One day last week it was cold — really cold — but not quite record-breaking. The weatherman reported that the record for the day was set back in 1979: 31 degrees below zero. I checked my old ranch notebook, and yes, 1979 was quite a winter. We’d kept the cattle on the range in Wyoming […]
Mary Flitner
Posted inWotr
Remembering Trixie at county fair time
Memories of a Wyoming barrel racer and a moment in the winner’s circle
Posted inWotr
Too much bling
Last week, the teenagers among our dinner companions started talking about “bling.” An older man at the end of the table asked, “What is this bleen stuff?” “No,” the kids said, giggling. “You know, bling.” Well, no, he didn’t know. “Really?” Hilarious laughter; then definitions: “It’s like, shiny. Glittery. Sparkly. Jewelry. Like, fancy stuff. Rhinestones. […]
Posted inWotr
The movie-magic West rides again
This time of year, you’re bound to see photos of ranchers branding cattle, along with all those newspaper pictures of graduations and proms. And why not? A photographer can find a picture waiting everywhere, of neighbors helping neighbors, handsome cowboy types with spurs and coiled lariats, little kids wearing Wranglers and big hats. There’s smoke […]
Posted inWotr
Homecoming
On the wall of our cow camp bunkhouse in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming hangs a little board on which somebody scratched the words: “If you’re lucky enough to be in the mountains, you’re lucky enough.” This week, I’m lucky enough to be among the West’s ranchers whose fall calendar includes gathering cattle from high […]
Posted inAugust 4, 2008: Hostile Takeover
Advice from a rancher: The risks make it fun
The other day I heard a newsman refer to “these perilous times” for businesspeople. No kidding, I thought. The gloomy picture featured rising costs, increased property taxes, deepening recession, employee demands for more insurance and benefits, market risk — the list went on. I thought of the risks we’ve faced in ranching, with more to […]
Posted inWotr
Coffee with the ladies
This morning, I saddled a dependable horse and headed for morning rounds at the calving meadow. I want to finish checking on the cows a little early so I can drive up the road to my neighbor’s house for the Shell Ladies’ Coffee. (Shell itself may boast a population of only 50, but we’ve had […]
Posted inWotr
Ranching still has a place on our public lands
I found a recent photograph that shows three people in cowboy gear – I’m the one pouring coffee from a thermos into beat-up cups. We’d all just gotten down from our horses, and the guys are leaning on a pickup truck marked U.S. Forest Service. Here’s the surprise: We’re all laughing. I’m a rancher, and […]
Posted inWotr
Who will pick up the pieces when this boom ends?
Sometime in the 1950s, an oil and gas boom hit Big Piney, Wyo. I was 12, and I remember the excitement of seeing new kids in school, big trucks on the dusty roads and lots of people in the cafés and on the streets. I remember summer evenings when my dad loaded us into the […]
Posted inMay 16, 2005: Unsalvageable
Points to consider about buyouts
I’m a rancher and grazing permittee in Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin. Our family ranch has used adjacent BLM and USFS permits since the early 1900s, and I found “The Big Buyout” quite interesting (HCN, 4/04/05: The Big Buyout). I’d add a few comments for your consideration: Mary Flitner This article appeared in the print edition of […]