Cowboy Stories

Tyson Johnson grew up in Kanab, UT and currently lives in Oklahoma where he is the manager of Sooner Cattle Company. In Part 1 of this episode, he talks about how he fell in love with this way of life and some of the early events that led him to where he is today.

In part 2 of our conversation, Stan talks about a race horse he had named Distant Wind. He also talks about his sobriety and how God helped and continues to help him stay sober. If you haven't had a chance to listen to part 1, head over and give that one a listen first.

When asked about some of the best cowboys Ed Ashurst has ever been around, he mentioned Bill Howell. When talking about Bill he said, "...the best cowboy I ever knew, all things considered.... He was an artist at working cattle. Big bunches of cattle.... And I worked for him for 15 years. And if I'm a cow man, it's because of him." Throughout this episode, we talk about working cattle in the traditional way, what Ed's definition of a cowboy is, and some of the challenges he faces. His advice to future generations is to, "Have faith in God, pray a lot, and fight government intervention."

Jim and his wife Kerri live in Safford, AZ. Jim will be 81 years old in August and has lived a life that many won't ever get the chance to. As a child, he ran away from home the first day his family moved to the Grand Canyon. He ended up at the mule barns and the rest is history. He has worked on several different ranches in a couple different states. Later on in his life, he suffered an injury from a horse wreck which led him to different employment. He was a sheriff and eventually a Justice of the Peace. Jim can remember shoeing horses for $5 a head and when asked what advice he has for the future generations he said, "Get out. Learn how to work. Do chores. Go to church."

Boyd is 81 years old and currently lives in Lima, MT. His family ran 4,200 head of mother cows and they put up their hay using a team and a beaver slide. When he was 9 years old, he would drive the team of horses while his dad would feed the cows in -20 degree weather. He said, "The only way to handle cattle is horseback." Every year, they would brand around 3,200 head of their own calves and then continue on and help the neighbors brand their calves. He said, "Im retired now. I'm just a full-time grandpa. And I enjoy helping people around town here. If there's something to do, I like to pitch in and give them a hand." Boyd is one of the salt-of-the-earth people and I know you'll enjoy listening to his story.

Don Lindsay and his wife Denise live in Venice, UT. Don is a well-known horse trainer and has a lot of expertise in this area. He has day worked for a few different outfits throughout his life. One of which was A.C. Ekker in Hanksville, UT. Don shares a little bit about his history and how he came to be involved in the western industry. You can find out more about him by visiting his website dlhorsemanship.com

Todays episode is going to be a little bit different from what we typically share. Lydia is trying to spread the word about the devastation the Hermit's Peak and Calf Canyon fires have had on the state of New Mexico. What started out as a prescribed burn has now turned into a wildfire covering over 310,000 acres. In this episode she gives us a little bit of info on her background, and the effects the fire(s) has had on them personally. For more information on this fire, check out nmfireinfo.com

Tabor and Katie Dahl are close family friends and I've been looking forward to interviewing him for a while. In part 1 of my interview with Tabor, he talks about how beneficial and important his relationship with his grandpa was.  When talking about helping his grandpa move cattle Tabor said, "He made you feel like you could do anything and it really empowered me. He'd always make you feel like you were doing better than you were." He also talks about his parents sending him to Bryan Neubert's house for a couple of weeks when he was 15. He said learning to train horses from Bryan really changed his life.

Part two of my interview with Jacob Carter. If you haven't had a chance to listen to Part 1, you can go back to our episodes and check it out. One of my favorite quotes from this episode is, "...I'm not teaching you how to build fence. I'm teaching you how to do a job right and get it done...." In this episode, he goes in depth into how he realized roping is an important skill and tradition, and how his management style has allowed them to run up to 1300 head of cattle. He also talks about the importance of mental health in the ranching industry and how we need to talk about it. Farm Bureau has done a great job getting some information out about this and they're calling it #farmstateofmind. You can click the following link to check it out. https://www.fb.org/land/fsom 

Dick and Becky Pace are from Teasdale, UT. I really enjoyed visiting with both of them. In part 1 of my interview with them, Dick talks about the history behind the livestock permits in Capital Reef National Park. Dick's dad and Dell LeFevre went to Washington D.C. after the parks designation in 1971 to meet with senators. They were discussing what would happen to the ranchers and the cattle that were now within the park boundary. After some debate, they settled on giving the ranchers within the park boundary life+the life of their heir. This meant that anyone who ran cattle in the park boundary could continue to run cattle there for the rest of their life, and for the life of their first heirs. They refer to this as being grandfathered in. After that decision was made, the park came back and offered all of the permittees $52/AUM. Some sold but the the Pace family and the Taylor family didn't. However, three years ago, the Wildlife Federation bought out the Pace family. As of today, the Taylors are the only family still running cattle on the park.

Stanton Gleave is from Kingston, UT. He and his wife, Charlotte, have a neat story. Stanton started his operation with 20 head of cows. He went from bank to bank trying to get a loan to buy them before someone finally loaned him the money. He used his palomino horse as collateral. Stanton said he must have the same genes as a border collie dog because all he wanted to do his whole life was chase cows or sheep. Enjoy Part 1 of this interview and look for part two coming out in two weeks.