The Spirit of the American Cowgirl Is Alive.......

In a past blog post, I wrote about a popular poem called "When I am an Old Horsewoman" by Patty Barnhart.

Patty is a true American Cowgirl, riding and working the land on her Guest Ranch, Willow Springs . The ranch is run "off the grid". They have propane, solar energy and a wind generator. They even have campfires with good old dutch oven fare.!!

With this poem, I posted a photo of a "Cowgirl" that suited the poem. The photo was chosen from the internet.....it is a great photo that captured the spirit of the poem (see the pic above).

Well I know why..the photo is of Connie Reeves another true American Cowgirl. I just recently learned that there is a movie being produced about her.....

"American Cowgirl" is a project started by Jamie Williams, a photographer and a true cowgirl at heart. She was raised in Lubbock, Texas on a ranch and farm.

Jamie began this "American Cowgirl" project because......
 

"When one considers the image that America has of itself and that the world has of us, the great icon is the cowboy. When one looks at the real history of our country the contributions of women are always short changed. 

All of the women in the Old West weren’t school marms or dancehall girls. And all of the women on the ranches didn’t wear bonnets and ride on the buckboards. They were, and still are, women in the saddle."...Jamie Willliams

As part of the project, Jamie Williams started a movie, featuring 4 cowgirls, including Connie Reeves.

Connie Reeves was a cowgirl all her life. She was on a horse at 101 years of age, her favorite horse, a 28 year old paint named "Dr Pepper"

Her favorite saying was..

"Always saddle your own horse"..Connie Reeves

Connie Reeves was inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame one of her numerous achievements. She was a true American Cowgirl........


To learn more about Connie Reeves and the American Cowgirl project by Jamie Williams and how you can be apart of this project go to the website, www.americancowgirl.com and visit the blog and watch the American Cowgirl Trailer here.

Our family has been dedicated for 30 years in serving
the Western Horseman the safest most durable
Quality American made leather horse tack.......Buckaroo John Brand
Buckaroo Leather, The Brand to Demand
Visit Our Unique Store Today
Buckaroo Leather Shopping Site

When I am an Old Horsewoman....

A few weeks ago, I found this poem........

When I am an old horsewoman

I shall wear turquoise and diamonds,

And a straw hat that doesn’t suit me

And I shall spend my social security on

white wine and carrots,

And sit in my alleyway of my barn

And listen to my horses breathe.



I will sneak out in the middle of a summer night

And ride the old bay gelding,

Across the moonstruck meadow

If my old bones will allow

And when people come to call, I will smile and nod

As I walk past the gardens to the barn

and show instead the flowers growing

inside stalls fresh-lined with straw.



I will shovel and sweat and wear hay in my hair

as if it were a jewel

And I will be an embarrassment to all

Who will not yet have found the peace in being free

to have a horse as a best friend

A friend who waits at midnight hour

With muzzle and nicker and patient eyes

For the kind of woman I will be


When I am old.

By Patty Barnhart

Originally published in The Arabian Horse World magazine in l992

This poem was a huge hit!! The poem was written by Patty Barnhart. I found Patty and learned more about her.....
Patty started writing for an equine newsletter in the late 70's and 80's. This is where she started writing her poems. Patty decided to send her poems to a magazine. The editor contacted Patty to publish her work.... and the rest is history. Patty submitted "When I Am An Old Horsewoman" and it took off, appearing on all kinds of websites!!!



And while the Poem is incredible, what Patty does today is even more interesting and fun!!! Patty has a beautiful guest ranch in Lakeview, Oregon called Willow Springs Guest Ranch. The fun and interesting fact of this ranch is that it is run totally "off the Grid" !!!!
Patty and her husband Keith moved to their present location, Lakeview Oregon, in the fall of 1996. It was their intention from the beginning to make their 2500+ spread into a guest ranch. They swung open their gate for clients a few short years later.

The ranch is surrounded on three sides by public land which makes the riding pretty much unlimited and guests can bring their own horses and point them in almost any direction and ride. The ranch does get a fair number of international folks and guests without horses of their own, and they maintain a herd of quiet ranch horses for those guests. The vistas are spectacular and encompass high desert sage flats, pine forests, rim rocks, and even a lake or two depending on where the guest ride.

The ranch has a high volume of repeat clients that Patty and Keith think of as friends. They love to sit around the campfire with them, eating Keith's good Dutch oven fare, and thinking about what the day has presented.

When Patty and Keith moved to Lakeview, they realized there was no commercial electricity and that they would have to generate their own. There was a small existing array of solar panels, which they relied on for several years. They eventually put in an up-dated system, a wind generator. They have a propane generator when there is neither wind nor sunshine, which is not often!

Their cabins are outfitted with propane fireplaces and hot water heaters for creature comfort and LED lanterns for use after sundown. The guests love it!


Patty says..."I think we all have a sense of getting in touch with our "inner pioneer"! "
Almost all the guests ask about Patty and Keith living "off the grid" and Keith is happy to give the green energy tour.
Their guest season begins in April as a Bed & Breakfast, then midway through May they offer horse-back riding and outdoor dinners. This continues through September when they put the outdoor activities on hold until spring, but they offer the ranch experience as a Bed & Breakfast for the month of October.
If you want a true "Old West Cowboy Experience" with a "green" twist, visit this ranch!!!! And while you are there tell Patty how much you love her Poem!!!!!!


Our family has been dedicated for 30 years in serving
the Western Horseman the safest most durable
Quality American made leather horse tack.......Buckaroo John Brand
Buckaroo Leather, The Brand to Demand
Visit Our Unique Store Today
Buckaroo Leather Shopping Site

The Chuck Wagon-The Cowboys Home on the Trail

The Chuck Wagon of the old west was a home, the dinner table, "the water cooler" and a traveling store.

The Chuck Wagon on a cattle drive or roundup served all these requirements.

On the cattle drives the cook or "cookie" as he was called was second in rank to the trail boss. The cookie and the chuck wagon had to outpace the drovers and have the cowboys meals ready on time.

The chuck wagon was usually a converted army wagon with iron axles tough enough to withstand miles of rough western trails. There was a canvas cover that stretched over bentwood bows to keep out the rain and the midday sun.

There was also a tail gate. It served as a table and had drawers and shelves that carried food like corn meal, flour, potatoes etc. Under the tail gate was the "boot" where cooking pots and utensils were stored.

(the picture is from the book "Cowboys" by Martin Chandler)


Stuffed into corners of the tail gate were assorted items such as plugs of tobacco, bandages, needles and thread, a razor and strop and a bottle of whiskey used for medicinal purposes.

The chuck wagon also had a barrel on one side that contained 2 day supply of water and on the other side of the wagon, to counter balance, was a toolbox. It held branding irons, horseshoes and nails. And of course you could find the cooks staple- a dutch oven

The wagon bed itself carried bedrolls, war bags, corral ropes, guns, ammunition, lanterns, kerosene, and slickers. If a cowboy or lame calf was injured they would ride in the back of the wagon.

The Studebaker Company was one of the major companies manufacturing the chuck wagons. They sold for $75-$200.
A chuck wagon weighed 1600 lb empty. It could haul 3 tons.

The chuck wagon was a virtual store on wheels-it carried everything from eggs to long guns and ammunition.

Here is a list of some of the items you could find in the chuck wagon-

bedding
salt pork
beef
bread
500lbs of dried beans
200lbs of green coffee beans
20 sacks of flour
10 sack of sugar (considered a luxury on the trails)
potatoes
onions
500lbs of bacon
2 sacks of corn meal
500 apples
6 boxes of dried prunes
15 boxes of canned corn

10 boxes of tomatoes
30lbs of raisins
100lbs of rice

(the picture is from the book "Cowboys" by Martin Chandler)

there was also spices such as cinnamon, salt, all spice, pepper, ginger, and of course syrup.

an extra wheel (to prevent iron rims from coming off the wooden wheels in hot and dry climates, it was best to find a shallow stream & soak the wheels until they swelled)


The Chuck Wagon of the old west could have been considered the "water cooler" of its day. Cowboys met there after a roundup or other event. They laid down by the chuck wagon at night to sleep and sat around it for every meal.

At the center of this chuck wagon was the "cookie". He cooked the food, helped the injured and would always have a story of joke to tell.


The cook prepared the food over brush or buffalo chips. A typical meal plan of the cowboy while on a cattle drive was-

A breakfast consisted of eggs and salt pork. The cowboys preferred sourdough biscuits to those made with buttermilk or baking powder. This is where the dutch oven was so useful-to make the biscuits.
A cowboy's lunch consisted of some dried beef, dried fruit, some sourdough biscuits and perhaps a cup of coffee, if he had a saddle bag.

While on the trail canned tomatoes helped to quench a cowboys thirst. The acid in the tomatoe juice also helped to counter act the alkali dust inhaled by the cowboys on the trail.

Dinner was the same as lunch with more meat and of course plenty of coffee!!!

Our family has been dedicated for 30 years in serving the

Western Horseman the safest most durable
Quality American made leather horse tack.......Buckaroo John Brand
Buckaroo Leather, The Brand to Demand
Visit Our Unique Store Today
Buckaroo Leather Shopping Site