“At breakfast, Kathy Froelich fills me in on the details. The early call to her husband, Rod, was from the fire chief at the Standing Rock Reservation. A lightning strike on the edge of the ranch sent grassfire blazing across the property. The key to containing a range fire is an instantaneous response. Every rancher in this area has a pickup with a pump and a large water tanker in his truck bed. This morning, the quick action Read More …
“Senator Warren’s son Fred brought Harvard-trained engineering experience to the ranch, moving it from its “Wild West” phase into an efficient ranching affair. Fred updated facilities and equipment until it became of the most modern operations in the West. Fred also worked with Dr. John Hill of the Wyoming School of Agriculture to develop the Warhill Sheep, a breed with a natural tendency to twin and well suited to a range environment.” – Jim Keen, Great Ranches of Read More …
“Dan Bell is widely recognized in Arizona for his expertise in renewable natural resources. He holds a degree in range management from the University of Arizona and cares passionately about preserving the environment of his family’s ranch. So he advised the biologist and bridge design teams that if his cattle were not allowed to eat down the willow shoots around the stream, willow trees would flourish and soak up the limited flow of water, resulting in no stream, Read More …
“The cows stuck in front of me now are a reminder of the hazards of crossing water. So many cattle drowned on the Opelousas Trail that the town of Beaumont, Texas, where the Neches River wanders along the county line, enacted the “Ordinance to Prevent Nuisances by Swimming Cattle” in August of 1840. The provision levied a $ fine per drowned cow and a $50 bond before crossing. Drowning wasn’t the only peril along this drive; there were Read More …
“Nottingham had traveled from Iowa to the Rocky Mountain valleys with his wife and five small children in 1882. He’d met Ernest Hurd and a third settler near the town of Redcliff, and the three men proposed a ranching partnership. The trio bought 480 acres, brimming with all the excitement and hope that a new business venture in the Wild West brought. But soon tragedy overshadowed the enterprise when the third partner committed suicide. Nottingham and Hurd began Read More …
“It’s late at night and I still have three or more hours of driving before reaching the Siddoway Sheep Ranch. I haven’t seen another car for some time now, and I’m road weary. Rounding a bend in the road, I notice light coming from a lone motel in a small Idaho town. It’s either stop here for the night or risk falling asleep behind the wheel and ending up in a cold ditch somewhere, so I pull in.” Read More …
“Rod’s German grandfather, Matt Froelich, was just nineteen years old when his family immigrated to North Dakota from Russia. Catherine the Great had promised German farmers wealth and privilege if they would come and cultivate farmland along the lush Volga River valley. But the promises proved false, and in the early ears of the twentieth century, thousands of German families in Russia risked everything to move to America.” – Jim Keen, Great Ranches of the West Author & Read More …
“Two hundred years ago, Comanche Indians hunted plentiful buffalo on this grassland prairie. The tough limestone soil was – and still is – high in calcium and perfect for grazing. Today the Bonds Ranch near Saginaw, Texas, finds itself surrounded by roads. Not your average rocky, pockmarked ranch roads but busy streets and intersections teeming with activity in the form of semi-trucks, construction vehicles, and buzzing commuters. Suburbia is encroaching, an urban world threatening to devour this originally Read More …