ranching | The Filson Journal

a helicopter pilot flying a small helicopter herding a black cow in the direction he wants him to go

The High Flying Cowboy: texas Helicopter wranglers

Historically, rounding up cattle used to take a team of twenty men several days on horseback, but now high-flying cowboys finish the job in a matter of hours.

4 Min

Profiles

Lianna Spooner: preserving traditions & the environment

There’s been a revival in the art of “packing” in recent years. Homesteaders Lianna Spooner and her partner Chris Eyer spend part of their year working with the U.S. Forest Service and nonprofits specializing in wilderness maintenance. This non-mechanized mode of transport helps preserve the land when carrying resources or personnel. We reached out to writer & photographer Sara Forrest to document a first-hand experience from the field.

5 Min

close up image from the top down of over a dozen wild horses in varying hues of brown and black running towards something

Field Notes

History of America’s Wild Horses

The wild horses of the West have occupied the minds of people here since they were reintroduced to the North American continent by Spanish explorers in the 16th century. These first mustangs (from the Spanish mestengo, which means “ownerless beast” or “stray horse”) were the predecessors of the wild horses that roam the desert and grassland ecosystems of the Midwest and Western United States today.

9 Min

a brunette woman with a long braid down her left shoulder wearing a grey scarf, red jacket and black cowboy hat against a wood barn

Field Notes

The History of the Cowboy Hat

If there is one piece of Western wear that has become the ultimate symbol of the American Cowboy, it’s the cowboy hat. Like all Western wear, hats were made to be as tough as the trail and started off as accessories purchased based purely on function rather than fashion. A hat provided shade, protection from the elements, and warmth for the wearer, but could also be used to fan a fire, as a vessel for drinking water, or waved from horseback to catch the attention of a fellow rider in the distance. There were as many styles of cowboy hats as there were people wearing cowboy hats.

5 Min

Profiles

The O’Hair Ranch

Before there were O’Hairs, there were Armstrongs. And like most homesteaders, the Armstrongs arrived at Paradise Valley, Montana, by way of misfortune looking for fortune. In 1878, Owen T. Armstrong (“O.T.”), aged 27 years old, and Mrs. O.T., aged 26 years old, decided it was time to up and leave Missouri, where they had hewn out a meager existence.

7 Min

old farmer with tan flat billed hat in grassland on farm vehicle and mountain backdrop

Field Notes

Ranchlands: Six Generations of Stewardship

Conservation isn’t abstract and ranching doesn’t reward those who disconnect themselves from nature. I learned these truths from Duke Phillips, or Big Duke, to his friends. For Big Duke and his family, ranching is a way of life.

5 Min

man shaping horseshoe outside in mobile shop

Field Notes

The Balance of Trust

Farriers spend years mastering the ancient craft of horseshoeing. It requires many hours of standing next to a hot forge, swinging a hammer, bending in uncomfortable positions, all within striking distance of a horse’s kick. “Ferrarius” is Latin for “of iron” or “blacksmith,” and farriering, in addition to skilled manipulation of hot metal, requires a

3 Min

Profiles

Horse-Logging Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom

When Neil Fromm was twenty-five years old he drove his Volkswagen van from the Florida Keys up to Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. Known to Vermonters simply as “The Kingdom,” this mountainous, sparsely populated area is situated between the Connecticut River and the Green Mountains. That’s when Fromm got into horses.

5 Min

Profiles

Working With the Earth

In the summer and early fall, my fiance, Eduardo Garcia and I wake early at our home in Bozeman, Montana. Between running our own businesses, we manage our ½ acre food forest, a permaculture garden that feeds us for eight months of the year. During the warm seasons, work days don’t stop at 5pm and

5 Min

Marisa on a tractor with silo and mountains in background

Profiles

Ploughgate Creamery: Vermont’s Cultured Butter

An average summer day at Ploughgate Creamery goes something like this: You’re up at quarter to six to start the churn. An hour later you’ve got golden butter and buttermilk (the latter you feed to the pigs). Next, you divide the butter into three thirty pound batches. The slow churn is what takes some time,

8 Min

Hilary standing with her horse with mountains in the background

Profiles

Motherhood: Hilary Anderson

Hilary Anderson is a wildlife biologist who has been running the range-riding program in Montana’s Tom Miner Basin since 2013. She’s a rancher and a mother, raising her four children amid the natural beauty and responsibilities of the ranching life. We asked her to descibe, in her words, what it means to be a mother. This

jane standing next to a fence with cattle and mountains in the background

Profiles

Motherhood: Jane Golliher

Jane Golliher is a third generation rancher born and raised in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She and her husband Grant own and run the Diamond Cross Ranch in Teton county where they have raised three children. We asked her to descibe, in her words, what it means to be a mother. This is what she had

Profiles

Working with the Land: Samantha Meldon

3 Min

Man rides white horse in plaid coat and white chaps

Field Notes

Ranchlands: Conservation. Stewardship. Cattle.

For Duke Phillips, it’s not about getting the most beef in a year. It’s about conservation, working in harmony with nature to raise healthy land for a strong herd. For generations. At Ranchlands, his Colorado-based, family-run ranching and land management company, Phillips oversees 300,000 acres of land. Phillips, known as Big Duke, would be a

group of bird dogs signal in field of yellow grasses

How-To's

Filson 101: Bird Dog Training with Ruggs Ranch

Gene Barnhart of Ruggs Ranch has been training world-class bird dogs for over forty-five years. Gene’s love of working dogs runs deep, and he’s handled them his entire life, hunting Beagles in his early years and then moving to Pointers. Now, you’ll find Gene at Ruggs, training and conditioning over forty hunting dogs. Ensure success

Profiles

Trade Stories: Phillip Lee McGinnis, Sublette County Cowboy

Raised in a small town in Illinois, Phillip Lee McGinnis grew up working for a horse trainer and knew early on he wanted to become a cowboy. After a tour of service in the United States Marine Corps, Phil spent time in Hawaii roping wild cattle and starting colts, then moved to Montana and lived

Profiles

Filson in the Field: Bob’s Sustainable Ranching in Wyoming Story

Bob’s Sustainable Ranching Story – Filson in the Field Video, Wyoming from Filson on Vimeo. Bob Taylor, with the help of his wife Maggie and their daughter, Marisa, raise organic, grass fed, Black Angus beef cattle on Lonetree Ranch in Lonetree, Wyoming. An accomplished veterinarian (and one time host and focus of Animal Planet’s Emergency

The High Flying Cowboy: texas Helicopter wranglers

Lianna Spooner: preserving traditions & the environment

History of America’s Wild Horses

The History of the Cowboy Hat

The O’Hair Ranch

Ranchlands: Six Generations of Stewardship

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The Balance of Trust

Horse-Logging Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom

Working With the Earth

Ploughgate Creamery: Vermont’s Cultured Butter

Motherhood: Hilary Anderson

Motherhood: Jane Golliher

Working with the Land: Samantha Meldon

Ranchlands: Conservation. Stewardship. Cattle.

Filson 101: Bird Dog Training with Ruggs Ranch

Trade Stories: Phillip Lee McGinnis, Sublette County Cowboy

Filson in the Field: Bob’s Sustainable Ranching in Wyoming Story