Lives Out West

By Rick Rickman

I spent most of my early and later years of life in the west and southwest.  I went to an agricultural college in New Mexico and became enamored with the western and cowboy lifestyle.  Ranchers and cattlemen live an oftentimes simple uncomplicated lifestyle that requires lots of commitment to make ends meet. In 1989 I had the chance to chase a wonderful assignment requiring me to engage in elements of the western life that I had been watching from afar for years.

It's valuable to understand the definition of cowboy.  A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. 

Ranching and life on horseback takes many forms.  

In California, ranchers and cattlemen are a small minority in the most populous state in the nation.  Many of the actual working cowboys and ranchers are located in the Central Valley and the Sierra Valley Foothills and parts of Southern California.

Some of the most active cowboys are often employed by the state of California to maintain range land by herding wild horses and rounding up burrows out of the desert highlands. Just off the Kelso road in the Mojave Desert there are several ranches that specialize in wild horse and burro roundups so keeping roping skills up to snuff is essential.  The one interesting thing that seems almost paradoxical is that with many ranchers they do their jobs with their family and kids in tow. 

Rounding up burrows starts early and takes hours.  Many times, it requires being in the saddle for 12 to 18 hours a day.  They are paid by the number of burrows they bring in.  It can be as much as $100.00 per head. Many times, living on horseback requires living in tents on the open range and having meals on the ground text to a road apple or two.  

In Montana, lifestyle contrasts abound.  The contrast of riding footwear is eye-catching.  Boots are fashion statements even on the range.  The guy in the red boots has a pair for work and a pair for in town but both pairs are knee high and red.  The only difference is his work boots have a set of spurs.  Keeping the working stock squared away for the night is part of the work on a round up.  

In the morning as the horses are claimed, the riders often show their love and appreciation for their mounts.  It becomes clear quickly that their horses are their favored friends.  Spending every moment of a 12 hour day connected to your horse is a great way to bond in a deep and meaningful way.

Moving cattle from one place to another is a demanding and endless job.  It requires patience, persistence, and lots of agility.  It also requires a tolerance for lots of dust.  Moving in some of the dry prairie areas of Montana will test your ability to breath and find creative ways to shield your face with your bandana.

Charlie Sims, a 60-something cowboy, had a reputation among his peers as a roper/wrangler extraordinaire. Every morning at sunrise, Sims corralled the horses into camp, deftly lassoed each one, and then saddled up the horses for the riders.  In this classic cattle drive, just like in the old days, horses respond to the precise placement of Charlie Sims’ lariat.   There are lots of cowboys pushing cattle across the state of Montana swinging lariats but none of them could match Sims’ prowess.  Sims incessantly worked his rope no matter the location, making you believe that the rope could truly dance. 

Just like in the old west, every cattle drive has an end point but there are some striking differences between now and then.  The signage is just one of those differences.  Putting up the cattle in their resting places after the drive gives the drovers a chance to catch up with their families and take care of some necessities some of which have been modernized while some others hadn’t changed much.  Getting rid of the dust is essential no matter where that has to happen.

Putting on the finishing touches and then heading into town for the evening is part of the traditions that have been handed down for decades.  Some fellows just never get enough of their time in the saddle, the solitude of the open prairie and the beauty of the immense endless sky.   Somewhere just over a rolling rise the cattle wait to bed down for the evening as the immense Montana sky takes on that pastel pink sunset color that makes the western sky a thing of continual beauty.