“‘Everyone push on the count of three.’ The mud was nearly knee-deep in places after two days of heavy rain, and the stage wouldn’t budge. All the passengers had to climb out, the women stand to the side as the men all pushed. ‘And three!’ The wheels slogged out of the mud with a sucking […]
“Running cattle either along the Canadian border or along the Columbia River demands more than a well-maintained fleet of trucks and an easily-identifiable brand. In the northern property of the Diamond M, the enemies are the frigid winters and mountain lions. Bill, Len’s son who now runs the ranch, once bagged a lion that stretched […]
“The story goes that Jack fell in love with a young lady whose brother had promised her to a polygamist. However, Jack secretly married her, angering the brothers so much that they plotted to kidnap the new bride. They decided to frame Jack for stealing a cow – which he didn’t do. He was arrested […]
“The Vermilion is the Goggins’ headquarters, but is only one of several ranches the family owns. The Diamond Ring Ranch runs commercial Angus cattle on 55,000-plus acres along the Yellowstone River. The Pryor Creek Ranch has 30,000 acres of dry-land ranching. If you watch any Western movies, you’ve seen the Pryer Creek ranch – the […]
“James H. Monahan’s son, Earl, was born on the ranch in 1899. Again, ingenuity and determination reigned in that generation of Monahans. The winter of 1913 wreaked havoc on all the nearby ranches when a series of malicious blizzards buried the plains in so much snow that thousands of livestock froze to death. Earl and […]
“The Cowboys are on horseback, herding the cattle to higher ground toward me. Hooves scrape against rocks a half-mile away, and coyotes howl in a dark canyon to the west canyon to the west. Chills run up my back as I think what else might be lurking over the southern hill. I’m glad the darkness […]
“In this modern, high-tech world, it seems incongruous that a successful business could still abide by old-fashioned rules like a handshake or a coin toss. But Pete Bonds and family have proven that the simple life can exist harmoniously with the computer-savvy, state-of-the-art, and increasingly global economy.” – Jim Keen, Great Ranches of the West […]
“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 […]
“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 […]
“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 […]
