TAGGING ALONG AT THE CALF BRANDING

Story Behind The Story!
    This week, in addition to all the fun events from the past week and a preview of those in the future, I have a feature piece about working calves. Maybe that seems a little random and I guess it is, but the story is actually a long time coming.
    When I moved back to the area a couple years ago, I learned that my family was occasionally working their calves in the old western branding fashion and that others in the area were doing it as well. This was interesting for the fact that some of these outfits, including my own family, had never really done it this way before.
    I remember working calves as a kid pretty well. It’s not to say that I helped every time, but on occasion when I fancied myself a little cattlewoman, I would tag along. I would ride along with Dad as we rounded up the herd. Back in those days we used pickups and four wheelers with no horses in sight. I always thought it was so cool when my dad would call out to the cattle and they would follow the sound of his voice.  Once we got the cows and their babies sorted out, we started to work the calves. And lucky little me got the job of holding the scalpel for dad as he castrated the bull calves. Indeed, what a thrill for an 11-year-old girl.
    Over the years, I tapered off helping with calves and instead would loaf around watching soap operas at home. But long story short, that was the kind of operation I vaguely knew about.
    Fast forward to more recently. When I heard from my brothers that they were doing all this roping stuff and, in some cases, actually branding calves, my storytelling ears of course perked up. That would be interesting to read about I thought. Even if people have cows around here, most people don’t work them this way I thought. Yet, the timing really never worked out and the story didn’t happen.
    So when my brother Luke told me the family was doing a branding in June, I thought it would finally be a good opportunity to see what was up with this. And what an operation! It was a beautiful blue Saturday morning and the base of operations was only a mile from Lake City. Somebody let me in the gate and I joined the fun.
    Or I should really say, I mostly tried to stay out of the way as I took one million pictures. And it was a great photo-taking opportunity. For me, who is not necessarily the best photographer, the method of the work favored my iffy skillset. The same actions were repeated over and over again. Somebody ropes a calf, they drag it out, they use the fork thing on it and the ground crew goes to town. Over and over again so if I messed up a photo op, here come two other calves for the same purpose.
    It was impressive to watch. The crew moved in sync, like a well-oiled machine. The ropers—some not even 12 years old—handled their tasks with remarkable skill. A few of the ground crew were girls 10 and under, including my niece. They were fearless, ready to jump on those calves in a heartbeat if needed.
    More than once, I was glad I had on sunglasses because I found myself tearing up. Why, you might ask? Because the whole scene moved me deeply. Seeing my dad, my brothers, and my niece—three generations—working side by side was something special. Especially today, when families often let minor disagreements pull them apart. I couldn’t help but feel that my Grandpa Jim was smiling down on them.
    Even more touching was stepping back and taking in the full picture—friends and neighbors showing up to help our family. As cattlewoman Courtney Schaefer said in the story, the event speaks to Western Values. I couldn’t agree more: good people, doing honest work, together. Sure, a few swear words might fly and a temper or two might flare, but overall, these days are filled with camaraderie and purpose.
    In the weeks following the branding, I interviewed about eight people for the story. Their insights fascinated me, and I quickly realized there was too much good material for just one article. So now, you’ll get to enjoy it spread over two weeks. I hope you find it meaningful and come away with a better sense of what makes this place—and the people in it—so special.