We have ridden a million miles. We have danced half a million miles. We have penned hundreds of thousands of cattle. We have been to thousands of rodeos. I have headed, slapped out and ridden the chute gate with hundreds of bucking horses he rode. […]
The family matriarch
There are two main definitions for the noun matriarch: a woman who is the head of a family or tribe and an older woman who is powerful within a family or organization. If you ever met Gearl Dene Cunningham, and especially if you knew her, […]
A traffic stop in Adair
I like law enforcement. I spent 20 years covering crime, riding with police and firefighters, sitting in trial, covering stories. If you know me, especially if you are in law enforcement, you know this. For the rest of you, I want to start by saying […]
Christmas When We Were Kids
My brother and I had a great childhood; so great in fact that I had no idea I was poor until I went to college. Christmas was particularly wonderful. Our family is very close as my mother’s sister married my daddy’s brother. Two siblings married […]
Families
There are many close families that are no blood kin to each other. I have a salebarn family. For 21 years I rode pens at the South Coffeyville salebarn. Some of those people have generations who worked on that yard. The Lowrey family is one […]
A friend bigger than life
Some friends are iconic; so capable it seems they could never die. But they do. Many in the rodeo and ranch world are feeling that today. Rex Bugbee is dead, but if a cowboy had to go out, it was the best possible way. He […]
T. J. and Ray’s cow
Sometimes I tell my stories to civilians and they don’t get it. That’s what brother Keith calls non-ranch or rodeo people, civilians. Anyway, this is one of my favorites and I’m writing it here because you non-civilians will get it.Neighboring is the way to get […]
A Father’s Day story about Daddy
My childhood was the greatest and it was largely because Daddy has kept us horseback our whole lives. Here’s the first story I was told about being horseback with Daddy. It was best told by my Granny Elma (Daddy’s mother) who was babysitting me this […]
An incident at Roy’s
For many years, the steer wrestling hosted by Roy Duvall at Checotah was one of the biggest events connected to rodeo. This was long before the days of USTRC, D-format barrel races and PBRs.This particular year, I was sitting in the contestant seats with Gary […]
Call Your Dog
I need to hurry, the light’s almost gone Git up little gelding, we need to get along. He wasn’t taking it, feeling good in the cool So I picked up a rein to take him to school. It was just a little pitch he was […]