Bobby the Bobcat

Several years ago, I posted a blog story called, Old Man Taylor and the Bobcat.  This previous blog article was about a man my family called "Old Man Taylor" and his pet bobcat.  Taylor camped in a shack along the banks of the Colorado River outside of Yuma, Arizona in the early 1950s. My grandfather and father would stop and visit with Taylor when they would go fishing at the river.  My grandfather took photos of Taylor and his bobcat during his visits to the river.  
It appears there was more for me to find about “Old Man Taylor and his Bobcat”🐯…

The Rest of the Story

At the time I wrote the article, I wondered what Old Man Taylor's full name was and if the bobcat had a name.  Thanks to a recently found 1954 news article in the Yuma Sun Newspaper, I now know both.  The bobcat's name is -- Bobby.  

Bobby the Bobcat

Yuma Sun newspaper, Yuma, Arizona, 20 Jan 1954

Our Family Photos of Bobby the Bobcat 

Taylor holding Cathy, Bobby the Bobcat, Leroy 1954

Bobby looks like he is smiling for the camera
(cropped and colorized)

The 1954 newspaper article, which I found on a new newspaper website, also gives the full name of Old Man Taylor -- Jack Taylor.  

After doing some research, I was able to find a 1967 death record for a Jack Taylor aged 94 who died in Yuma.  

The Jack Taylor in the death record had been living in a rest home when he died, but there was no personal information on the death record - no parents, no family, no known occupation, no known place of birth, etc.  If  our “Old Man Taylor” is the Jack Taylor in the death certificate, he would have been 80 years old when the above photos were taken.  I'm not sure the Taylor in the above photos looks 80 years old??  What do you think??  Just like the death record, the obituary does not contain much information.  

Yuma Sun newspaper, Yuma, AZ, 14 Aug 1967

To see more photos and read the original post, go to:  

Old Man Taylor and his Bobcat