Sonora officially joined the show in 1924 after undergoing rigorous training. Doc’s traveling party included his son, Albert “Al” Carver, who trained and groomed the horses. Over the next few years, Carver dropped his other acts and made the diving horses his main attraction. Despite what actually happened, Carver’s favorite band was born and immediately became part of his touring show. Some claim he crossed the bridge to visit a girl he was courting and that his friends removed some planks from the bridge to prank him. The story goes that in 1881 Doc fell through a wooden bridge over the Platte River, throwing him and his horse into the water. There are many memories of the inspiration for the diving horse act, but those closest to Doc said he came up with the idea while spending time in Nebraska.Ĭalhoun County Museum presents summer programs After the gun shows disbanded, Carver continued to create flashy entertainment for audiences, including diving horses. Sonora was 19 when she responded to an ad from William “Doc” Carver looking for an “attractive young woman who can swim and dive, likes horses and would like to travel.” After seeing the Horse Diving Act, which saw a horse and rider dove 40 feet from a tower into a deep pool of water, it didn’t take Sonora long to decide to join Doc Carver’s squad.ĭoc Carver was a sniper who spent his early years creating Wild West shows with Buffalo Bill Cody. Sonora Webster was born on Februin Waycross, Georgia and had a love for horses from an early age. While some parts of the film have been enhanced for the big screen, Sonoran’s story is beautifully told and presented in a setting that may seem a lot like home to some in the Palmetto State. The film is based on Sonoran’s 1961 memoir, A Girl and Five Brave Horses, which inspired Walt Disney Pictures to bring the story to life in the 1991 film. The film follows the true story of Sonora Webster Carver as she leaves her home in rural Georgia to become a notable horse diver for a traveling stunt show during the Great Depression. It didn’t take long for this film to become my favorite and most requested film while filling me with dreams of becoming a death-defying “diving girl”. ![]() ![]() I used to find Shirley Temple classics like “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm”, “The Little Princess” or “Heidi”, but one day I found a cassette that said “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken”. Excitedly, I scanned the VHS tapes, which were neatly labeled “Bobo” in my beautiful cursive handwriting. When I visited, I liked to look in the closet behind my grandfather’s leather chair to see what movies my grandmother had taped off the TV for us to watch together. As a young girl, I have fond memories of spending time with my grandparents, who lived just minutes from my childhood home in Orangeburg County.
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