Part I: The Cancelled Round-up

by Marty Vyn Boennighausen

Thursday, October 23, 1997, Elin Rusher called us at home in Big Elk Meadows and said, "Come on down to Westcliffe for our cattle round up this Saturday and Sunday." We were thrilled and immediately called and got ourselves a room at the Hermit Basin Lodge for the weekend and then began packing.

Friday morning we woke up and looked out on several inches of snow on the ground, and it was still snowing pretty hard. We thought that there probably would not be as much snow in Westcliffe, so we got in the truck and headed out. The snow kept coming, but the roads were only wet...until we hit Hardscrabble Canyon just beyond Wetmore. The canyon was a disaster. The road was snow packed and icy and there were cars everywhere. The sheriff drove by and said if we had snow tires and 4WD , we could carefully continue. Arthur offered 2 cowboys a ride. They had abandoned their car because it was only rear wheel drive. Off we all went, driving past a jack-knifed "belly loader" and 2 UPS trucks that had gone off the road. Turns out that our riders were attending a conference at Horn Creek. By the time we reached Westcliffe, it was snowing and blowing so hard that visibility was about 50 feet. Arthur decided to drop the dogs and me off at Hermit Basin first, so we headed for the lodge. After about 20 minutes we realized we were lost in the white-out. We retraced our way, almost all the way back into town and then headed out to try it again. This time we made it.

With the dogs and I safely in the room, Arthur set out for Horn Creek and then to Pizza Madness for a pizza to bring for dinner. An hour later, there was a loud knock on the door. I was surprised when I answered it to see Jay Zeller in a yahoo hat and heavy winter coat. He said, "Arthur called and said he did a 360 and went in the ditch. He is all right and is in town and will be here in 30 minutes." Jay said he was going out to plow and would keep an eye out for Arthur. An hour later, Arthur returned, hungry and pizza in hand. He said, "Well, so much for Rod's theory that big trucks won't do a 360!"

When the call finally came Saturday morning, the message was, "No round-up today!" We drove into town for some breakfast at the Breakfast Hut. We learned there that the reason we hadn't seen anyone on the roads was because the governor of Colorado had declared the whole state in the state of emergency. Only people with emergencies and emergency vehicles were allowed on the roads. After breakfast, we drove back to Hermit Basin and spent the rest of the day alternating between reading in the room and hiking close by in the snow with our dog Shogun, and finally ended the day in the hot tub. Jay had installed a new pump so the jets were going full blast and it felt great!

That night Elin called and said to come out to their place in the morning and have breakfast and then we would set out in the truck to give the cattle some hay to eat instead of going on the round-up.

Part II: Tending Cattle in the Snow

If you ever thought that cattle could just be put out on a pasture and take care of themselves, you were way off. The day I am about to describe taught us how much we didn't know about ranching and about how hard it is and how much dedication it requires.

We started our day with breakfast at the Rusher's. Elin didn't have a babysitter for the day, so she stayed home with the 4 children. The snow had stopped, the sky was blue, and the air was still, but very brisk. John Rusher, Arthur, and I piled into John's diesel truck with a flat bed in the back. Matt Thill drove up just in time to join us for the day. He had to work his way to us on the back roads through deep drifts of snow.

Off we went down the road. After about 1/4 of a mile, John turned off into the deep snow. Arthur and I were amazed at how easily he maneuvered the 4WD truck through the deep snow drifts and over to the stacks of bails of hay. John said that after a big snow storm, you have to get out quickly and drive to the hay stacks before the drifts harden and become impossible to drive through. There wasn't a loader at this location so Arthur and Matt jumped up on the stack of hay and began to try to get the first bail down onto the truck. It was difficult to move the bail. Each bail weighs 700 pounds! They picked up a 2x4 and pried the bail off the stack. The bail dropped onto the truck with a thud. Several more bails were loaded and away we went.

John and Elin Rusher lease thousands of acres of range land for their cattle. There are no pens, just beautiful rolling hills of wide open range. They have Herefords, black angus, black baldies, and several bulls. The heifers weigh about 900 pounds and the steer weigh between 1200 and 1300 pounds. We learned that a steer is a neutered male and makes the best beef to eat. Neutering also allows for selective breeding. Some of the Herefords are horned Herefords. These are better for out on the range because the cows can use the horns to keep the coyotes away from themselves and the calves. Bulls each cost between $3,500 and $4,000. John and Elin usually keep them for 4 seasons, as long as they stay in good shape. The Rushers buy their Herefords from Jamison Hereford in Quinter, Kansas. They are in the top ten for seed stock. The Rushers go through a whole list of requirements before they buy. This list includes body structure, expected progeny differences, light birth weight, and the list goes on.

When it snows and the grasses are covered, the cattle must be fed by dropping hay off of the truck. Each day that hay is put out, the hay must be put in a new spot. John says cattle don't like eating off of a "dirty plate".

Miles and miles of range still need to have fences around them. As we moved from one pasture to the next, gates needed to be opened and closed. Sometimes there was a large metal swinging gate. There was too much snow to swing it open, so sometimes the guys would just pick up the fence, right off of the hinges and move it to one side. After the truck drove through, back the fence would go. After a snow storm, the cattle that have strayed in the storm must be gathered up. The ranchers call this "going and picking up the pieces". John taught us that cattle move with the wind, so if you know which way the storm moved though, you might have a clue as to where the cattle went to.

Our next stop was some leased land at the Beckwith Ranch. There was a black and white Appaloosa horse named Warrior. John threw his arm over the horses rump and with his big impish grin he said, "Can you tell the difference?" We all howled.

Some days John needs to drop off the hay on the range and does not have anyone to help him. I asked him how in the world he could do it alone. He said he rigs a "rubber snubber" a.k.a bunge cord from the steering wheel to the bottom of the seat, puts the diesel truck in 1st gear, and lets the truck drive itself while he is on the back, dumping hay onto the ground. Necessity is the mother of invention!

We continued on across the highway and back in by Grouse Mountain. It was fabulously beautiful back country with rocky rolling hills, pine trees, and sage brush. John told us that this was rattlesnake country. Sometimes a calf is bitten on the nose by a rattlesnake and the calf will suffocate. A calf can also be bitten in the leg and die from the poison.

John told us that his grand dad had been a trapper in the Westcliffe area. He trapped coyotes, fox, beaver, and marten. At one point, he sold all of his furs and went into the cabbage business. At that time, the market was no good for the cabbage so he eventually went into the hay and cattle business.

Well, did you know that cows have 105 taste buds?! John showed us a 12 compartment feeder that contains various vitamins and minerals for the cows. He says the cows come and take just what they need. Guess those cows are pretty smart!

Our last stop was at some property way out on Oak Grade. As we approached the ranch house, we noticed a sign that said, "STAY IN CAR - HONK HORN!" We all stayed in the truck as John got out and talked to his friend, the rancher. Later he told us that the sign was because of some pretty aggressive dogs. He said that one of them snapped at his leg, but he luckily jumped out of the way just in time.

It was now starting to get dark. We drove back on the Grade and turned off on the Bull Domingo road to have a look at 2 black bulls. John decided they were someone else's so we got back on the main road. It was totally dark when we got back to the V ranch. It had been a long, but very interesting day. Before we left, John and Elin made the decision that we would start the round-up in the morning!

Part III: The Round-up!

YEEHAW! This is what we had been waiting for; a real western cattle round-up!

Elin made us a delicious breakfast of an egg and sausage casserole and homemade cinnamon sweet rolls. She told us we had better eat a lot because we would need the energy and warmth from the food. Sounded like a good excuse to us, so we dug in! After breakfast, John, Elin, Autumn and Arthur saddled the horses and I ran Ben, the Rusher's oldest boy into town to go to the Christian school. Autumn, the 6 year old that Elin home schools, would ride with us and Katlyn the 3 year old and Weldon the 5 month old would stay home with the babysitter, Paulette.

Two other couples joined us on the round-up so there were 9 of us. The horses were loaded onto 3 horse trailers and off we went. We drove quite far down the Oak Grade and then pulled off. The horses were unloaded and we split up into 3 groups. Elin, Autumn, Arthur and I rode to the south, one group went west and another went north. We would meet later that afternoon at a designated spot, hopefully with a lot of cattle..

It was an absolutely beautiful blue sky Colorado day. Elin opened a gate and we rode through. (She opens these gate by simply leaning over and grabbing the gate and doesn't even get off her horse.) This is partly possible because of the heavy leather gloves she is wearing, that she says are a "must". She went off to the far end of the pasture to open another gate and Arthur, Autumn and I followed the fence for quite a while. Autumn's horse, Dice, got off to the side and hit a deep pocket of snow. Just then, Dice went down on his front knees and then began to roll on his side. Autumn, being an old pro even at the age of 6, jumped clear and scrambled away to safety. Arthur jumped off his horse Cutter and grabbed Autumn and held her until she was over the frightening experience. We all looked at the imprint Autumn had made in the snow and realized she was lucky that the snow had been deep and soft there, otherwise she might have been "shmoossed" by her horse.

Autumn got back on Dice and we finally came upon some cows. The idea is to get the horses behind the cows and then "push" the cows in the direction you need to move them. The "push" is done by whistling or talking to the cows. After rounding up a few, we started to get the rhythm of working with each other. The horses needed to be the blockers and so we watched each other and kept positioning ourselves to be the most effective. We moved the cows through the gate and into the next pasture. At this point Elin sent Arthur off to look for cows to the west. Half an hour later he came back and was singing "Yippeeio, yippeeia". He and his horse named Cutter were now best friends. Arthur always has a way with animals and Cutter was no exception.

In the mean time, Elin and Autumn rode off to gather a few more cattle. I was to stay by the gate and herd them into the correct pasture. I was amazed that it worked. We now had a small group of cows. Elin told us to let the cows pretty much pick their own way through the pine trees and down the hill.

Throughout the day, I watched as Elin took off at a gallop across the range or up a steep slope. She rode her horse with the greatest of ease. She looked like she belonged in a western movie. Arthur was now also getting the hang of sprinting up the rocky mountains in hot pursuit of a stray cow. Some of the cows must have been part mountain goat, looking at where they had climbed to. Arthur says he taught his horse, Cutter to rock climb! Well, if you know Arthur, that wouldn't surprise you!

I had no idea what "ride the range" really meant. We were in some of the most spectacular country with mountains, streams, canyons, forests, and always fabulous views in all directions. The cattle didn't always want to go in a straight line. At one point, one took off up a very steep slope and 10 more followed. Elin and Arthur cut up at an earlier spot and raced them to the top. They got there before the cows and shooed them down to where we were waiting. We had to cross the stream many times in many different locations. Each time, the cows were reluctant to go across. After much cajoling the first would go and then more would follow. John said to give them time to cross and don't push to hard.

Wow! This was another day that had started at dawn and would end well after dark. Once again we had to say how much we had come to respect the amount of work and dedication it takes to be a cattle rancher.

The route we had taken brought us to just above the Beckwith Ranch. The cattle would remain there for the night and the Rushers would continue the drive the next day.

I have to admit that I needed a couple of aspirin that night, but I was surprised that I wasn't too sore the next day! We jumped into the hot tub at Hermit Basin, first thing in the morning and I am sure that helped the soreness. Would we go on a round-up again? Absolutely!!! It is truly an unforgettable experience!