Fort Sumner cartoonist honored

FORT SUMNER — Mike Scott, the longtime cartoonist and western humor writer for the De Baca County News and the Clovis Livestock Market News, has been honored as one of the winners of the 27th Academy of Western Artists Will Rogers Awards.

A former vocational agriculture and science teacher at Fort Sumner High School, Scott has long been known for his love for horses and team roping.

He has worked for several ranches over the years and owned his own small farm.

A graduate of New Mexico State University, Scott worked as a county extension agent in Catron County before becoming the ag teacher at Fort Sumner High School for 26 years.

He started cartooning during his time in Fort Sumner. He is also an accomplished metal art creator, a wood profile artist working with a bandsaw, a painter in several mediums, and a creative writer.

The Academy of Western Artists is an organization that honors individuals who have preserved and perpetuated the heritage of the American cowboy, through rodeo, music, poetry, campfire and chuckwagon cooking, and western and ranch clothing and gear.