September 18, 2024

E54 GREENBRIAR CLUB JOHN OLIN KING BUCK

18 minutes

With the end of War World II, Olin leased

from Crowe in 1945 some 1,880 acres, of which 1,100 acres was timber in Prairie

County, approximately six miles southeast of Hazen. It was immediately

christened the Greenbriar Club, so name by John Olin’s younger brother Spencer,

who was, besides being a duck hunter, an avid golfer and his favorite golfing

course was the Greenbriar Club in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Over

the years, however, the locals knew it as the “Winchester Club.”

John Olin was the president of the Olin Company and Winchester-Western small arms and ammunition company, while his brother Spencer was vice president.

Having no clubhouse, Olin rented two floors

of the Riceland Hotel in Stuttgart. Olin always boarded in room 410. He had a

number of famous guests over the years, including Herb Parsons, John Wayne,

Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Nash Buckingham, General Nate Twining, General

Jonathan Wainwright, Richard Bishop and many others.

Olin often brought along Walter Siegmund,

who was general sales manager of Olin Industries. He was also a great sportsman

and judge for the National Duck Calling Championship.

Having no clubhouse, Olin rented two floors

of the Riceland Hotel in Stuttgart. Olin always boarded in room 410. He had a

number of famous guests over the years, including Herb Parsons, John Wayne,

Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Nash Buckingham, General Nate Twining, General

Jonathan Wainwright, Richard Bishop and many others.

It was at the Greenbriar Club where Olin's Lab, King Buck, retrieved his first duck and his last duck over a five-year period.

King

Buck successfully completed an unprecedented 63 consecutive series in the

National Championship Stake and was the National Retriever Field Trial Club

champion for two successive years, 1952 and 1953, in a feat not to be

duplicated for nearly 40 years. Overall, King Buck finished 83 national series

out of a possible 85.

His royal name was given its due, when, in

1959, it was decided that the federal duck stamp for that year should

commemorate the work of retrievers and their contribution to waterfowl

conservation. And so, for that occasion, the single time that the Migratory

Waterfowl Stamp has ever been other than a duck, Maynard Reece painted a

portrait of perhaps the greatest duck dog of them all: King Buck.

In 1955, Olin built a one-room clubhouse with

a fireplace to replace staying at the Riceland Hotel. In the early 1960s, the

IRS disallowed his business deductions for the club.John sold his Prairie County duck paradise to multi-millionaire Robert “Bob”

Brittingham, of Dal Tile of Dallas, Texas, and a hunter of great refute. A

magnificent lodge was built in 1983. Today, the club is still in existence, and owned by three brothers of the Kemmons Wilson Company (Holiday Inn fame) and two other individuals.

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By HISTORIC DUCK HUNTING STORIES

2222 ratings

September 18, 2024

E54 GREENBRIAR CLUB JOHN OLIN KING BUCK

18 minutes

With the end of War World II, Olin leased

from Crowe in 1945 some 1,880 acres, of which 1,100 acres was timber in Prairie

County, approximately six miles southeast of Hazen. It was immediately

christened the Greenbriar Club, so name by John Olin’s younger brother Spencer,

who was, besides being a duck hunter, an avid golfer and his favorite golfing

course was the Greenbriar Club in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Over

the years, however, the locals knew it as the “Winchester Club.”

John Olin was the president of the Olin Company and Winchester-Western small arms and ammunition company, while his brother Spencer was vice president.

Having no clubhouse, Olin rented two floors

of the Riceland Hotel in Stuttgart. Olin always boarded in room 410. He had a

number of famous guests over the years, including Herb Parsons, John Wayne,

Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Nash Buckingham, General Nate Twining, General

Jonathan Wainwright, Richard Bishop and many others.

Olin often brought along Walter Siegmund,

who was general sales manager of Olin Industries. He was also a great sportsman

and judge for the National Duck Calling Championship.

Having no clubhouse, Olin rented two floors

of the Riceland Hotel in Stuttgart. Olin always boarded in room 410. He had a

number of famous guests over the years, including Herb Parsons, John Wayne,

Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Nash Buckingham, General Nate Twining, General

Jonathan Wainwright, Richard Bishop and many others.

It was at the Greenbriar Club where Olin's Lab, King Buck, retrieved his first duck and his last duck over a five-year period.

King

Buck successfully completed an unprecedented 63 consecutive series in the

National Championship Stake and was the National Retriever Field Trial Club

champion for two successive years, 1952 and 1953, in a feat not to be

duplicated for nearly 40 years. Overall, King Buck finished 83 national series

out of a possible 85.

His royal name was given its due, when, in

1959, it was decided that the federal duck stamp for that year should

commemorate the work of retrievers and their contribution to waterfowl

conservation. And so, for that occasion, the single time that the Migratory

Waterfowl Stamp has ever been other than a duck, Maynard Reece painted a

portrait of perhaps the greatest duck dog of them all: King Buck.

In 1955, Olin built a one-room clubhouse with

a fireplace to replace staying at the Riceland Hotel. In the early 1960s, the

IRS disallowed his business deductions for the club.John sold his Prairie County duck paradise to multi-millionaire Robert “Bob”

Brittingham, of Dal Tile of Dallas, Texas, and a hunter of great refute. A

magnificent lodge was built in 1983. Today, the club is still in existence, and owned by three brothers of the Kemmons Wilson Company (Holiday Inn fame) and two other individuals.

...more