LIBRARY SHOWS LIFE OF RANCHER REAGAN; RAWHIDE ROUNDUP KICKS OFF EXHIBIT.

Byline: Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writer

An enduring image of the Reagan presidency is the former president and his wife Nancy riding horseback during vacation getaways to their Santa Barbara retreat, Rancho del Cielo.

``He was the only president who was also a working rancher, and this annual event focuses on that aspect of his character, and celebrates him as a man of the West,'' said Mark Hunt, the museum's director, describing the theme of the 2nd Annual Rawhide Western Roundup. The daylong event brought cowboy look-alikes, rope-trick artists, a barbecue lunch and nonstop country music Saturday to the grounds of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.

This year, the event also marks the addition of the new Rancho del Cielo section to the permanent exhibit at the library. The new items are all culled from the ranch nestled in the Santa Inez mountains above Santa Barbara, a place which served as both refuge and inspiration to the former president.

``There is something about this place that casts a spell over me,'' a much younger Ronald Reagan says in the narration to a short video that introduces the exhibit section. ``It's like Scripture says, `I look to the hills for my strength.' I suppose you could say I find it here.''

The small, adobe home central to the sprawling ranch property was built in 1872 with bricks made on site by American Indian workers. Included in the exhibit are Western memorabilia and furniture from the ranch, including a footstool made from iron horseshoes, a canoe named the Truluv that Nancy and Ronald Reagan frequently went rowing in, and a collection of antique barbed wire dating to the 1850s. Also on display are more personal items, including riding crops, boots, belt buckles and saddles.

``We wanted to show that the ranch was really a simple place, with just a small house,'' Hunt said. ``We also wanted to show that the Reagans had done much of the work on the house themselves, from laying to tile to clearing trails. We're used to seeing presidents on golf courses, not working on ranches. . . . It's a spirit of the West and a can-do spirit that he took to Washington with him.''

Today the western theme continues at the Reagan Library with a one-man show about the life of Davy Crockett. Actor Lane Davies portrays the war hero, U.S. congressman and folk legend in ``Crockett by Himself.'' The show begins at 2:30 p.m. and tickets are $5. For more information call [phone].

The Rancho del Cielo section is now on permanent display at the Reagan Library and Museum. For museum hours or more information, call [phone].

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3 Photos

Photo: (1--color in SIMI edition only) A visitor in western garb fits right in Saturday with the Reagan Library's new exhibit of items from the president's Santa Barbara-area ranch.

(2--color in SIMI only) Western gear celebrates a rancher's heritage at a new exhibit at the Reagan Library.

(3--ran in CONEJO edition only) Rope-trick artist Dave Thornbury playfully entertains at Saturday's Rawhide Western Roundup.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News