I’ve been painting a fair amount up at the Mills Place… every room needs painted and I’ve only painted the kitchen… now most of the mud room… next will be the office. I take Lucas with me 99% of the time… he lost out day before yesterday when he had helped with some corral work…
Category: History
Bruner Draw
This is Bruner Draw. Named for the man who homesteaded with a small dugout located on the skyline to the right of the most left juniper tree… the fenceline here separates our private ground from BLM. This is the “badlands”. The green in the bottom of this draw also hides a boggy mucky mess that…
Sneaky
Well, I had to do it… I snuck off of the ranch today to attend one more Spring Creek Raid meeting… this time held in what is now known as The Big Horn Stage Company. This building is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been a hardware store, cafe, and general store….
The Spring Creek Raid
The two brothers dreaded the walk they knew they must take. Leaving the relative warmth of the log cabin, they trudged outside into four inches of wet spring snow. The softness and beauty the snow would normally lend to the land now lay eerily upon shapes unknown. They stepped across Spring Creek’s small meandering flow…
The bunkhouse
The bunkhouse sits just under a south facing hill. On the left side is the living quarters with bed, table, and at one time an old stove. Many a hired hand has slept here… many a visitor… On the right side is the remnants of the blacksmith shop with various tools and mysterious pieces in…
Those old Tales
I’ve been going through old papers, finding papers 100 years old to the day… This is a warranty deed, this a homestead filing, that a mortgage. No stories. Just names we’ve heard for years. Signatures in ink… real ink… dipped, bold to fading… Surprised that the man I pictured as rough and tumble had great…
Puppies
‘ve known for a while now… and I did post it on my website… but I’ll make the announcement here… We’re gonna have puppies! The due date is March 24th. I’m thrilled. Elsa is feeling… well… fat! Slowing a tad, too. I will get to enjoy them in good weather as opposed to her last…
Cousin Robb 4
Cousin Robb has spent time in a Thai Monastery and wanted to share… I turn my platform over to him… Happiness Training – 10 Days of Meditative Silence in a Thai Monastery Could I do it? Could I go ten days without speaking? Could I spend ten days, surrounded by monks and nuns, in a…
Bob
For years, Bob has been a fixture on this place. Wherever Johnny was, there was Bob in his shadow. Quiet. Observant. He had a hell of an outrun… swinging WAY out and around stock… and as he aged, it was quicker (and probably an insult to him) to NOT wait for him to trot out…
Centennial
I plan on calling the State Historical Preservation Office tomorrow. The paperwork to get us recognized as a Centennial Ranch will be a fairly straightforward. Read any Wyoming history book and it will tell you about the Spring Creek Raid that happened in 1909. Cattlemen had drawn a Dead Line in the badlands. Any sheep…
Mailbox
Today saw the return of winter with freezing temperatures and snow. The wind chill added to the briskness. The other day was a different story. Gorgeous sunshine and warm temperatures begged me to go for a walk to the mailbox. My months of inactivity showed themselves as it took me longer than normal to make…
More Preparations
Along with pulling up the electric fence wire, our preparations for calving included cleaning the calving shed. The red shed is easily seen from my house through the boxelder trees. It is a five minute walk from here. Soon we’ll be putting our heifers, 60 of ’em, in here every night. We’ll sort off the…