Cowboys yearn to be back in the saddle
by Teri Vance, Outpost staff
|
In this package Buckaroos
tie hard and fast to
tradtion On the Web |
For Scott Whitney, Jim Andrae and Dave Woodell, it can be only one thing. They were all buckaroos in Nevada.
"I didn't know it at the time but now when I look back on it, they were the best years of my life," said Whitney, a farrier (horse shoer) in Fallon, who worked on various ranches in northeastern Nevada.
"It's the only job to ever have from what I've seen since," said Woodell, an independent contractor in Twin Falls, Idaho.
It is the classic story of chasing a dream but reality getting in the way. Despite their love of the work, most cannot pursue it long term.
"There's no money in it. It's a single man's game," said Woodell, husband and father of three daughters. "That buckarooin' as a married man, there was no money left over. The bills pretty much took it all."
Although it is almost impossible to make a living at it, Jim Andrae worked his way up from buckaroo to manager of the IL, a ranch in northeastern Nevada.
"He had a chance to go to Cal Poly, paid and everything," said Sharon Andrae, Jim Andrae's wife. "But he turned it down to be a cowboy."
|
Jim Andrae (standing) hangs out with his crew at the IL. Photo courtesy of Sharon Andrae |
"There were lotsa broken bones that paved the way," Jim Andrae said. "I lived the life that I wanted and I made a respectable livin' at it."
However, Andrae said that his story is not typical of the average buckaroo.
The word "buckaroo" comes from the Spanish word "vaquero" meaning cowboy. Buckaroos are esentially cowboys hired to work on a large ranch to work with the cattle and horses and nothing more.
"We have a different syle," Whitney said. "The way we rope, the saddles that we use and we always gotta be ridin' young horses."
Buckaroos are usually easily distinguished from a regular cowboy by their cowboy hats. Instead of the typical hat, their hats have flat crowns with wide, flat brims.
Those who do not stay in the ranching business usually do keep some contact with the cowboy lifestyle.
Whitney shoes horses, breaks colts and helps his friends out on surrounding ranches.
"When they need someone to day work, they hire me," Whitney said.
Woodell recently purchased property and plans to build a round corral on it to train young horses.
|
Dave Woodell riding a colt. Photo by Teri Vance |
"I intend to fully start a bunch of colts in a year and peddle 'em pretty cheap," he said.
Woodell left buckarooing in 1988 and started a career in mining to better support his growing family. For the first time he said he had more than $50 to put in the bank at the end of the month.
But given the chance, Woodell said he would still be in the cowboy business.
"I wish that's what I could do to make a living," he said.
Whitney said he also misses the life of a buckaroo.
"Besides the work, it was the goin' to Taylor Canyon (a bar on the main road to Tuscarora, about 70 miles from Elko) to have a beer after work," Whitney said. "I was drivin' 60 miles to Elko in my pick-up truck. That was fun."
Even if they've left it behind, they'll never forget it.
"For those of us who've done it, we just won't let it go," Whitney said. "I'll pack a 70-foot rope for the rest of my life."
Posted Dec. 11, 1998
Copyright 1998 Nevada Outpost