LUHTALA, Harold E.

Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, Arizona October 5, 1967 Man Dragged to Death Harold E. Luhtala, 38 year-old cowboy employed on the Effus Ranch, formerly known as the Dwight Pemberton Ranch 10 miles southwest of Wickenburg, was dragged to his death in a tragic accident at the ranch Monday. He had left ranch headquarters, where he lived with his wife Jaunita, about 8 o’clock Monday morning to check on cow and calves. When he failed to return late in the evening the ranch foreman Robert Fanning went out in search of Luhtala, found his body some two miles from headquarters. One end of the man’s lariat was wrapped around his left wrist; the other end was still attached to the saddle horn. It appeared, according to Deputy Sheriff Bill Newton who was called to investigate, that Luhtala was probably trying to rope a calf when his saddle cinch slipped and the horse took off, throwing Luhtala from the loosened saddle and dragging him for nearly two miles. The body was sent to the Maricopa County Medical laboratory in Phoenix for a post- mortem. Authority’s said there are no surviving children and that the Luhtalas had come to the ranch recently from Washington State where other relatives live.