“Near what is now the Duff Ranch, Cody and Comstock competed in a day-long ‘Champion Buffalo Hunter of the Plains’ contest. Cody won 69-48, and thereafter was known worldwide as Buffalo Bill. In 1882 he launched his ‘Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show’ featuring legends such as Annie Oakley, Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, and Frank North. […]
“James Whittaker’s family has been here since 1915, when his grandfather carved out a ranch in this wilderness. As a teenager, James’ father, Floyd, ran a twenty-mile trap line for beaver, bobcats, and coyotes high in the mountains above the ranch. He used the money he made from selling pelts to buy more land and […]
“‘Boy, you brought this trouble on yourself,’ the captain shouted, shoving the teenaged stowaway into the arms of two sailors. ‘Take him below to shovel manure!’ It was 1876, and the two rough men hauled the struggling youth to the bowels of the ship. There was no turning back to port for this English cattle […]
“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 […]
“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 […]
“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 […]
“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 […]
“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 […]
“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 […]
“The Chew Ranch headquarters, straddling Utah’s Green River near the Dinosaur National Monument, found its humble beginnings in a Mormon caravan. In 1865, thirteen-year-old Jack Chew and his family joined 29 other families in a journey from Iowa to Salt Lake City. These Mormon travelers all pulled handcarts containing provisions and belongings. The carts had […]
