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This is Page 47. See some past weeks'
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See an index of all past weeks' photos
here. See Page 1 here with the current photo of the week.
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previous weeks' photos
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Send your photos.
We're looking for images that give a glimpse of the ranching, cowboy, and rural and working life of the West of today and yesterday. We welcome vintage and contemporary photos: family photos, images of where you live and work, and the area around you.
If you have a photo and story to share, email us.
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index of all photos
Oregon's Tom Nichols sent some photos of lambing sheds in Klamath County, Oregon, along with one of his poems. We suggested they would make a good subject for Picture the West and asked him to share some background information. Tom told us:
The late summer and early fall of 1968, when I was 7, my Dad, went back into the sheep business by buying mutton ewes. He, my three brothers and I probably mouthed and bagged every mutton ewe in Southern Oregon and Northern California until we had a decent set of ewes. We bought fine-wooled range ewes and one Corriedale ewe from the ranchers who owned this lambing shed.
The main shed and one row of many rows of turnout pens
Interior shot of the barn, a close up of the jugs and sagging roof
Sun on the shearing catch pen gate
Tallies and paint brands on a grain bin
The Corriedale ewe became mine, and when she lambed, I spoiled her with a bucket of alfalfa pellets. Then I went for a bucket of water and came back to find that she had choked to death. If she had laid on the lamb as she died maybe I would have grown up to be a cowboy.
The Lambing Sheds
Drop band spread upon a knoll
Lambing sheds squatting below.
Clear and cold, a biting wind.
Scene of memories -long ago.
A boy, barely nine,
The herders let me stay,
While Pop went on East
To buy a load of hay.
Jugged ewes,
Gave their teats a strip.
Iodined lambs,
Made sure they had a sip.
Pulled a lamb
That was breach.
Untangled twins,
Far in as I could reach.
Grafted a lamb
With the dead one’s hide.
Emptied jugs,
Moved pairs outside.
Oh, what great joy
I had that winter day.
The kind of experience
For which you cannot pay.
The sheds were alive,
With a heart and soul.
To be a sheepherder
Became my goal.
Now, sheds falling down
And weather worn.
Many years have past
Since lambs were born.
Rows of wooden jugs,
Gates missing or askew.
Nevermore to hold
A newborn lamb and ewe.
A far corner pen,
Full of tumbleweeds,
Where I caught lambs,
While herders pulled seeds.
There, beside,
A gate unhinged.
The chard pine block
Where tails were singed.
A narrow lane,
Once separating bands,
A sagging sheep wagon
Where we warmed hands.
As I wander, with camera,
Catching ambience and light,
Thoughts are triggered
By the site.
Why am I here?
Why today?
Miles from home,
Far out of my way.
Is this a pilgrimage
To renew my being?
Is there more to this trip
Than I am seeing?
Does the soul still slumber
In these sheds, this earth?
Has it drawn me
To this place of birth?
Does it long
To leave this ruin?
Is that my purpose-
What I’m doin’?
Will it travel
Back home with me?
To awaken?
To live free?
Will we go alone?
Or bring others too,
Perhaps souls of sheepherders,
Whom, here, paid their due?
Are others chosen
For a similar task?
So many questions—
No one to ask.
Withered grass upon the knoll
Lambing sheds decayed below.
Fog rolls in with the setting sun.
Troubling thoughts—as I go.© 2009, Tom Nichols
This poem may not be reprinted or reposted without the author's written permission.
Read about Tom Nichols and more of his poetry here.
Share your photos for Picture the West.
Send your views of the West.
We're looking for images that give a glimpse of the ranching, cowboy, and rural and working life of the West of today and yesterday. We welcome vintage and contemporary photos: family photos, images of where you live and work, and the area around you.
If you have a photo and story to share, email us.
Gail I. Gardner (1892-1988), author of the classic "The Sierry Petes (or Tying the Knots in the Devil's Tail)" and other poems, was born in and died at Prescott, Arizona.
An image of Gail Gardner as a child is on the cover of The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Four compilation CD, and his own recitation of "The Sierry Petes" is included on the CD. The photo is from a tintype, courtesy of the Gardner family and the Steiger family. Cowboy, songwriter, and filmmaker Gail Steiger is Gail Gardner's grandson. Gail Steiger shared a number of other family photos, posted below.
Though Gail Gardner was educated at Philip Exeter Academy and Dartmouth University, his desire was to work as a cowboy, which he did. Later in life, he became the postmaster of Prescott.
photo courtesy the Gardner/Steiger family;
This photo should not be reprinted or reposted without permission
Tintype of Gail Gardner; the image used for The BAR-D Roundup cover:
photo courtesy the Gardner/Steiger family;
This photo should not be reprinted or reposted without permission
Fraternity photo, class of 1914, Dartmouth College
Gail Gardner front row, far right
photo courtesy the Gardner/Steiger family;
This photo should not be reprinted or reposted without permission
Front row, center, Gail Gardner, team captain
photo courtesy the Gardner/Steiger family;
This photo should not be reprinted or reposted without permission
Gardner attended University of Texas School of Military Aeronautics, 1918
photo courtesy the Gardner/Steiger family;
This photo should not be reprinted or reposted without permission
Caption reads "Gail Gardner in old strip-down family Ford he called "The Mercedes"
photo courtesy the Gardner/Steiger family;
This photo should not be reprinted or reposted without permission
Gail Gardner, Skull Valley, 1922 or 1923
photo courtesy the Gardner/Steiger family;
This photo should not be reprinted or reposted without permission
Caption: "Force feeding with cotton seed meal to teach stock to eat cotton seed cake; Fred Garrett on ground, Gail Gardner on 'Jim'"
photo courtesy the Gardner/Steiger family;
This photo should not be reprinted or reposted without permission
Gail I. Gardner at the Devil's Gate Rodeo Grounds,
Skull Valley, "Round-up Time" in the 1920s
photo courtesy the Gardner/Steiger family;
This photo should not be reprinted or reposted without permission
Gail I. Gardner at roundup at Devil's Gate, 1920s; horse is "Ben"
photo courtesy the Gardner/Steiger family;
This photo should not be reprinted or reposted without permission
At the rodeo, undated
photo courtesy the Gardner/Steiger family;
This photo should not be reprinted or reposted without permission
1975
photo courtesy the Gardner/Steiger family;
This photo should not be reprinted or reposted without permission
Delia Gist Gardner and Gail Gardner on their 50th wedding anniversary
photo courtesy the Gardner/Steiger family;
This photo should not be reprinted or reposted without permission
Gail Gardner with his grandchildren at Christmas, c. late 1950s
Read more about Gail Gardner in our feature here.
Send your views of the West.
We're looking for images that give a glimpse of the ranching, cowboy, and rural and working life of the West of today and yesterday. We welcome vintage and contemporary photos: family photos, images of where you live and work, and the area around you.
If you have a photo and story to share, email us.
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