October 28, 1921

Real Cowpunching No Movie Stuff

“There’s no “movie stuff” in real cowpunching,” said Archie P. Kelly of Epsie while in Broadus the first of the week, “especially in trailing a big bunch of cattle 240 miles to their railroad shipping point. Standing guard in short shifts requires the vigilance of a cowboy about 20 hours out of every 24 and being on the trail twenty days I want to tell you it was about the hardest job I ever tackled or ever expect to tackle.”

Kelly was one of the 14 men who took 1976 head of mixed cattle from the Wilson Ranch near Broadus to Gillette. The other 13 men were J.L. Wilson, Lee Wilson, Hans Peterson, Hugh Carney, Enoch Griffen, Harry Mitchell, Glenn Harris, Tom Dudley, Dow Middleton, Curley Surgeon, Ernest Broaddus, Earl Garr and Bobby Bonner, the latter named serving as horse wrangler. Middleton and Broaddus were the “dough boys.”

It was the original intention of Mr. Wilson to take the cattle to a winter’s range at the head of Bitter Creek, 40 miles from the Big Horn Mountains, but arriving there he found the range unfavorable for grass and water and was compelled to alter his plans rather hurriedly. He chose the alternative of trailing the cattle on to the nearest railroad shipping point at Gillette. From the head of Bitter Creek, the range was devoid of watering holes and it was necessary to drive the cattle that distance of thirty miles without water. In covering this gap two and one-half days were required. The cattle were all but famished for water when they came to the well filled government reservoir about 50 miles west of Gillette. The cooks and cowboys themselves were not “camels”, for they procured drinking water at ranches along the road. With this one exception the cattle found plenty of water at intervals of every eight to twelve miles. The cattle were on the trail twenty days and averaged about twelve miles a day. They had been trailed from the Wilson ranch up Powder River to the Spear Ranch, thence up Bitter Creek to “Fortification.”

Notwithstanding the strenuousness of the trip the cattle arrived in Gillette in fair condition. At Gillette, Mr. Wilson sold 521 cows and shipped 750 head of mixed stuff to Nebraska for winter’s feeding. The remainder will be ranged in the vicinity of Gillette where the pasture is said to be quite sustaining.

October 25, 1946

Honor Roll

1st and 2nd Grade: Honor roll, Sandra Sue Daily, Patricia Wetherelt; honorable mention, Robert Lee Wetherelt, Billie McLain.

3rd and 4th Grades: Honorable mention, Kay McKenzie, Janice Rowe, Leo Giacometto, James Strang, Mary Jane Cole, Kathleen Linville, Eunice Moulton, Barbara Lee Stabio.

5th and 6th Grades: Honorable mention, Charlene Daily, Mary Ann Irion, Jewell Zuehlsdorff, Loren Williams, Joanne Smith, Mary Lynne Stabio, Twila Jo Chiesa.

8th Grade: Honor roll, Susan Dent, Buzz Jones. Honorable mention, Myra Dee Butts, Carrie Allen Helm.

October 28, 1971

Booming Business At Buck’s

Gene Buck, of Buck’s Meat Processing and Sales near Broadus, said this week he has been doing a booming business since the beginning of hunting season Oct. 10. Since then he has processed over 250 game animals and is still experiencing many coming in at the end of each day.

Buck has employed extra help to work during the rush of hunting season and has been able to handle all the animals that have come in. He said, however, that a few hunters have brought in game who were headed for other hunting in the western part of the state or continuing on vacation, and have wanted to leave their game with him to be picked up on their way home. He said he does not have the facilities and space for indefinite storage so consequently has turned these customers away and urged them to go to plants with larger facilities. Otherwise, he said, he has been able to keep up with the large volume of business and that most of the customers are very considerate and pick up their game as soon as possible after it is ready.

Seven people have been working in the plant since the beginning of the hunting season. Besides the Buck family, Dorothy and Gene and their daughter, Joan, others helping out during the rush season include Pat Davis, Milt Zimmer, Linda Rogge, and Johnny Barbero.

October 24, 1996

Hoop Shoot Results Posted

Results of the local annual Elks Free Throw Hoop Shoot Contests have been released by organizer Jerry Coulter.

Results were as follows:

Eight and Nine-Year-Old Boys: Brady Williams, first (12); Dakotah Gali, second (10); and David Olson and Wyatt Williams, third and fourth (8 each).

Eight and Nine-Year-Old Girls: Kari Daily, Cienna Nielsen, Jessica Reichoff and Jennifer Alderman (5 each).

Ten and Eleven-Year-Old Boys: Ross Randall, first (15); Tony Davis, second (13); Jeff Bird and Todd Gardner, third and fourth (12 each); and Elliot Barnhart, fifth (8).

Ten and Eleven-Year-Old Girls: Kristal Lemke, first (10); Jenny Brewer, second (8); Krista Phillips, third (7); Jamie Sanburn, fourth (6); and Crystal Olson, fifth (4).

Twelve and Thirteen-Year-Old Boys: Kevin Bird, first (14); Don DeGooyer, second, (9); and Justin Madsen, Clint Mainwaring and Brion Jones, third, fourth and fifth (8 each).

Twelve and Thirteen-Year-Old Girls: Marlee Trucano, first (13); Brittany Dice and Tara Samuelson, second and third (12 each); Mary Trusler, fourth (11) and Shannon Janssen, fifth (9).