• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice
  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About

RIP Edward “White Horse” Mendez

March 13, 2021 By Eric Caine 6 Comments

White HorseWith a profile that could easily have served as the “heads” side of an American coin honoring its native residents, Edward “White Horse” Mendez was a legendary presence among the small circle of homeless people who lived in and frequented Modesto’s Beard Brook Park. He died Wednesday, March 10. He was sixty-eight years old.

“White Horse taught me how to survive out here,” said one man several decades his junior.

“He took me under his wing and helped me get out,” said another, who had managed to escape homelessness.

Born in San Francisco, White Horse claimed to have played drums for Carlos Santana and a long list of other Bay Area musical luminaries. He’d also had a stint as a street artist.

“I started living on the streets when I was seven,” he said when asked how long he’d been homeless. “Whenever the cops found me and brought me home, my parents always told them to keep me. They said they didn’t want me.”

Like many homeless people, White Horse began using drugs at an early age, hardly into his teens.

“I stayed up for 28 straight days one time,” he said, when describing his days using methamphetamine. “They used to take me to the hospital with needles sticking out of me.”

Some time in the 1990s, White Horse moved to Sonora, where he became part of a small local homeless population. By then, his drug use consisted almost entirely of alcohol and marijuana.

In 2002, he was convicted of voluntary manslaughter for alleged participation in the gory murder of an alcoholic Sonora man who frequently invited homeless friends to his apartment for extended drinking bouts. White Horse always claimed that he hadn’t been present during the murder; nonetheless, he ended up serving eleven years hard time.

He landed in Modesto because, “They dumped me here when I was released. They gave me $200 gate money and dumped me near the jail. Where was I supposed to go?”

After failed attempts to make it through programs offered by the Modesto Gospel Mission, White Horse established residence under a large oak on the hillside near the entrance to Beard Brook Park. With no income other than food stamps, he subsisted on a regimen of beer and marijuana, supplemented by meals served by the church and volunteer groups who visited the park regularly. Most of the time, he spent his nights under the stars. In bad weather, he used a blue tarp. He occasionally had use of a donated tent.

Edward "White Horse" Mendez
In Beard Brook Park

Stoic and unperturbed by the tickets he received for unpermitted camping, White Horse had a simple routine for dealing with law enforcement. During periodic sweeps when homeless people were ordered to leave the park, he packed his small bundle of belongings onto a hand truck and wheeled it to a new location, usually no more than half a mile away. After a short wait, oftentimes only a few days, he’d move back under the oak tree.

During bad winter weather, White Horse would turn himself in and serve time for his long list of tickets and warrants.

Like many people who had spent long years in prison, White Horse was well read in his favorite genres. His taste ran to the lurid and cartoonish fiction of the past, including a particular fascination with the “Tarzan” and “Doc Savage” series. His dog was named “Greystoke,” after Tarzan’s given name. He knew in specific detail the history of comics and admired the great cartoonists, including the Marvel stable.

White Horse spent much of his time drawing and produced a large portfolio of “prison art,” an extravagant and fantastic genre he represented with meticulous detail.

When he began receiving SSI income, White Horse gained entry into one of Modesto’s  low-income housing programs, but he was never comfortable indoors. When he moved in, he seriously considered setting up a tent inside, just to feel more at home.

“It’s like prison with a key,” he said, not long before being evicted for smoking in his room.

Always a person who kept to himself, White Horse nonetheless did well when Beard Brook Park filled with residents after local authorities permitted camping there following a court decision that prohibited punishing homeless people for sleeping on public property.

Art by White Horse
Art by White Horse

A strict observer of the unwritten codes of homelessness and a believer in “park justice,” White Horse was widely respected for his stoic self-sufficiency. He had a small circle of close friends who enjoyed his stories, unique wit, and advice.

A very small man whose weight never topped 120 pounds, he was seldom bullied and never intimidated. Once when a large man barely out of his teens was menacing people with a heavy chain, White Horse yelled, “Stop that,” and it stopped.

Asked why the man had obeyed, White Horse only said, “He’s lucky I didn’t take his scalp and all his horses.”

Not long after Modesto’s homeless people were moved from Beard Brook Park to the Modesto Outdoor Emergency Shelter (MOES), White Horse was diagnosed with cancer of the liver. From that time onward, he was often found walking slowly down McHenry Avenue, after one of many hospital stays.

When MOES closed, he began a labyrinthine journey from Stanislaus County’s low-barrier shelter to various motel rooms. Sometimes he couldn’t be found. Near the very end, a small circle of friends managed to get him into hospice care, where he spent his last days.

Few noted his passing, but those who did felt fortunate to have known him. He expected nothing and often received less, but he never lost his dignity. He didn’t whine, and he didn’t beg. Like many who have gone before him, he’ll be described as a “vagrant,” or “transient,” or “bum.” He was more than that; he was a human being. He stood against the storm as best he could, and better than many.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Modesto, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley, White Horse

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. christine Calderon says

    March 13, 2021 at 11:11 am

    Eric, this is one of the best tributes to anyone I have ever read in my entire life. It will be shared widely and I hope everyone who reads this will give a donation to The Valley Citizen, in honor and to help continue this type of journalism.

    Reply
    • Eric Caine says

      March 14, 2021 at 6:11 am

      Thank you Christine, and thank you for the donation. People wishing to donate should use the “Donate” button and PayPal.

      Reply
  2. frank says

    March 13, 2021 at 12:08 pm

    White Horse as most knew him, with a spirit close to nature, a love for the outdoors and living in a tent, was at peace. But that peace was unfortunately denied him as our society has demands achievable or not to be housed, or is it really that we want those free spirits out of sight I ponder? May you now rest in forever peace my friend.

    Reply
  3. Kelli Ott says

    March 13, 2021 at 2:13 pm

    Whitehorse lived life on his terms and never asked for much. He always exchanged kindness for kindness and respect for respect. The world has lost a warrior and he will be greatly missed by those who were blessed to know him.

    Reply
  4. David says

    March 13, 2021 at 2:21 pm

    Another one of us gone

    Reply
  5. Ana says

    March 13, 2021 at 5:35 pm

    My beautiful friend, I never imagined seeing your face in my smartphone. You are, and will be, cherished.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

California faces catastrophic flood dangers ? and a need to invest billions in protection
California faces catastrophic flood dangers and a need to invest billions in protection
A new state plan for the Central Valley calls for spending as much as $30 billion over 30 years to prepare for the dangers.
www.latimes.com
Oakland will get millions for the ?inhumane? crisis at one huge homeless encampment. Officials say it?s not enough
Oakland will get millions for the “inhumane” crisis at one huge homeless encampment. Officials say it’s not enough
Gavin Newsom’s administration has awarded Oakland a $4.7 million grant to come up with…
www.sfchronicle.com
Alaska?s Fisheries Are Collapsing. This Congresswoman Is Taking on the Industry She Says Is to Blame.
Alaska’s Fisheries Are Collapsing. This Congresswoman Is Taking on the Industry She Says Is to Blame.
Mary Peltola won her election by campaigning on a platform to save the state’s prized fisheries. A powerful fishing lobby is standing in her way.
www.politico.com
Jimmy Carter's final foe: A parasitic worm that preyed on millions in Africa and Asia
Jimmy Carter’s final foe: A parasitic worm that preyed on millions in Africa and Asia
One of former President Carter’s biggest hopes is wiping out an infectious parasitic disease that’s plagued humans for millennia. How close is he?
www.latimes.com
Climate Extremes Threaten California?s Central Valley Songbirds - Eos
Climate Extremes Threaten California’s Central Valley Songbirds – Eos
A “nestbox highway” in California’s Central Valley is guiding songbirds to safe nesting sites and giving scientists a peek at fledgling success in a changing climate.
eos.org
Alaska Republican touts benefits of children being abused to death
Alaska Republican touts benefits of children being abused to death
Republican David Eastman suggested the death of child abuse victims could be a “cost savings” to wider society.
www.newsweek.com
Editorial: Newsom's drought order amid wet winter threatens iconic California species
Editorial: Newsom’s drought order amid wet winter threatens iconic California species
Gov. Gavin Newsom has effectively ended environmental regulations protecting California rivers and migratory fish by extending drought-year waivers.
www.latimes.com
Two-thirds of McPherson Square homeless remain on street, D.C. says
Two-thirds of McPherson Square homeless remain on street, D.C. says
As of Thursday, just two of the more than 70 residents of McPherson Square had been placed in permanent D.C. housing.
www.washingtonpost.com
More Building Won?t Make Housing Affordable
More Building Won’t Make Housing Affordable
America’s housing crisis has reached unfathomable proportions. But new construction isn’t enough to solve it.
newrepublic.com
Why YIMBYs are about to sue the daylights out of cities across the Bay Area
Why YIMBYs are about to sue the daylights out of cities across the Bay Area
Housing advocates are about to deliver a message to the Bay Area: Comply with state…
www.sfchronicle.com
At the heart of Colorado River crisis, the mighty 'Law of the River' holds sway
At the heart of Colorado River crisis, the mighty ‘Law of the River’ holds sway
At the heart of tensions over water allotments from the Colorado River is a complex set of agreements and decrees known as the ‘Law of the River.’
www.latimes.com
Biden restores roadless protection to the Tongass, North America's largest rainforest
Biden restores roadless protection to the Tongass, North America’s largest rainforest
The Tongass National Forest in Alaska, a focus of political battles over old-growth logging and road-building in forests for decades, has received new protection from the Biden administration.
theconversation.com

Find us on Facebook

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design