Buckaroos tie hard and fast to tradition
by Teri Vance,Outpost staff
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In this package Buckaroos
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This dream drew brothers B.J. and Kacy Wachob from their family ranch in Colorado to Nevada five years ago.
"When we were 10, there were guys 18 to 20 that always went to Nevada, not to Texas or Arizona," said B.J. Wachob, 25. "They would come home at Christmas and tell stories about bein' in Nevada."
Jim Andrae, manager of the IL Ranch about 70 miles north of Elko, said about 50 to 60 percent of the young men that come to his ranch to work have had prior experience in the ranching industry. The others come for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the cowboy life first hand.
"They're lookin' for the kind of life that they read about in the Western Horseman, and see on TV," Andrae said.
They call themselves buckaroos, from the Spanish word "vaquero" meaning "cowboy," and they come to Nevada to work on some of the last big ranches in operation in the United States.
Most of the large Nevada ranches, started in the 1800s during the settlement of the West, have closed. Much of what Americans know about ranching was adopted from the Mexicans, but much of that has been lost with the downsizing of the big ranches.
"There's hardly any money in cattle anymore," said Scott Whitney, a former ranch manager and buckaroo. "If the owner isn't making any money, he can't hire anyone to work for him."
Most ranches are now smaller, family-run operations. Between the parents and the children, the cattle are taken care of and the ranch maintained.
However, in the Tuscarora Valley where the IL is located, and other places in northeastern Nevada the large, Old-West style ranches still exist.
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The buckaroos wrangle in the horses to ride the next day. Photo courtesy of Sharon Andrae |
"They do it out here like the Spanish did it during the 1800s in Mexico and California," B.J. Wachob said.
The largest ranches are the IL, the YP, the Spanish Ranch and Squaw Valley, all in the Tuscarora Valley, and the TS, outside of Battle Mountain.
On the IL, and typical of most large ranches, the duties of the ranch are broken down with specific people doing specific jobs.
Usually, there's one mechanic, one bookkeeper and one cook.
Four guys are in charge of the legwork such as building fences, irrigating and other general chores. They are referred to as the "razen jaws."
There are usually four buckaroos as well. They are in charge of all the work dealing with the cattle and horses, the cowboying.
During the summer, they go "out on the wagon." This means that they camp out on the desert in teepees and every day they brand the calves born in the spring of that year or the late fall of the previous year. Every one or two weeks they move their camp until all the calves have been branded.
During the rest of the year, they move cattle from one range to another, wean calves and handle all other horseback duties.
"It allows us to concentrate on cowboying and forget that other stuff," said J.R. Swapp, who grew up on a small ranch in Arizona but worked a summer at the IL. "I love just being able to ride and rope and nothing else."
Buckaroos are set apart from the average cowboy in their style of dress as well. They generally wear starched Wranglers that have been pressed so many times that a permanent white crease runs straight down the front of the leg. Their shirts, ironed and starched as well, are buttoned at the cuffs and at the neck.
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B.J. (left) and Kacy (right) Wachob get dressed up for a night on the town. Photo by Jeni Swapp. |
"It makes us stand out as to who we are," B.J. Wachob said. "There's lotsa sun and no wind. We need some shade."
Outside of the Elko area, many do not recognize their attire.
"Elko seems to really still respect buckaroos," Whitney said. "If you go into Reno with a flat hat and wild rag (handkerchief around the neck), people look at you like you're from another planet.
But hanging out at the bars in Elko is a different story.
"If you go into Stockmen's or the Commercial for a drink and you have your spurs on, no one will look twice at you," Whitney said.
Most ranches have an organized system of leadership. All start out as buckaroos. Of them, one is chosen as jigger boss, or cow boss.
Some ranches have an assistant manager between the jigger boss and the manager, but others just have a manager. Most of the ranches belong to an outside owner that does not live on the ranch itself but delegates the operation of the ranch to the manager.
At the IL, a buckaroo makes $850 a month to start, and room and board are provided. After the first 90 days, the salary is raised $50 with an optional insurance plan.
All of the buckaroos from one ranch live together in one house that is called a bunkhouse. Each bunkhouse is designed a little differently, from one big room with dividers to a house with a lot of different rooms.
Most bunkhouses have a day room with a television and a few mismatched couches and chairs. The walls are usually bare with a few ropes and spurs and other cowboy gear hanging from them. Scantily dressed or nude women cut out of magazines typically are the only decoration.
All in all, the bunkhouse itself is not very important.
"Most of the time, you're out working," said Kacy Wachob, 23. "Doesn't seem like you spend much time there. It's basically a place to sleep."
Andrae said the typical buckaroo who comes to work on his ranch and others like it is between 18 and 30, single and not interested in staying long.
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Jim Andrae (right) talks with the owner (left) of the ranch. Photo courtesy of Sharon Andrae. |
True to the stereotype of the "drifting cowboy," the buckaroos do not stay in one place for very long. On average, a single buckaroo will stay on one ranch about six months then pack up and move to another.
"It's the novelty," Andrae said. "They want to see different places, different horses and different ranches."
Although buckaroos are always leaving, more always want to come.
"They're callin' all the time and if you have an openin', why you could hire them right then," Andrae said. "If not, they'll just leave a number, even though by the time you call, they're probably not at that number anymore."
However, Andrae said in the past year, fewer buckaroos have called looking for jobs.
"They're all doin' different things like drivin' truck or workin' in the mines," he said. "It's fading out."
One of the reasons that it is fading, Andrae said, is that fewer of the big ranches are hiring people to just ride horses.
"There are only three or four ranches left in Northern Nevada that all them kids do is buckaroo," he said. "The rest have to feed cattle, fence and hay."
It is also difficult for the buckaroos to have much of a social life.
"You can't even hardly have a girlfriend," B.J. Wachob said. "You don't get to town but once a month. It's hard to find a girl that will stick by you."
"The women nowadays don't want to live out here," said Sharon Andrae, Jim Andrae's wife and the bookkeeper on the IL.
Buckaroos also leave to make more money and be closer to town.
"They have more money to stand around the bar and tell buckaroo stories," Andrae said.
However, for others, leaving the buckaroo life is not an option.
"I want to stay in this part of the country, have a family, move up and maybe get a bossin' job," B.J Wachob said. "That's why I'm workin' so hard now."
Posted Dec. 11, 1998
Copyright 1998 Nevada Outpost