Slice of the Cowboy way

Cattle drive near Soda Springs Idaho and the OK ranch.

Getting paid to learn about things has been the number one benefit of my chosen career. Last week I took a job funded by the Western Legacy Alliance, what a treat.

The Cowboy life is the west. Who hasn't dreamed of living this lifestyle, riding the open range and experiencing a slice of history? Watching cattle dogs bark orders at the cattle that, begrudgingly, end up doing what they are told. Bolting your horse after cattle that try to break away from the herd. Riding a horse that loves what you are doing.

We profiled a cattle association drive in Soda Springs Idaho for two days; we lived with a wonderful family of friends. Their OK ranch is a slice of western heaven complete with a rustic spacious log cabin. Lots of well adjusted kids, horses and the most entertaining dogs ever. Great food was always plenty at the big table.

This lifestyle is under attack like any other historic treasure we have left. Forces are working to drag this way of life into the corporate/political stream of "business as usual".

If this weren't something critical to our food chain, these great folks would fold up their operations and fall into line with the big box mentality we have become accustomed to. Big corporation farms with mechanized cowboys cashing in on another slice of our western lifestyle! Would we notice the change, probably not at first!

These rancher and cowboys manage land and have become an integral part of the ecology of the western rangelands. They are caretakers of a symbiotic relationship that has been at work for hundreds of years.

Some say they have had a free ride for too long on pubic lands. I find it hard to believe these small businesses have any intention to "free ride" off government land. They all compete with each other and the profits are modest for the most part.

They keep our beef from following the same spiraling ascent to absurdity that our healthcare costs have taken since we abandoned the country doctor. This is the same person that handled most health care issues at your home for a modest fee instead of a 5 figure ambulance ride to the hospital and trip through the emergency room.

They grow honor and hard working children who contribute greatly to our lifestyle.

To those that want to banish this lifestyle, you will get your bag of money and power and the rest of us will end up with a wound in the soul of the western legacy.

Huh...