Buckaroos find their home on the range
by Teri Vance, Outpost staff
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In this package Buckaroos
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Nevada ranches are a few of the last to still send out a wagon every year. Come May or June, the cowboys pack their gear and head out to the open range where they will stay until fall.
They eat their meals, prepared by a full-time cook, from the wagon, which is actually a large trailer pulled by a truck. They sleep in teepees large enough for only one bedroll, a cowboy's extra gear and a few personal items.
Jim Andrae, manager of the IL Ranch, in Tuscarora Valley about 70 miles from Elko, said young men come out to experience the life of the "wild West," but they do not stay long.
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J.R. Swapp (right) and other cowboys relax in teepees after a day's work. Photo courtesy of J.R. Swapp |
"About a year of sleepin' in those ol' stinkin' teepees is enough for most guys," he said. "The ones who are serious about cowboyin' will stick it out for two or three summers."
It is a tough way of life, but to J.R. Swapp it was easier than he had expected.
"I thought it would be more rustic, like a movie," Swapp, 21, said. "It was still pretty good, though. I wasn't let down or anything."
Camping out with the cattle is as old as the West itself. They do it still today because it is the most convenient way to get the work done.
There's a lot of land to cover and a lot of calves to be branded," Swapp said. "It's the most practical way to do it."
There are usually about four cowboys on the wagon crew. They camp out for three to four months, depending on the weather and how long it takes to brand all of the calves.
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Kacy Wachob drags a calf to the fire to be branded. Photo courtesy of Kacy Wachob |
The routine on the wagon is very structured. Wake up time comes between 3:30 to 4 a.m.
"You gotta get up to drink lots of coffee," B.J. Wachob, 25, said.
Breakfast is served on the wagon at 4:30 a.m.
After breakfast, the cowboys catch their horses for the day and get them saddled.
Once ready, they either trot out as a crew or trailer out in a truck and trailer, one of the modern conveniences that today's cowboys enjoy.
A day's work consists of gathering, roping and branding the calves in the area surrounding the camp.
Lunch is served between 12:30 and 2 p.m., whenever the crew is finished with the work and ready to eat.
After lunch, the day is over and the cowboys are free to spend their time as they please.
"Most of us hunt up a piece of shade and take a nap," Wachob said. "Other guys will shoe their horses and stuff like that."
Around 5:30, they have dinner.
When they hire on, each cowboy is assigned about seven horses that he will rotate riding and is responsible for their care. His horses are called his "string." While on the wagon, each campsite has a horse pasture nearby where the cavvy (herd) is pastured.
Every evening, the horses are wrangled in. One cowboy, usually the jigger boss, or the supervisor over the buckaroos, ropes one horse for each cowboy to ride the next day.
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B.J. Wachob gets his loop ready to rope a horse for each cowboy. Photo courtesy of B.J. Wachob |
"It adds variety," Swapp said. "Otherwise it would get pretty boring."
The crew is allowed two or three days off each month. They usually spend those days in the nearest town, Elko, at the Stockmen's or the Commercial bar. However, Kacy Wachob, B.J. Wachob's 23-year-old brother, said the isolation is not too difficult.
"You're usually workin' with a bunch of guys that you hang out with," Kacy Wachob said. "It's not that big a deal."
Despite the rigorous schedule, the buckaroos said they enjoy the work.
"We got three good meals a day and got plenty of sleep," Swapp said. "We got started really early, but we got to take a nap every day."
Posted, Dec. 11, 1998
Copyright 1998 Nevada Oupost