“In the 1820’s, Taylor White began driving his cattle on a path that retraced the Old Spanish Trail all the way to New Orleans, where he could get $12 per steer as compared to $5 per steer back home in Texas, and soon hordes of other ranchers joined him. Until the Union Pacific Railroad finally linked Houston and New Orleans in 1881, the Opelousas Trail echoed with cattle bellows and marked the land with its hieroglyphics of hoofprints Read More …
“Nine days after my departure, Helena, Yelena, and Bryan start out on a typical 65-mile trek from the ranch to the post office, unaware of the tragedy awaiting them. There is a terrible automobile accident. Miraculously, Yelena and the baby survive, but Helen is killed instantly. Sorrow descends over the Monitor Valley, but still the Pine Creek Ranch endures. The Hage family soldiers on, hanging in a delicate balance between desert and mountain, between civil liberty and government Read More …
“The sagebrush was huge, sometimes towering over them and their shared horse. The brush was so thick that a straight path wasn’t possible. The frequent backtracking slowed their progress and used up their slim resources. Jose Navarro and Antonio Azcuenaga began their journey from Nevada in 1889 to seek their fortunes farther north. Originally from the Basque country in the western Pyrenees Mountains of northern Spain, they found this territory very different and difficult. At the beginning of Read More …
“When the Bells originally bought this ranch, their first foreman, Val Cason, had worked for the notorious Mexican bandito Pancho Villa. As I settle into the ranch house in this southeastern corner of Arizona, I have a few fleeting thoughts about the old Wild West movies I saw as a boy: the shootouts, galloping posses kicking up dust, and banditos threatening villages. I wonder why no one else is staying with me at the hacienda; it seems to Read More …
“The Bonds Ranch is particularly distinctive for a couple reasons. First, it’s the only ranch I visited hosting a full-scale dance studio. Pete’s wife Jo teaches ballet and tap to pre-school through high-school students right on the ranch, bringing a dose of culture to this cattle-centric acreage. Second, it’s one of only a few ranches where I heard favorable comments about the U.S. Departments of Agriculture’s NAIS program. The National Animal Identification System tags each cow by fastening 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 Civil War did much to shape the character of this young man from Hinsdale, Massachusetts. After the war, the lure of the Western Territories called Warren away from Hinsdale to the wild, boisterous town of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Warren found work with cattle baron Amasa Converse, and their arrangement evolved into a partnership that ultimately formed the Warren Livestock Company. Warren’s business and ranching pursuits prospered from the beginning, quickly followed by and interest in politics. He was Read More …
“A year after Wayne Sr. purchased Pine Creek Ranch there was a knock at the door – the U.S. Forest Service was calling to try to purchase the ranch and the water rights. The price they offered was half of what the Hages had just paid for it. Wayne’s refusal to sell brought the full forces of the government’s eminent-domain policies against Pine Creek Ranch. But the bureaucrats had squared off with one tough cowboy. Years of legal Read More …