Hoofbeats in the Flint Hills

Hoofbeats in the Flint Hills

    An over cast sky looked down on Dan Daughtery and I as we loaded a few items in my car. I had been invited to do a story on a cattle roundup and needed someone that was good with a camera and knew a lot about every day life on a ranch. Dan was the perfect choice since he grew up on a farm and photography was one of his hobbies.

   Our destination would be the Division ranch eight miles north of Strong City, Kansas in the beautiful Flint Hills. The 150 miles went by quickly as we listened to a George Jones CD and discussed everything from fishing to the high cost of gasoline.

   Twenty miles east of Strong City the clouds couldn’t hold it back any more and a cold, light rain that would be with us the rest of the day began to fall.

  About a mile south of the ranch, Dan spotted Lower Fox Creek School, a rustic one room school house made from local limestone. The structure was built in 1882 and began classes in 1884. My dad attended a school just like this one in Linn County, Kansas as a boy so I didn’t hesitate when Dan suggested that we take a quick tour of it. As we entered the old building, it immediately took us back in time for a few moments as we gazed at black boards that ran the length of three walls to the little wooden desks with ink wells. It wasn’t hard to picture warmly dressed children huddled around the pot belly stove eating their lunch as the harsh Kansas winters howled just outside the door.

  If our trip would have ended right there at the school I would have considered it a great day but there was even more in store for us just five minutes away.

  The asphalt highway suddenly became gravel as we turned left and drove under an impressive steel arch declaring this property the Division Ranch. About a hundred yards inside the gate we stopped and got out of the car to take a look at the view. And what a view it was with the main house, barns and out building sitting in a beautiful valley about a quarter mile away. The surrounding Flint Hills were absolutely breath taking. The rain stirred up the wonderful aroma of native grasses and wild flowers. A gentle breeze brought the inviting smell of percolating coffee and burning wood from the ranch to dance around our noses.

  We continued down the gradual sloping road around a curve and pulled up to a huge barn. My Hyundai Tiburon looks sleek and fast out on the highway but appeared small, meek and very much out of place surrounded by the dozen or so giant pickup trucks and horse trailers crowded into the parking area.

  We only took a couple of steps into the barn when Purina District Manager, Ernie Rodina introduced himself and invited us to have some of that piping hot cowboy coffee we got a whiff of by the gate.

   On the other side of the barn, my old friend John Duckworth had a very attentive audience of 15 people who paid 500 dollars each to listen to and watch his hoof care demonstration and participate in the second annual Flint Hills Spring Round-Up. All proceeds will go to the Flint Hills Rodeo in Strong City.

  John wrapped things up and took us around the room introducing us to several people including cattleman and ranch manager, Jason Lewis.

  Jason is an impressive man both in physical stature and maturity. At the young age of 35 he runs the day to day operations of the 5,200 acre ranch and has since he was 24 years old. Later in the morning we had the pleasure of meeting his charming wife, Teri. I was very impressed with her ability to deal with the needs of their three young children through out the day even though she was extremely busy.  The kids, Tanner, Bailey and Jaron have chores that must be done each and every day. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” is a saying I have heard a few times over the years and finally found a case where it actually applies. While I think it’s remarkable that Jason started running the Division ranch at age 24, I am equally impressed that his boy Jaron at the tender age of five can drive a gator utility vehicle and ride a full size horse as easily as a grown man. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if this youngster holds an important job some day at a very young age like his father.

  Even the rain wasn’t a powerful enough deterrent to keep us in the barn once lunch time arrived. A quick jaunt down the muddy road on foot took us to a huge tent whose sole purpose was to protect the tables and food below it. I must say it did a fine job as did Ernie with the hamburgers and Italian sausage cooking on the grill.

  We were able to eat in peace since the flies and bugs weren’t a problem with the rain and smoke temporarily grounding them. A coral just thirty feet or so from the tent held 17 bulls. Everyone watched as these magnificent beasts pushed each other around the enclosure sometimes falling in the mud.

  Shortly after lunch Jason gathered everyone together to tell us that it was just too risky to continue with the roundup plans due to the weather. If it was agreeable to everyone he suggested we instead divide the bulls into two groups and drive them out to the cows.

  Being the good sports that they are, each man and woman said “lets do it” and off they went to saddle up. Since Dan and I don’t own a horse we wondered how we would be able to tag along as observers.

  As talented as young Jaron is, he can’t ride a horse and a gator at the same time so he had to make a choice which fortunately for us was his horse.

 Before we could decide who was going to drive the little four wheel drive vehicle, Chase county extension agent, Mike Holder volunteered. Mike was a tremendous help getting us in to position so we could take pictures and answering my many questions.

  With a little prodding from the riders, half a dozen of the powerful bulls came running out of the coral, across a picturesque stream and out of sight over a slight hill. Dan, Mike and I brought up the rear in the gator. Like keeping the insects grounded, the rain would once again help us by keeping the dust down that I figured we would soon be eating.

   I wasn’t quite prepared for the view when we popped over the hill. With in seconds I understood what they meant when they say wide open spaces. As far as the eye could see was nothing but land. My eyes stared at thousands of acres of beautiful unspoiled land that probably looked exactly the same 200 years ago when buffalo ran free. The occasional pond or small grove of trees with the flint hills surrounding them was worthy of a painting. A sight I found even more heart warming was Teri and her youngest son happily riding side by side, oblivious to the rain.

 As we approached the camp site I noticed that several of the horses had a Purina Mills blanket under their saddles. I asked Mike what that was about and he told me they were one of the sponsors of this event along with Holton Trailer Sales, Intervet, The Bullet Hole, Priefert, B&W Hitch and John Deere. With companies like these and hard working people like Jason and Teri Lewis, John Duckworth and Mike Holder the Annual Spring Roundup will only get bigger and better.

Darkness would be on us within three hours so we decided to skip the feast that was being prepared for supper and head back to Kansas City while we still had enough daylight.

  We stopped for one last picture at the gate on our way out and discovered that the same breeze which carried the smell of coffee and bacon earlier that morning was now heavy with the aroma of Kansas beef being slowly turned over an open fire.