Week of May 3, 2010

Montana photographer and journalist Jeri Dobrowski shares photographs with descriptions of some more domesticated ranch critters:

 

Winter 1983
Spooky and Mohawk

Curiosity drew these two cats to the corral fence following a late winter rain that coated everything in ice. I was out watching a cow that was calving, checking to make sure everything was going all right. They wanted to know what was going on as well.
 

March 1984
North Dakota REC/RTC Magazine

A year later, Spooky and Mohawk made the cover of the North Dakota Rural Electric Cooperative/Rural Telephone Cooperative magazine.

 

Winter 2008-2009

Our red border collie, Jessie, successfully having run a herd of approximately 25 deer off from the yard north of the house. The deer bedded down for the night in the trees all last winter.

A larger herd of approximately 200 roamed the fields and pastures to the south and east of us. They had been pushed toward us by record-setting snowfall in central and southwestern North Dakota, where some areas received nearly 100 inches.

This winter they haven't been a problem in our trees, which are buried beneath a couple feed of snow. Instead, they've been congregating and foraging on nearby hay stacks. That's good for our trees and shrubs, but hell on hay. With all the snow we've had, our trees would have been eaten down to the snowline. As it is, the hay is being tromped, eaten, and soiled with deer waste.

 

November 2009
Powder River Ranch welcoming committee. Everybody say "hay."

This was taken on the west side of the Powder River, between Baker and Miles City, Montana. My cousin and her family are on the ranch. I had gotten out to take a picture of the horses as they were grazing in the river bottom not far from the headquarters. Before I knew it, they had gathered around the car and were checking us out.  [Ed. note: Note Jeri's license plate; she works with Wylie & the Wild West.]

 

February 2010
Snug as three cats in a straw-filled barrel: Cowboy, Ken & Lefty

We got the idea for making this barrel shelter from a dog breeder/trainer from Alabama. He made his out of light-weight plastic barrels, which he could easily load and stack in a horse trailer, taking his dogs and horses with him as he traveled to dog trials in the US and Canada. What you can't see is that the bottom half of the cut-out end is still intact. That keeps the straw inside and stops some snow from drifting in when the wind is out of the south.

This is the first winter that the barrel has been in this location, which gets full afternoon sunshine. The barn cats absolutely love the warmth and the view. They can see everything that goes on in the yard.

 

 

Jeri Dobrowski has contributed many other interesting photos to Picture the West, including:

  Petroleum exploration work in her area

  Striking photos of her prairie flower garden

  Highway signs from the eastbound I-94 Rest Area between Rosebud and Hathaway, Montana

More highway signs, from the eastbound I-94 rest area, near Hysham, Montana 

  Photos and historical markers from Montana's Highway 12

  Photos of her family's veterans for Veteran's Day

  A special Fourth of July photo

  Photos and stories from the early 1900s in Coalwood, Montana, where her great grandfather John W. Janssen was postmaster and proprietor of the general store

  Photos about her grandfather and "all the things he ever rode..."
 

Family photos of generations of veterans and some additional World War I photos

Family photos from Yellowstone, from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s

Contemporary photos for the Fourth of July

  1940s-era photos about McNierney Livestock

 
photo by Jennifer Dobrowski

Read Jeri Dobrowski's Cowboy Jam Session and more about her here.

See her gallery of Western performers and others at her site 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.

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Week of April 26, 2010

 

South Dakota rancher, poet and writer Robert Dennis shares recent photos, and comments:

Here are some pictures of me using Ron and Roz to disc up the garden. I call this "cowboy farming."

I hooked up my team of Haflingers, Ron and Roz, to an old horse disc. At first I was going to get my wife Cindy to ride on the disc and run the levers to engage the gangs of discs so that the disc would dig, but then I realized I could just drive them from the disc itself.

Normally you would just hook the team directly to the disc, but this team is still young and green and I have heard of bad wrecks with teams and discs, so chose to do this as it seemed safer for all concerned by having them on my chariot/forecart.

Our little garden plot is pretty small as we only grow tomatoes and peppers and maybe some cucumbers. Maybe some onions. After I got done working the garden, I drove them up and down the edge of the road where the county man had bladed up a ridge of gravel with grass in it. So I farmed it up for him so it will be easier for him to do a good job spreading it the next time he comes by.

These little horses really like to go so this was really good for them. They learned to just pull a load at a walk like a well broke team is supposed to do. 

Next we go to the tree patch and start weeding it with this arrangement. I will work them until they are calm and then quit for the day and come back another day. A team is just so handy, as  I pointed out in my first cowboy poem, "Workhorses and Tractors."

I thought these pictures might fit in as it was just Earth Day. Earth Day is every day for farmers and ranchers, you know!

 

Robert Dennis has contributed other interesting photos to Picture the West, including:

  Winter pasture, January 2010

Moving heifers home in October, 2009

Moving moving a few first calf heifer pairs in June, 2009

  Mijo, his "ex-stallion"

2009 calving and branding on the Dennis Ranch

  Summer ranch photos

Photos taken while he was "out riding on yearlings"

Photos of his mares and colts

Family photos from the 1920s and 1940s

Photos and stories from his ranch and Red Owl

Area photos from the early 1900s

Family photos from the 1920s

Photo by Jeri L. Dobrowski; see her gallery of western performers and others here.

Read more about Robert Dennis and read some 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.