Privileged to have a Bill Vance original bolo tie

I’m privileged to have a Bill Vance original bolo tie and I’m not certain how I came to possess it.

Just for the record, I did not steal it or find it on the street, but the true story of how it came into my possession is a bit foggy.

First let me talk about the tie and then I’ll get to the story.

Bill Vance was a gentleman who lived in Portales most of his life and I suspect was not a stranger to much of anyone in town. I knew his family because his youngest daughter Jill was a year behind me in school.

Bill took up the life of an artisan later in his life and in particular was known as a silversmith and he was really good at it.

The bolo I have was his trademark Western windmill design. The silver base or body of the tie measures about 1-3/4 by 2-1/4 inches. Turquoise makes up the sky and tan agate composes the Southwestern landscape.

The intricate pieces of the windmill and its tower were cut individually and tacked together to stand out in 3-D on the piece. The tank was crafted from a piece of pipe or a fitting with external threads at the top.

The silver edge is finely hand tooled.

On the back on one side of the clasp is scratched Bill Vance ’83 and below that Portales, N.Mex.

On the other side of the clasp is a Bible verse, 1 John, 3:23.

The string tie is silver in color and at the tips of each are a branding iron. One iron is a letter “C” the other an “L.”

Anytime I wear it I get multiple compliments on it and several folks are downright covetous of the thing. I wore it at the Chamber of Commerce annual banquet recently and then to our legislative dinner in Santa Fe and got lots of remarks about it.

Pictures were taken of me at the banquet and published in the paper and online. That prompted an email from Bill’s granddaughter, reminiscing about watching her grandfather in his shop.

She said she’d never been able to track down one of his ties online and make a deal for it but she had some of his materials and was trying to learn his craft. She said she really appreciated that I was proud enough to wear it at such an event.

So, I had to email back the story I have about the tie that everyone who asks about it gets whether they really wanted to hear my story or not.

First of all, I tell them it was made by a man named Bill Vance in the town of Portales where I grew up.

I also tell them that both my father and father-in-law had one of his ties and I inherited it from one or the other of them but I’m not sure which.

My mother swears she gave it to me after Dad died.

My wife was always certain it was the one that belonged to her dad. She even sought to prove her side by exhibiting the letters on the brands that would have matched his name Levon Coe.

I later found out from Bill’s daughter Jill that he used those same brands on all the ties. She surmised that by now several thousand children had been branded in church with those irons.

For a long time when I wore it I was always careful as to whether my wife or mother was within earshot of my conversation. I really didn’t need that tie coming between the two women I loved the most.

I did tell Bill’s granddaughter in the email if I ever find that other Bill Vance original I own I’ll make sure she gets it.

1 John 3:23

And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

Karl Terry writes for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at:

[email protected]