Thoughts from Dale Steenbergen-
My Grandfather’s Grandfather raised cattle in this country. I continue the tradition and some days are just a little harder than others. Last week, when I backed the four-wheeler out of the garage, the thermometer read negative 9 and the weatherman said the wind-chill made it minus 25. It wasn’t a very pleasant day for man or beast, but it did make me appreciate and ponder some of the most important aspects of growing up and being engaged in agriculture.
As a ranch kid, the nostalgia that surrounds “my people’ has always fascinated me. Certainly, I think of these folks as the greatest on the planet. In my opinion, the folks that tend the livestock and till the soil are the most wonderful people on the planet. They are not perfect, but they are special in many ways.
Some of the people in Wyoming politics will break their neck to say how the others are turning away from Wyoming values. Well, I have a message for you. If you don’t know what a Blevins Buckle is, then sit down and shut your pie hole. Some of you are about to google Blevins Buckles. Let me complete your education: Blevins Buckles are the buckle that holds your stirrup on and it slides up and down to adjust the stirrups easily. If you grew up on a cattle ranch, you have seen the “Blevins Buckles” stamp every time you saddle a horse. In short, if you didn’t know what a Blevins Buckle was you are about as much of a Cowboy as Snoop Dogg.
Now listen, what makes Cowboys great, or at least their nostalgia great, is their character. Go to your local cattle sale plop down at a table and you will hear discussion of the cattle market, weather, grain prices, neighbors’ health, pedigrees and breeds, high school and college sports, and about anything else. No one will ask or mention if you are a democrat or a republican. They don’t care. These folks operate on values, not opinions.
Serving Cheyenne:
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