OROVILLE — Astride sturdy mustangs “Okanogan” and “Spurs,” U.S. Border Patrol agents Darrel Williams and Justin Hefker ride quietly along a ridgeline above the Similkameen River valley.
The only sound is the gentle plodding of the strong-boned horses’ large hooves — and an occasional snort — as they move through the pine forest just east of Washington state’s Pasayten Wilderness with a sure-footedness that makes them a perfect fit for scaling the steep hillsides along the international border.
Williams and Hefker, both senior patrol agents, have added old-fashioned horse wrangling to their list of skills; riding once-feral mustangs to patrol areas where the agency’s boats, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles and high-horsepower patrol vehicles can’t go.
The mustangs are among a dozen the Border Patrol’s Spokane Sector has bought to patrol a 308-mile-long section of the U.S.-Canadian border from the crest of the Cascade Range in Washington state to the Continental Divide in Montana.
The Border Patrol routinely uses horses on the southern border with Mexico.
But the dozen mustangs owned by the patrol’s Spokane Sector are the first of that breed used to watch the northern border, said Agent Lee Pinkerton.
The Border Patrol’s “Operation Noble Mustang” adopts horses from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s wild horse and burro program, blending today’s technology with yesterday’s law enforcement traditions, the agency said.
On this day, Richard Graham, agent-in-charge of the Border Patrol station in Oroville, rides along as his agents patrol a small section of the border. The avid horseman sings the praises of mustangs and their ability to patrol the border with minimal environmental damage.
In the valley below, aspen, cottonwoods and a few pines flank the river that flows into the U.S. from Canada. Along the river is a Prohibition-era dirt “whisky trail” that shows recent activity from modern smugglers bringing different contraband, most likely potent “B.C. Bud” marijuana, from Canada.
“The reason we went with the horses was to get into those hard-to-reach areas,” Pinkerton said. “We can really reach out to some of these remote locations, if nothing else, to see if there is something out there.”
The breed’s big bones and large hoofs give them a sure-footedness that makes them a perfect fit for scaling the steep hillsides and thick forests along the border, he said. They also have less of an impact on the fragile wilderness ground than motorized vehicles, he said.
The patrol contracts with local ranchers to board and feed the animals. Because they are owned by the government, the agency saves money it used to have to spend to lease horses from local ranchers, Pinkerton said.
A year ago, the mustangs ran wild in great herds across the West’s vast expanses. They were rounded up in the BLM wild horse adoption program, broken by inmate wranglers at a Colorado prison, then sent to the Border Patrol’s Colville station in Washington state for final training.
Graham’s station is responsible for an 80-mile stretch of border that includes about 50 miles of the vast Pasayten Wilderness Area, a 529,477-acre tract where motorized vehicles are prohibited and there are few, if any, roads.
Graham’s station has four mustangs, as well as three mules and a handful of horses leased from local ranches for their patrols.
Law enforcement aircraft have limited use in the wild, Pinkerton said. It is difficult to see people hiding beneath the tree canopy and wilderness laws limit how low aircraft can fly, he said.
The mustangs and their wranglers provide surveillance of large areas not covered by remotely operated cameras and motion detectors that dot the cleared areas of the border, Pinkerton said.
Agents on horseback look for signs of border crossings and watch for low-flying aircraft that drug smugglers are increasingly using to bring B.C. Bud south.
A drawback is heavy snow that keeps horses out of some high country areas for months at a time during winter, and spring runoff, which makes some creeks and streams impassable, Pinkerton said. But those natural hazards also keep smugglers out of those areas as well, he said.
Supporters say the program appears to be a success, even though mounted agents have made no arrests. Jim McDevitt, the U.S. Attorney for Eastern Washington, said the mustangs’ presence can serve as a deterrent.
“Human trafficking is a weekly occurrence. Drug trafficking is a daily occurrence,” McDevitt said. “If we went a whole month without an arrest, some would say that’s a failure. But isn’t that what we’re trying to do? Discourage smuggling.”
Pinkerton said he thinks the mustangs will continue to be used and McDevitt said he will continue to advocate for them.
“These are legends and we are using them to protect America,” Pinkerton said. “It just gives me chills.”
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