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Tag Archives: Tim

Branding at the Terrill Corrals

Retired chute at the Terrill Corrals

 

My Dad, George Salisbury, and his cousin Bob Terrill, used to run cattle together in the Powder Wash country. The corrals, north of Powder Wash Camp, are still known as the Terrill Corrals. While the corrals don’t see as much activity as they used to, our family and the Terrills still brand calves in the corrals, with Bob’s son Tim and granddaughter Tate.

Tate. bringing in a calf

Tate and Tiarnan, roping

wrastlin’ crew

Siobhan and Rhen–beware the girl with the knife

Tiarnan, ground crew

Tim (who worked a lot) at the lunch wagon

Tiarnan. Dot and calves

Tate, at the Terrill Corrals

Maeve and Tate

 

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Hasta la vista, bucks

Time flies when you’re having fun. It seems like only yesterday that we were hauling the rams out to the ewes, in order to expedite the birth of lambs in spring. After seven weeks with the ewes, it is time for the bucks to go back to a long stretch of bachelorhood. As Pepe told them as we loaded them into the trailer, “Hasta la vista…See you next year!”

Pepe and Avencio catching the buck who didn't want to leave the ladies.

Pepe and Avencio catching the buck who didn’t want to leave the ladies.

Bucks loading up.

Bucks loading up.

Pat and the crew loading the bucks

Pat and the crew loading the bucks

Which one of these is not like the others?

Which one of these is not like the others?

Tiarnan, Pat loading bucks

Tiarnan and Pat bringing up the bucks in Chain Lakes

Eagle's Nest sign

So, which way would you go?

Sadie and lamb

Sadie had to share the floor of the pickup with this early lamb.

Oscar, Siobhan, Tim ready to unload

Siobhan helping Oscar and Tim unload the rams at Powder Flat.

Siobhan feeding colts

Siobhan feeds the colts.

 
 

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Wearing out the winter

Pat and McCoy with the heifers

Pat and McCoy with the heifers

This is the time of year when we hold our breath. We hope all the cows and sheep and various critters for whom we are responsible have enough to eat, enough to drink and enough body fat to withstand the cold weather. We assume that the bulls and bucks have done their jobs. We hope that the Good Lord sticks with us with weather and sends enough snow, but not too much; enough cold, but not too much. We hope that the cows and the ewes are all pregnant, and will hold those pregnancies to term, and raise a baby. We hope that predators–mostly coyotes, but bears, mountain lions, ravens, crows and maybe wolves–will find something else to eat besides our critters. The sheep eat snow and we depend on having the right amount–not so much that it will cover the grass and brush, but not so little that we are chasing drifts in draws. The cows need “wet water” and we expend a lot of energy and resources to make sure it’s available.

It is also the time of year that we try to ensure that we have enough help lined up for spring, summer and fall. Our sheepherders come on h2a visas which allow them to stay for three years with at least three months at home in Peru. We try to plan so that about one third of our crew returns to Peru in the winter, when we need less help. The process is so dysfunctional that we need to request about twice as many “new guys” as we will probably need, because there isn’t much rhyme or reason to who gets approved. Even returning employees are not assured of getting approved, so it is a challenge to plan.

So far, the winter has been cooperative. This will allow us to engage in one of our favorite vacations: traveling to Elko, Nevada–at approximately the same latitude as our home (read Deep Winter) for the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. We will be hosting a  discussion on Food Policy. After all, to have cowboys, we need cows, and to have cows, we need consumers: the Three C’s. That said, it is nearly a week of solid poetry, music, art and discussion which is nothing but fun.

Sheep near Eagles' Nest. The bucks are in their working clothes.

Sheep near Eagles’ Nest. The bucks are in their working clothes.

Antelope at Powder Flat

Antelope at Powder Flat

McCoy and Nene

McCoy and Nene

McCoy, Eamon and Pat on the lookout at Lower Powder Springs

McCoy, Eamon and Pat on the lookout at Lower Powder Springs

Pat, McCoy and Eamon at water well at Powder Flat. I used to spend hours here pumping water with our old generator, "Fred".

Pat, McCoy and Eamon at water well at Powder Flat. I used to spend hours here pumping water with our old generator, “Fred”.

Punk colts

Punk colts

Tim, McCoy, Eamon, Pat, Oscar

Tim, McCoy, Eamon, Pat, Oscar

 

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