Ace Reid was born Asa E. Reid Jr. to Ace and Callie Reid on March 10, 1925. Ace grew up helping out on the family’s land in Wichita County, Texas. The Depression years were tough ones for the Reid family, and Ace Sr. supported his family however he could: in the oil fields, by running cattle, and by doing a variety of other odd jobs.

Young Ace showed a strong interest in art and spent his formative years drawing. Yet upon returning to Texas from the Navy in 1946, Ace turned first to oil wells, cowboying for his father, and raising wheat to make a living. The attention he received locally for his cartoons and sketches inspired him to enter Abbot Art School in Washington, D.C. in 1948. The following year, Ace’s first cartoon appeared in West Texas Livestock Weekly, and Ace began to regard himself as an artist.

In 1949, Ace married Madge Parmley, who proved to be very supportive of Ace’s career aspirations, making frames for his paintings in the early years of their marriage.

Ace’s series, "Cowpokes," centered on the Draggin’ S Ranch and the lives of its cowboys, primarily Jake and Zeb. Often down on their luck, the lives of those on the Draggin’ S reflected a number of the experiences Ace saw growing up in Depression Texas.

The work presented here is an original and appear courtesy of Madge Reid and Cowpokes, Inc.

Jerry Palen

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