“The view below rolls out beneath the plane’s wings. Miles of sagebrush are interspersed against the vibrant colors of the valley, a spectacular and vast feast for the eyes…and the camera lens. It’s a simultaneously rough and beautiful environment. Winters may be wet and cold, but summers are so dry that Dan’s dad, Robin, spends the hot months watching his truck’s odometer spin as he hauls water in a 4000-gallon tanker truck to the remote parts of the Read More …
“Just after the turn of the century, Peter found work in the copper mines of Jerome. The mine belched continuous black smoke back in those early days, a toxin that slowly poisoned the air, not to mention the surrounding population. When a group of farmers won a lawsuit due to crop damage caused by the sulfur smoke, the mining company bought out nearly all the farms and ranches in the area, put a smoke easement – a deed Read More …
“The spring rains yielded to hot summer days, and it was the second hunt of the year ordered by the elders. Several six-foot-tall hunters of the Ni-U-Kon-Ska people quietly padded through the prairie grass that reached above their shoulders. These “Children of the Middle Waters” – called Osage by the early French settlers – were skilled traders, bartering the hunt’s game for implements and weapons at the mercantile store in town. The young store employee who met these Read More …
“He looked like the famed “Marlboro Man.” Working his horse hard one day in the gusty ranges of northeastern New Mexico, Sam needed a smoke break. He swung off his horse and squatted with his back to the strong wind to shelter his match, reins in his gloved hand. Before he could light up, something spooked his horse, and instantly a white-hot pain shot up Sam’s back. his skin reacted like he’d been seared by a branding iron. Read More …
“In 1867, John’s great-grandfather, John William Lacey, traveled from Missouri to prospect for gold and built a homestead in what was then the lush valley near Lone Pine. Neighboring Fort Independence provided protection for the valleyís miners and farmers from marauding Indians. In 1915 John W. sold his property and divided the proceeds among his four children, but not before Los Angeles County, nearly 200 miles to the south, had bought up water rights in the entire region. Read More …
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s inaction has led to the near-destruction of American family ranchers. Over 17,000 family ranches will disappear this year. Over 100,000 family ranchers have left the profession since 2009. It’s a tragedy as world-renowned American beef experiences record-high prices, grocery retailers seize increasing shares of beef dollars, meat packers manipulate the beef market and prices paid to ranchers, and the ranchers are denied the rewards resulting from raising the best cattle in the world. Read More …
“In 1881 David Nunn, his father, and two brothers moved to the little town of Lake Valley in the New Mexico Territory. David tried to homestead nearby, but the Indians drove him off the land. He moved to the relative safety of the town, population about 200. David married Margaret Nunn in 1887, who was no relation. One of his brothers had fallen in love with Margaret’s sister and married; and so two Nunn brothers married two Nunn Read More …
“As I step outside I’m surprised by the dense morning haze. It reminds me of the thick, wet fog along the California coast in my boyhood town of Santa Cruz. Sounds are muffled. Mist cloaks the trees around the ranch house until they are shrouded like ghostly sentinels. I hike far out into the pasture and position my cameras on a small berm where the herd will pass by. The fog is nearly impenetrable. I hear men yelling Read More …