A native Midwesterner now living in Mississippi, author Ken R. Knopp has spent most of his life living in, and in love with the culture, history and everything "Southern" about his adopted homeland. With a B. S. degree in Agricultural Communications. He makes no claim of being a Civil War "academic" but rather an "old cowboy turned businessman" with a passion for history like that of a "starving man craving food". Knopp has blended various business pursuits and experiences from his background including 25 years in professional rodeo, real world with horses as a working cowboy, rodeo cowboy, movie extra, stuntman and as an historian, journalist and writer, combined with his love for 19th century military history, saddlery and hardcore reenacting to produce the most comprehensive studies of the saddles and horse equipment manufactured and used by the legendary Southern horsemen.
For most of his life Ken R. Knopp made his living in professional rodeo rising to the top in his field marketing and promoting some of the nation's largest and most successful indoor PRCA rodeos and PBR Bull Ridings. His work in professional rodeo and as a period horseman have provided him opportunities in movies, television and public speaking engagements in addition to publishing two books and numerous articles about a variety of subjects in magazines and newspapers. In 2001 Knopp dramatically "traded horses" when he left the rodeo world to work for Edward Jones Investments where he continues to enjoy success as a leading retirement investment broker with one of America's top brokerage institutions. He lives on a small farm in Hattiesburg, Mississippi with his wife, Heather, and their daughter, Alexandra.