaloosa breeders. From Esther's descendants came Chief Navajo T-690. Although the connection to Esther was known by owners of Chief Navajo's offspring, his sire and dam are listed as unknown in the ApHC Stud Books. He is described as a red roan, white with dark chestnut spots over loin and hips. Chief Navajo was, more or less, the foundation of two lines of Appaloosas: the Absarokee and the Timberline (Ulrich) line.

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Chief Navajo

Absarokee Line

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Flamingo of AA

Chief Navajo sired Flamingo of AA T-1061/F-3982. Appaloosa breeders Matt and Laura Boggio of the Double A Ranch, Clyde Park, Montana bought Flamingo. They used him on a few mares before they sold Flamingo to Gwen McKittrick of Fishtail, Montana. Mr McKittrick used Flamingo on his mare, Powdered Sugar T-1266. She was the granddaughter of a Quarter horse name Wildfire. Her dam, Flicka (dun blanket), was out of Nancy Lee (blue roan). Nancy Lee was a daughter of Old Blue, an Appaloosa from Wyoming. Powdered Sugar had two colts by Flamingo that became well known: Absarokee Sunset 7322 and Absarokee Beaver 7325. [The name Absarokee comes from the Absarokee Mountains near McKittrick's home.]

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Powdered Sugar


Both Sunset and Beaver became outstanding performance horses, and sired performance horses. The name Absarokee has become synonymous with performance. For a time it seemed that if you wanted to win on performance classes, you got yourself an Absarokee horse.

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Absarokee Sunset


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Absarokee Sunshine, daughter of Absarokee Sunset
winner of the 1968 5-Club Regional Show

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Absarokee Sun, son of Absarokee Sunset

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Absarokee Beaver

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E2's Absarokee Maid, granddaughter of Absarokee Beaver

Some other offspring of Flamingo of AA were Fire Opal of AA T-2129/F-4034, Chief Redheart T-2287/F-4027, Flamingo's Pride 80150, Trio's Indian Rose, Gorgeous George, Flamingo May, Australian Opal 83386, Little Bug of AA, Buckshot P T-2392, Miss Reno, Absarokee Candy 7320, Absarokee Jewel 7321, Absarokee Queen 7323, Absarokee Doll 7324, and Absarokee Shamrock 7326.


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Queen Bee of AA

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Navajo Turquoise of AA

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Money Creek's Deer Falls

Other Chief Navajo offspring were Queen Bee of AA T3831, Vanguard of AA F-2999, Rob Roy of AA T-3832, Johnny Walker F-4835, and Navajo Turquoise of AA. All were bred by the Boggios. Queen Bee was Matt Boggio's favorite mare. He felt she was something special the day she foaled. Queen Bee fulfilled his hopes by winning her share of ribbons, including Reserve Champion Mare at the 1961 Nationals.

A few other get of Chief Navajo were Chief Tahoe 12380, Little Missouri Haska F-4226, Senorita Negra 12126, Money Creek's Deer Falls 60092 and of course, Crusty T-691.


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Crusty T-691, with her colt, Navajo's Candy.

Crusty T-691 brings us to the Timberline (Ulrich) line. It commenced when Chief Navajo accidentally bred an own daughter - the result was Crusty. She was owned by Ralph and Helen Brown of the Timberline Stock Ranch, Broadview, Montana. The Brown's leased the leopard stallion Candy F-320 and Crusty was one of the mares he bred. Crusty produced a leopard colt, Navajo Candy 85389, grandson of Chief Navajo, who became the focal point of the breeding program at Timberline Stock Ranch. At one point the Brown's had approximately 90 broodmares. They produced many leopards from Navajo Candy. The majority of these foals were sold before they were named. Thus the Timberline name is not as well known today as it should be.

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Navajo Candy

A number of these unnamed foals and other mares were purchased from Timberline by Don Ulrich of Cody, Wyoming. One of those Ulrich purchased was a bay leopard son of Navajo Candy that he named Ulrich's Many Coups 211687. Many Coups became the focal point of the Ulrich program and boosted Ulrich's leopard production. Many Coups was succeeded by his sons, Ulrich's Monarch and Ulrich's Papillon. The Ulrich herd was dispersed in 1991, sending the blood of Chief Navajo to many locations in the world.

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Ulrich's Many Coups


The accomplishments of his descendants and their continued breeding in current day Appaloosas provide him a place in Appaloosa history.


Registered Offspring

Chief Navajo died at age 19 in 1964.

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"Absarokee Sunset - A King of the Appaloosa", Appaloosa News March 1964

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This page last updated July 2023.