A personal note to a Wyoming clothing customer about how the clothing company owners fled to a Wyoming elk hunting camp dates back to a Navy veteran’s exploits during the Second World War and the Korean War.

Frank Roberts served as part of a minesweeping team aboard an aircraft carrier during both wars, earning him the nickname “Fuse.”

He had also become an avid hunter during the Great Depression, when it was all about bringing home game.

In the 1970s, Roberts and one of his best wartime friends were looking for new places to hunt. They found a true elk hunter’s paradise in the remote Savery Creek area near Baggs.

In time, Roberts’ daughter, Victoria, began joining him on Wyoming elk hunts.

“Wyoming always had a special place in my heart, because my dad was always in a great mood when he went hunting in Wyoming,” Victoria told Cowboy State Daily.

And in the early 2000s, his fiancée, Engle Saez, also participated in Wyoming elk hunts.

On October 19, 2004, Saez and Victoria Roberts got married on a whim at Savery Creek Outfitters Camp – and they were back elk hunting just minutes after the ceremony.

The couple lives in Seattle and recently celebrated their 20th anniversary.

Together they run the men’s outerwear company Atlantic Rancher, which has many customers in Wyoming.

One of those customers received a personalized note with their order this month, including the line “We ran away during the elk hunt in Baggs.”

So, Cowboy State Daily reached out to the couple to find out the story behind the note.

Victoria said she includes a personal handwritten note with every order. And it seemed only fitting that a customer from Wyoming would know why the couple loves Wyoming.

This also reflects their business philosophy and maintaining personal relationships. And it reflects the patriotism that Victoria’s father passed on to her.

“I write these notes because I love this country and I believe that ‘meeting’ fellow Americans and connecting with them through our business is a gift,” she said.

Engle founded the company in Massachusetts in 1995, but closed it in 1999.

He moved to Seattle to work for Starbucks Coffee Co. But he retained the intellectual property of Atlantic Rancher and relaunched it in 2019.

He says there’s nothing like having a close network of clients in Wyoming and other states.

“If the company gets to the point where we can no longer sign and comment on every order, then it’s time to do something else,” he said.

“Now you can marry my daughter”

Victoria said her father never changed his approach to hunting – it was always about getting fresh meat, never a trophy.

Even after the family began hunting with Bo Stocks of Savery Creek Outfitters, her father deliberately chose bull elk with “unbalanced antlers” because they were generally easier to find, Victoria said.

“He had a whole garage full of misshapen, I guess you could call them antlers,” she said.

During the 2004 hunt, Engle shot what he first thought was “a nice symmetrical six-point bull,” Victoria said.

But as he approached the bull, he discovered that the opposite wood was unbalanced.

“They thought, ‘Frank is going to love this,’ and when he showed it to my dad, he said, ‘Now you can marry my daughter,'” she said.

Victoria and Engle were in no rush. She had already been married once and he had already had two marriages. So they didn’t know exactly what kind of marriage they wanted or when the time would be right.

A wedding without Rigamarole

As the hunting party took place one evening at a bar in Dixon, Wyoming, Stocks told them that, in light of Frank Roberts’ blessing, it was the perfect time to take the plunge.

And because Stocks’ grandmother was an ordained minister, she could perform the wedding.

“The next day we went to Rawlins, which was the closest place to get a marriage license,” Victoria said.

“We went to a second-hand clothing store and I bought a $5 dress. Engle found a very ill-fitting suit for, I don’t know how much,” she added.

The ceremony was short and sweet, “between the morning and afternoon hunts,” Victoria said.

A few minutes later, they had put their hunting clothes back on and were heading out to hunt elk again.

“It was like I had won the golden ticket. I was supposed to get married and I didn’t have to go through all this rigamarole,” Engle said.

Since their marriage, the couple has returned to Wyoming several times and they look forward to returning.

“I think about going to Savery Creek every year. Not a year goes by that we don’t check the bank account to see if there’s enough money to make the trip,” Engle said.

“It’s just a magical place. You go there and you forget everything except what’s around you,” he added.

Marc Heinz can be reached at [email protected].