Even in Creede, Colo., Dina Smith says, it’s not every day that the folks in town see a cowboy. “I walk into town in chaps and everything, and I get some strange looks,” Smith said. “Our first year there, my husband got off his horse, jumped into the truck and headed into the bank. People looked at him like, ‘What are you doing?’ ” Smith, of Blair, and her husband, Steve, work summers taking care of 2,500 cattle for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association on U.S. Forest Service land near Creede. Steve Smith has been working as a cowboy for three years. Dina started riding with her husband last year after taking over for a sick cowboy. “A lot of people want that job, so I was lucky,” Dina said. “That was great for me, because I loved it.” The Smiths work for four ranchers, who lease the land from the U.S. Forest Service. “The people you see in my pictures are the ranchers, their sons, grandsons,” Dina said. “They come and help us.” The Smiths take care of the cattle on about 10,000 acres of Forest Service land. They ride about 20 miles a day, maintaining fences and drinking areas, making sure the cattle are where they are supposed to be and taking care of the 100 or so calves that are born on the range, Dina said. “I started taking pictures of what we were doing, and I just loved it,” Smith said. The Smiths stay in a cabin on forestry land. Electricity comes from a generator and solar panels, and the water is gravity fed from a stream above the cabin, which is between Creede and Lake City in the San Juan Mountains. “It’s in the middle of nowhere,” Dina said. The couple is preparing for another year on the range, and Dina said she is getting proficient at photography from the saddle. “I’m very, very clumsy,” she said. “But I’ve gotten pretty good at taking pictures on a horse.” The Smiths provide their own horses and equipment. They are due to start in the middle of June, but they go out early so they and the horses get used to the elevation...more
Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Photographer turns seasonal cattle work into ... Cowgirl art
Even in Creede, Colo., Dina Smith says, it’s not every day that the folks in town see a cowboy. “I walk into town in chaps and everything, and I get some strange looks,” Smith said. “Our first year there, my husband got off his horse, jumped into the truck and headed into the bank. People looked at him like, ‘What are you doing?’ ” Smith, of Blair, and her husband, Steve, work summers taking care of 2,500 cattle for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association on U.S. Forest Service land near Creede. Steve Smith has been working as a cowboy for three years. Dina started riding with her husband last year after taking over for a sick cowboy. “A lot of people want that job, so I was lucky,” Dina said. “That was great for me, because I loved it.” The Smiths work for four ranchers, who lease the land from the U.S. Forest Service. “The people you see in my pictures are the ranchers, their sons, grandsons,” Dina said. “They come and help us.” The Smiths take care of the cattle on about 10,000 acres of Forest Service land. They ride about 20 miles a day, maintaining fences and drinking areas, making sure the cattle are where they are supposed to be and taking care of the 100 or so calves that are born on the range, Dina said. “I started taking pictures of what we were doing, and I just loved it,” Smith said. The Smiths stay in a cabin on forestry land. Electricity comes from a generator and solar panels, and the water is gravity fed from a stream above the cabin, which is between Creede and Lake City in the San Juan Mountains. “It’s in the middle of nowhere,” Dina said. The couple is preparing for another year on the range, and Dina said she is getting proficient at photography from the saddle. “I’m very, very clumsy,” she said. “But I’ve gotten pretty good at taking pictures on a horse.” The Smiths provide their own horses and equipment. They are due to start in the middle of June, but they go out early so they and the horses get used to the elevation...more
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The article didn't say but my guess they are from the East, and living the romantic life of the west. Nice photo, not much grass.
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