“While still a teenager, James H. bought a quarter-section of land in 1893 and raised a few cattle, selling beef to the railroad crews for five cents a pound. His boldest venture came when, as a 23-year-old, James rode to Wyoming, bought 600 head of cattle, and drove them himself back to his little ranch. The drive took an entire month. That determination soon saw James purchasing 1,000 acres of land, and in 1923 the Circle Dot brand Read More …
“When Lewis and Clark explored the Great Falls Plains southeast of the Salmond Ranch, they expounded on the vast herds of majestic buffalo. Short of the buffalo’s decline, this land must look much the same as it did when President Jefferson’s Corps of Discover made their way through the Northwest. I can almost hear the splashes from Meriwether Lewis’ panicked escape into the Missouri River with a grizzly at his back. How awed those travelers must have been Read More …
“Swimming cattle is a centuries-old practice, unique to the state’s oldest family ranch. It’s held over from the days when ranch founder and patriarch Taylor White drove cattle to New Orleans across four rivers by way of the Opelousas Trail. ‘The Mississippi had barges,’ Bill White tells me, prodding one of the cows forward, ‘but none of the other rivers did. The cattle swam.’” – Jim Keen, Great Ranches of the West Author & Photographer Please note that Read More …
“As the group rides away from me, the rich history of the ranch echoes under the staccato of horse hooves life far-off gunfire. The tale of the Warren Ranch begins miles and years away in Port Hudson, Louisiana, as a nineteen-year-old corporal, eager to speak to his commander, threaded his way through medics tending fallen men. The rumble of cannon fire faded as darkness fell. Francis Emory Warren of Company C intended to volunteer for a dangerous mission Read More …
“It all comes back as I drive up into the high country of the eastern Sierras. Much has changed since my first trip to this area but the land is the same : stark, rough and beautiful. Snowcapped Mount Whitney rises to more than 14,000 feet just to the west, with other “fourteeners” peaking along the Sierra Nevada ridgeline. To the east lie the dry Inyo Mountains. Beyond them, stretching across into Nevada, is the infamous Death Valley Read More …
“That evening Sam takes me up to Jack’s Point, the highest spot on the ranch, to compose a panoramic photograph of an approaching bank of clouds. I can almost see the big stone ranch house miles away — originally an overnight stage stop on the old Tascosa-Taos Trail. I can imagine how difficult it was for travelers along this early route west.” – Jim Keen, Great Ranches of the West Author & Photographer Please note that only 13 Read More …
“The century-old tale has been passed down through six generations of ranchers, undiluted by time. In 1893 – fifteen years before Oklahoma would become a state, Oscar Chain traded $50 and a shotgun for 160 dusty acres situated between the North and South Canadian Rivers in Dewey, County. Looking over the ranch today, it seems to me that the founder of the Chain Land and Cattle Company got a fabulous bargain. With 60,000 acres spread over seven different Read More …
“The Froelich Ranch was finally established, though not along Russia’s Volga River as Matt and his family originally envisioned. In 1948, the ranch began to breed quarter horses when Matt’s son, John J. Froelich, bought and registered a Palomino stallion named WR’s Commanche Boy. John’s love for the Palomino breed has passed down to his five sons, whose families abide by a governing philosophy to breed horses that they themselves love to ride.” – Jim Keen, Great Ranches Read More …