Historical photographs of ranch life tend to be so
full of men that an observer might think no women ever lived on the
range. But in 1898, Mabel Souther did more than just live on the
Big Red Ranch in northeastern Wyoming – she took pictures that
documented the working life there. Perhaps her cowpoke subjects
bristled when the ranch manager’s wife made them stand still for a
photograph. But she earned their respect every time she
photographed, hauling her camera, tripod and a suitcase full of
accessories across the Wyoming landscape. One of the cowboys from
Big Red collected many of her photographs, which are on view at the
ranch through Dec. 4 in a show called One Hundred Years Ago: Big
Red Ranch and the Photographs of Mabel Graham McIntosh
Souther.
Big Red Ranch, now owned by the Ucross
Foundation, is one-half mile east of the junction of U.S. Highways
14 and 16 in Ucross, Wyo. For more information, call 307/737-2291.
*Gabriel
Ross
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline A new look at old pictures.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
