Ranching Generations - The Idaho Rancher's Wife

Running Cows on the Range for You

January 31, 2018 by Allison

Our ranch couldn’t operate without running on public lands. We would love to run our cows totally on private land but that just isn’t doable right now. Don’t get me wrong, the range land that we graze on is really, REALLY great. Our cows come home fat and healthy. But it would be nice to not have someone to dictate where and when we can run our cows.

Remember the days when we didn’t have to answer to anybody about our cows out on the range? Ya me neither… Mostly because I haven’t been around this operation very long. But also because even if I had been around here my whole life, the range has been regulated for longer than I was alive.

When the first cows were grazing out on this range, nobody owned it. It was just leftover land from when the railroad had been built. Cattlemen would take their cows to Curlew Valley to graze through the summer months and then head south to Locomotive springs to winter. It ended up being a conglomeration of all sorts of cattle and brands, which may seem crazy but it worked out well. Between all of the cowboys there was always enough help to get all of the work done- water kept up, the cattle checked, and all the ground covered. In the spring they would help brand each other’s cattle and in the fall they would all gather in and wean the calves.

Over time and from experience, they established good patterns of grazing, making sure that they wouldn’t over graze the land and have something available when it was time to come back. They let the seasons and weather dictate how and where the cattle would be, flowing with range and its needs.

These days we still run our cattle the same, just with a LOT more direction from the higher ups. We still run in an association, with most of the original brands that we began with so many years ago. We still help move cattle, brand, wean, and check water just like they did in the past. But now we are on somebody else’s schedule. They tell when to turn out, how long we can stay, and where we go next. The dates are rigid and there is no flexibility to work with what the range is giving.

I really have mixed feelings about this. I think it is smart to have organization to it. We want to ensure that the range is healthy for our cattle to feed on so it is important to make sure that we don’t have too many cattle or spend too much time in one area. But at the same time, having someone from behind a desk telling us what we can and can’t do, especially when they don’t understand cattle or the work it takes to run them, is frustrating.

The job gets even harder when there are special interest group trying to keep you from your range land. There are all sorts of reasons that they don’t want us on the public lands. They think that we are harming the land. They figure it needs to be left for the public to use for recreation. They want it preserved for wild life. Or some just don’t want it used at all for any purposes.

Right now, we aren’t in a position where we are being troubled by anyone directly, but we aren’t excused from the fight to get cattle off of public lands either.

I’m the kind of girl that is all about being efficient with what we have. I’m pretty sure that it’s in my genes. I hate to see things go to waste when there is so much value to be had. But I also don’t want to use it all up at once. That’s being wasteful too. There’s that sweet middle ground that should keep from wasting by keeping things from totally unused but also keeping it from being over used and ruined.

But how can we apply that to the range?

It’s all a balancing act, friends. Its working to keep too many cattle off too little ground with too little feed for too long. But it is also having cattle out there to disturb the ground to help new seeds to grow, to cultivate the ground, to carry seeds in their poop and fertilize them to grow. Its having cows out there to eat the grasses and keep the fuels down so fires don’t devastate the range. Using it for cows keeps it as usable, profitable range land and not the next development area for a new subdivision.

Balance. That’s how we do it.

A few years ago, I saw a book that was talking about public lands and it was obviously against ranchers using it for their cattle. In fact, there was a caption in big bold letters that said something to the point of “keep ranchers from turning your land into a feed lot!” And right next to it was a picture of an area that had been overgrazed (most likely it was right next to the water trough, right?!).

It was a little like a punch to the gut.

Is this what people really think ranchers do? Do they assume that we use public range land to feed our cattle so that we can make some money by fattening our cattle while we ruin someone else’s land? I just wanted to shake someone, anyone, EVERYONE and say, “WE DO THIS FOR YOU!”

We run and raise cattle for people to eat. It’s plain and simple. Yes it is our jobs and we are trying to make money doing it (enough to survive at least… ha… ha…). But at the heart of it all, we care about making a good, affordable product for families to put on the table using the resources available.

For years and years, nothing has changed how ranchers use the range. But what has changed, is the public’s perception of how and why use the land. Their land. The bigger picture is that we use their land to raise cattle to feed their families. And we have before it was really anyone’s land. The cattle were there long before any interest groups even existed, let alone had an agenda.

We are going to keep running cattle out on the rangeland for as long as we are able. We are going to keep using that land to keep our cows healthy and we are going to keep using our cows to keep the land healthy. And in the end, you, that eat our beef, will stay healthy too.

The Curlew Cattle Association: A History of Belonging

June 3, 2017 by Allison

A few months ago I was asked to write a story for the Line Rider, a magazine published by the Idaho Cattle Association. The story they asked me to write was a little closer to home than most of my other stories. They asked me to write about our history with the association we run our cattle in. Since it wasn’t my family that I was writing about but rather my husband’s, I had to do a little research. It was interesting and exciting and inspiring. It ended up becoming somewhat special to me that I could write about my husband’s family and share their story. And I wasn’t the only one that felt this way.

Over the last few months, I have had several of the cowboys and ranchers that we work with mention the story. I’m not sure why, but I was really surprised with how much they all loved it! Maybe I’m still a little surprised when people (besides my momma and my husband… they are obligated to cheer for me) think that what I write is something worth reading.

Because of all their applause, I thought I would share it with you!

Ranching can be a tough and demanding lifestyle but with people working around us facing the same challenges and striving for the same goals, we find a collective strength. In fact, it is through the practice of leaning on each other that several ranches in the Curlew Valley have found success amidst the struggles of ranching on the range. Their association of working together began as their ranches were founded. It was long ago that August Eliason learned that the demands of range were easier to manage has he harnessed his efforts with those around him and still to this day, his descendents continue to follow his practices of working together.

August Eliason came to America from Sweden with his family as a young boy at the age of 9. At the age of 14, he decided to go out on his and found a job working for the Bar M Ranch, hiring on as the ranch foreman.

The Bar M Ranch began after the construction of the trans-continental railroad through Utah. A wealthy railroad baron from San Francisco had seen the boom of cattle empires in the west and he wanted part of it. He saw an opportunity to buy up the available land left from building the railroad and purchased the land from Connor Springs to Kelton, Utah, approximately 365,000 acres. Soon after, they bought their first 2,500 cows and they were in the cattle business. They continued to acquire land and cattle as they bought out other operations, bringing their numbers up to a herd of 45,000 cows running throughout northern Utah and southern Idaho. Unfortunately, the owner of the ranch and his managers had no experience managing a cattle herd. Their lack of knowledge ultimately set the ranch for failure.

As the foreman of the ranch, August was responsible for grazing the cattle throughout the Curlew Valley. Through managing so many cattle over so many miles, August developed a great talent for overseeing the cattle and land. The cattle grazed the range for feed year round, often overgrazing it. The operation never purchased or put up any additional hay, and the cattle were left to forage on what little feed was available during the winter months. This mismanagement proved detrimental for the ranch.

In 1888, the blizzard of a lifetime came through. Heavy snowfall and extreme winds caused the cattle to stray as they followed their instincts and walked with the wind in attempts to stay warm. With nothing to stop the wandering Bar M cattle, they walked for miles and miles. With such terrible storms, August and the other cow hands knew there was nothing they could do. They knew they would never survive searching for the cattle in the storm over the snow covered range. All they could do was wait and see what the outcome of the storm would bring.

Eventually they found that from the combination of exhaustion from the walking and the lack of feed because it was buried beneath the snow, the majority of the cattle had died. Accounts recall that there were so many dead cattle across the land that you could walk for miles stepping only from one cow to the next. When spring came, they found 35,000 dead cattle wearing the Bar M brand. The numbers of surviving cattle are somewhat unknown, anywhere from 10,000 to only 800.

The Bar M Ranch never recouped from the devastating winter and was disbanded shortly after. The cowboys were left to fend for themselves. But what was the end of the Bar M Ranch was the beginning of several grazing organizations in the area, such as the Curlew Valley Horse and Cattle Association and the Black Pine grazing group.

It was rumored that August and his two brothers-in-law, Andrew Anderson and Ed Showell, gathered up any unclaimed and unbranded cattle to start up their own herds. They continued to winter the cattle in Locomotive and graze north through the Curlew Valley, similar to how the Bar M Ranch managed their cattle. It was hard work but with their experience on the range, their desire to succeed and their strength by working together, they facilitated their own beginning.

At the time, ranches from all over northern Utah and southern Idaho would turn their cattle out on the public rangeland. There were no boundaries, no regulations and no expectations grazing on the open range. All the animals roamed free, fending for themselves where ever it may be. Because of the water and good feed, most cattle would migrate south to Locomotive Springs. At the end of the grazing season, everyone would work together to gather in the cattle to sort and take to their home ranches.

In addition to running on the public lands, August and the others also homesteaded land in Idaho. They were successful on their homestead land in Stone, Idaho on what was called the North String. There he set up headquarters for his ranch and his family. August had 6 children, including his two sons, Bert and Chester, who took over the ranch at his untimely death when they were teenage boys.

Even though they were young, the boys were able to successfully run the operation for their mother with the help of their uncles, Andrew and Ed, keeping both the ranch and the family alive. The time came that they decided to buy the ranch and their partnership began. It took time, but they were able to add cattle to their herd and land to their operation.

The Curlew ranchers recognized what an asset Locomotive was for cattle, although most of the area was deeded up to homesteads. But over time, the flies and sickness of the wetlands caused most homesteaders to sell out, an opportunity Bert, Chester, Andrew, and Ed jumped on. In addition to wintering the cattle in Locomotive, they decided to hay the land as well. Once a year, they worked together to carry out the very labor intensive job of mowing, raking, pitching and stacking the hay.

Over the next several years, many things would happen that would bring more organization and need for the association. In 1934, the Taylor Grazing Act was set in place to regulate the use of public lands. Throughout the country, drought and poor management of the land had caused severe losses that devastated the farming and ranching industry. In Idaho and Utah, cattle and sheep ranchers would graze an unrestricted number of animals that overwhelmed the rangeland. With the Grazing Act, those ranches already running animals had to apply for permits. With the homestead land in Stone and Locomotive, the men were granted permits to continue running their cattle on the public lands of Black Pine of Idaho and Wild Cat/Cedar Hill of Utah.

Every season had its challenges, but Bert and Chester managed to find success. A large part of their success was working hard, but an even larger part was working smart. With their operation being divided over so much land, it required a lot of time and labor to manage it all. The men would spend days on the range haying and moving or tending cattle. By working together, it made it easier to ensure that everything was be done and looked after, without having to hire additional men.

Shortly after the depression Chester had the chance of a lifetime. Dave Dilly was ready to sell the piece of land that Chester had wanted all of his life- the Rockhouse Ranch, famously named for the house made of rocks that provided protection from the Indians in the 1860s and later used as northern headquarters of the old Bar M Ranch. Living just a few miles away in Stone had given him plenty of opportunities to see its potential.

Dave Dilly, Chester’s uncle, first offered the Rockhouse Ranch to Bert but with Bert declining the piece, it was Chester’s for the taking. He sold his home, land, and half of the company property to Bert and moved his family and his half of the cattle 14 miles north to their new ranch in Holbrook, Idaho. Starting his own operation had been a longtime dream and he was excited for the opportunity. He continued to run things alongside the others in Stone and to run his cattle on his portion of the rangeland permits.

Running separate, but parallel operations was very profitable for the two brothers. They were both able to grow their operations and later pass them on to their own families. Bert had two sons, De and Bert Jr., which in the end inherited his cattle and land. De stayed on the homestead in Stone while Bert Jr. began a new operation in Snowville, Utah. With his portion of the permits he continued to work alongside his brother, until De sold his operation. Bert Jr. ‘s operation, known now as the Eliason Ranch, was owned by his son Dave Eliason, who just recently turned things over to the next generation- his son, Shane.

Dave enjoys the same benefits of running cattle in the association that his grandpa did. Dave says, “The greatest benefit is that we can share the labor without having to hire extra men. We all have large enough herds that we couldn’t do it alone.”

The Rockhouse Ranch, now known as Eliason Livestock, is managed by Ken Eliason, the third generation to run cattle in Holbrook. His father, Don, was just a boy when Chester began ranching in Holbrook. In his time, he watched the ranch develop from a small operation to a thriving family business. With the goal in mind of keeping it a thriving family business, Ken’s oldest son, Brayden has returned to eventually take over the ranch someday.

While time and innovation has changed how things are run from day to day, Ken and Dave still employ the same operational practices that the original Curlew cowboys did. They still winter the cattle in Locomotive with the Anderson and Showell operations. They work together to wean, brand, move cattle, preg check cows, and check water.

Working together with so many different operations can be challenging but these men have made it work. While they have seen similar groups fall apart by disagreements, they have found a way to keep things beneficial to all. Ken says that the best thing about the association, and how they have continued working together for so long is because of the trust. “You know that you can trust that they will be there to get the work done and that they will do a good job. You can trust that they have your back.”

Running together in the association has proved to be a successful practice for everyone in the Curlew Valley. They enjoy the same benefits that the old cowboys did- the autonomy to run their operations but still have the man power to get the work done. But the benefits go beyond the obvious. Each man in the association a niche- his strengths that the whole group can rely on. It may be the equipment and skills that he has or the “in” for a good deal on salt block. Some have their finger on the pulse of what is happening in the cattle industry across the country and some have the relationships and contacts for more support and information.

Helen Keller once said, “Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.” The ranchers of the Curlew Valley have been the embodiment of that phrase for so many years. Alone, one ranch could never have accomplished what has been done. They would have succumbed to the hard reality of homesteading and the fatigue of the rough range. But together they have advanced the industry, produced cattle, improved the land, raised families and strengthened communities. With the help and support of one another they will continue to do so much.

Weekends at Locomotive

March 17, 2017 by Allison

One of my weekend highlights is always heading down to Locomotive. There is something about the wide open and empty range that soothes my soul. And maybe its just because I love getting away from the house work and cleaning, but I’m pretty sure its more than that.

Working down to Locomotive isn’t anything crazy exciting. We all pile in the gator and drive around checking the water and cows. We tag a few calves here and there and we make sure every baby has a mama. Until the snow melted, we took some time to dump a little hay around. Every once in a while we find a baby that has been abandoned, usually they were a twin, and we bring them home to the ranch with us. After we give everything a good once over, we load up and head home.

See? Nothing crazy. But I love it!

I love it when my kids get to spend time with their dad. What better way to learn how to be a rancher than to see their hero do it. They ak question, jump in to help, and soak it all in. Its a chance that they have to disconnect from the world that is happening around them. Even as little as they are, they can still get sucked into the tv and computer and what not. But when they are out on the range, they are in a whole different world of their own making. In seconds they can find adventure.

I love it that we can go somewhere and its almost like time stops. The rush and hustle of life just disappears. That is something precious when you are a mom that lives by a never ending to-do list that keeps you hopping from job to the next. Somehow, the list doesn’t matter out there.

I love it because we can just be ourselves. There is no judging that I didn’t put makeup on that day. In fact, if I did, it would only get covered with the layers of dust so no one would see it anyway! The cows don’t care what clothes you wear. They don’t care how rambunctious and rowdy the kids are. We can just rock it how we like to!

Everyone needs a place like Locomotive. Somewhere that they feel safe and at peace and totally confident. Somewhere that provides a little perspective when we get so consumed with what keeps us going from day to day. Somewhere that when we go home, we feel a little stronger and ready to take life on again.

In this crazy world, that can be hard to find.

Where is your “Locomotive”?

The Family That Brands Together, Stays Together

May 16, 2016 by Allison

I’ve been feeling somewhat emotional about family this week. It could be leftover mushy feelings from Mother’s Day extra stirred up from all those post-partum hormones flowing through my veins and totally exaggerated from looking at all these photos of my favorite people.. but I dunno. Regardless of the why, I have a mega-sized dose of love for family and all I keep thinking is, “I love my life!”

Seriously, how often do families get days like these? How many times do you have a chance to take your kids to work? It happens pretty much daily around here. How often do you see three generations of men working together? Yep, every day. We are pretty lucky that even the brothers come around the ranch often. And when I say often I mean, like, weekly! I know guys that would give anything to be able to work with their dad and brothers like these boys get to. Of course, the fun doesn’t stop there- we have sisters-in-law that love this life too and that, my friends, is no easy feat. Honestly, its hard enough for brothers to marry wives that like each other, but then to find wives that love ranching and cowboying too?! Good work boys… Good work!

We all have varying jobs at what we do to help or entertain, but no one is sitting around. Some come packing the camera and some bring the cinnamon rolls (thanks to The Cattlewoman, for sure!). The kids are always elbow deep in the work (sometimes making more work for the rest of us, but at least they are out there wanting and willing to work!) Some live the dream life on the back of the horse and some do the dirty grunt work. Even if you think that you are just going to spectate, crazy things happen to get you moving.

Check this out. Quick story time- The Buckarette… This girl was 39 weeks pregnant on this fine day of branding (which is why there isn’t a SINGLE picture of her… hmmm…) She came out planning to just sit on the back of the truck and, ya know, just take it easy. Then she starts holding the calves back and helping sort out the already branded calves. Then she starts helping with shots (which is admirable in itself because that meant bending over and if you know pregnant ladies, that gets a little difficult when you are growing a human being in your middle!). And then she suddenly swings her way up on the horse to get out and rope! We teased her that she had better be careful where she dallied because her belly was a little close to the horn. She got up there, turned her horse to the calves and before you knew it, she was back dragging one in. She gets extra kuddos in my book because it had been a good long while since she had roped and she was as smooth as ever. Honestly, we should have had her out roping lots earlier because she caught every calf she swung at! She told us that she as only going to rope one, but once she got started, we couldn’t stop her. Ok, not really… but she did have her good handful of them.

Anyone can tell you, working as families can be rough. One person wants something done one way and someone another, and some crazy fight ensues. One person feels like they are doing all the work while the others get the benefits. One suddenly thinks they are the boss and the others stop working dead in their tracks. It can really happen… But I don’t think feelings like these have ever come up around here (I’m crossing my fingers that even though I am saying it out loud, nothing changes…). Sure we have our moments of frustration or disagreement but I have never seen an operation run so smoothly. Family comes first and with that, everyone works together towards a common goal that brings us together. At the end of the day, we are all apart of making Eliason Livestock successful and sustainable. More importantly we are apart of a family legacy, building from our heritage something for the future that we can all be proud of.

A Family Cattledrive

November 11, 2015 by Allison

Oh boy was this a crazy summer! With all the ropings, family events, community activities, and building a house we were running in every direction. To help things out, the cows decided they didn’t need much moving for the summer. For real… Between the field rotation we were on and the rains it seemed we hardly had to move the cows. The unfortunate thing about that was that I didn’t have many opportunities to ride with the guys or take any photos.

On the one chance I had to saddle up, the whole family got to tag along. We really weren’t even moving to new field, just pushing the cows to a different trough. So even though it wasn’t too much of a ride, it was perfectly short enough that we knew they would last and have a great time. We have my old horse from when I was a kid that The Rancher’s Sidekick has claimed. And the Ranch Princess bounced around between me, Rancher Sr., Cowboy E, and The Rancher. It might not have been much, but we made a few good memories.

Eliason Branding 2015 Day 2

May 15, 2015 by Allison

I love rainy days! For so many reasons… Of course because we need the rain- we need the rain SO badly. But I love the rain because then we slow down a bit and I have time to go through the HUNDREDS of pictures that are calling to me. So… without any further time… here are some long overdue pictures. Pictures from our second day of branding.

There’s a funny story that goes along with this day…

Since we were branding out on the range and camping out that night we had a lot to take out and a lot of rigs hauling it all. We all eventually make it and get to starting. The early comers had already started gathering the cattle in so the late arrivers started pulling out the equipments. We think, “everything looks good…” We have half the cows we usually have to do, all day to do them, and lots of good help. This should be a great day!

The herd comes in, the cows go back out and we get the fire started. The Rancher and Rancher Sr. start pulling out all the stuff that they carry around and need for each calf. They sharpen their knives, I fill their syringes, they grab their taggers and tags… No tags! We had no tags! (actually we had like 22, maybe- but still not enough!) Kinda an important part of the day!

We just kinda twiddled our thumbs about it and got started anyway. But uh… no tags, fellas! Eventually we decided that we would tag all that we could and kick them back out to the mommas. Then we branded, vaccinated, castrated, marked- did EVERYTHING except the tags, to the rest of the calves. We held them all until had more tags, which only happened because The Ranch Boss had graciously volunteered to drive home to grab tags to save the day!

The cowboys didn’t mind too much that we had a kink in our day. It meant that we weren’t pushing too hard, which gave them a chance to do a little extra fun roping. They pulled out their fancy big loops once in a while and headed and heeled a satisfying amount. We got the work done, ate some good grub and marked another day down in the books!

Click “read more” below to see more photos!

Eliason Branding 2015 Day 1

May 10, 2015 by Allison

This last week I had the scariest thing happen… I thought I lost my external hard drive! It stores all of my photos and if it was gone I was gonna be in big trouble. And heartbroken. Mostly heartbroken.

But I found it!! This means I can finally share the many MANY more pictures I have.

Today’s tale and pictures to post- our branding!

With having so many cows at home to calve, we had so many calves to brand here on the ranch. We made a weekend of it, inviting cowboys and cowgirls out to help. Day one consisted of all the calves on the ranch- two heifer groups and 3 cow groups. The nice about when we did these was that they had already been tagged, castrated and given one shot. We sailed through these calves! For most of the day I was giving shots on my own and I could barely keep up! It also meant that there wasn’t a lot of down time to take pictures. So not a lot of day one… Mostly a shot here and there between groups, set up, clean up… But stay tuned for day two!

Click the “read more” link below to view the complete post…

The Buckarette

January 20, 2015 by Allison

Hello again…

I’m just going to jump in and pretend that it hasn’t been forever since I have been here…

In fact, lets just pretend its August. Yep, on this chilly January night I want you to pretend that its a blistering hot (I don’t know that it ever gets THAT hot here, but for dramatic effect- it works nicely) summer day. Say like August 2nd in fact.

Why August 2nd?

Because something awesome happened August 1st- I got a new sister in law! I love all my sisters, in laws and outlaws. Everyone of them brings their own awesome-ness to the table. In our Eliason family, EVERY girl is celebrated. For so long there was only The Cattlewoman, raising 5 cowboys without any female to stand strong with. Even the dogs were all boys! I guess if you wanted to get picky, there have been thousands of female cows go through, but they don’t count… don’t count AT ALL.

As the first of the married-in-daughters, I told everyone that it was my right and privilege to approve their choices for wives before the question was even popped. Unfortunately, they didn’t take me seriously and never asked if I was cool with their choices… But lucky for them they picked well. So well, I don’t know that I could have done any better. The Cowpoke knew that any girl from Montana would fit in just right (history has proven that!) and now The Buckaroo has found himself a fine cowgirl of his own. She isn’t from Montana (but she does LOVE it) and that’s ok because she more than makes up for it with her sweet cowgirl skills, mad basketball skills, and awesome baking skills.

I’ll let The Buckaroo tell you how he wooed her so fast… that’s an exciting story of its own… The only thing I’ll divulge is that she was the perfect girl in his eyes- she could rope, rodeo, cook, and looked HOT. But really, what else is there?!

I’d like to (finally…) introduce you to The Buckarette! This girl was raised on the back of a horse and taught that she was the one that would get the work done. Sound familiar? Oh, ya.. like the rest of us. There have been some great moments getting to know her over the last year. Like when she came to the ranch for the first time for branding and out roped all of the boys. Or when all she had for church shoes were her work boots and she didn’t even bat an eye. Or when she, repeatedly, made the blind steer walk into the barn (not like IN the barn like.. “bam!” INTO the barn). Or when she nearly out shot all the boys when we pulled out the clay pigeons.

Yep, she’s a girl after my own heart and I’m excited to share her story with ours too. Of course you have already seen her here on The Blog, but she has officially been given a name- The Buckarette!

A Drive Through the Buffalo

December 16, 2014 by Allison

My family loves to work together. Is that weird? For family reunions we have cut a horse (castrated him), built fence, and put up drywall. Everyone does stuff like that, right?! Someone once told me that so long as you are doing something you enjoy, you can consider it recreation. We like to recreate by working, sweating, stinking… Ok, maybe not everyone and not all of the time… there are times we like to sit and do nothing. But that doesn’t last long at all.

So whenever my older brother announces that he has big work days like preg checking the buffalo, we all (those within a reasonable distance) head out there.

The kids and I showed up the night before the big day, not long before The Lemhi Rancher (my brother) walked in the house. He sat down with a sigh and said, “All the buffalo are in the corrals… what a relief!” You could see that he REALLY was relieved. Working buffalo carries a little more anxiety than working cows. There is nothing really domestic about these animals. They are still so primeval that whenever they encounter anything that stresses them out they go fight or flight. Hard core fight or flight. So for the work to go well, for the buffalo to get in the corral without any intense effort, IS relieving.

We had one long day of work (more about that later…), like so long that at the end we had a few phones out to shed some light on the work. Working hard all day meant that I didn’t have anytime for pictures. Which was just fine… That meant I had to take a drive the next day to satisfy the photographer in me!

I loaded up my kids and the cousins (to open the gates of course!) and we drove through the buffalo. This was a first for us in a sorts. We are usually up in the spring and summer, so to see the buffalo not losing their hair and in the snowy fields was a fun change. I’m awed to watch the buffalo and like to imagine what it might have been when they roamed for hundreds of miles on end. They are constantly moving, almost like they still have that instinct to migrate. Good thing The Lemhi Rancher has some big pasture!

Like I said, primal… not domestic… Certainly interesting, entertaining and always making a fun shot for this Rancher’s Wife.

A Big Ride for a Little Cowboy

June 27, 2014 by Allison

Being only four years old doesn’t stop this little boy from believing that he can do ANYTHING he wants to do, or more importantly- what his dad is doing. He is called The Rancher’s Sidekick for a reason- he goes everywhere and does everything with his dad. The first thing he says in the morning (after his request for hot cocoa!) is “where is dad?” And no matter what dad is doing, he is distraught that he was left behind.

Until last week.

The cowboys were moving the heifer pairs to new pasture not far from the ranch. Being the awesome mom that I am (and with The Rancher giving the idea) I loaded up The Rancher’s Sidekick’s horse and headed out after herd.

We caught up to the bunch and before I could park the truck, my little cowboy was scrambling out of the truck to get his horse out. He had one request- I want to ride by myself, and nobody pull me! Can you say independent? As nervous as I was (because I’m still a mom and the ground is pretty far down…) we handed him the reigns and let him go!

It was somewhat of a moment for me to watch him ride off following his dad. Here is my firstborn showing his momma that he is growing up. And as much as I’m not read for that, there is no other way that I would rather him do it than as a cowboy!

I just kept thinking, how many boys have this chance? Go to work with dad, everyday? How many little boys get to ride with his dad, grandpa, and great grandpa? How many little boys get to live their dreams of being a cowboy before they have ever gone to school?

Of course he is a crazy four year old that spent more time picking his nose than watching the cows. But the great thing was that he was there, in the middle of all of it. We don’t live on the sidelines out here. We live in the thick of it all!