Green River Valley Program Picnic
Of The Jackson Hole Land Trust
by Terry Allen
July 2, 2018
The Green River Valley Program of the Jackson Hole Land Trust held their annual community picnic on Saturday, June 30, 2018 at Murdock’s Double Bar E Ranch, to celebrate the history and culture of ranching in Sublette County, Wyoming. Ranching hosts this year were landowners Madeleine and her son Scott Murdock.
A few weeks before the event, I called Madeleine to get a little information to put in this story and instead she said I should come on up to the ranch and she'd take me on a tour around in her little four-wheel drive Subaru. As we drove along on a single track dirt road, most likely worn thru the sagebrush a hundred years ago, we watched Red Tail Hawks, Ravens, Kites and Pronghorn Antelope go about their business, but with an eye cocked or a head turned in our direction.
Some of the cattle had not been moved up the drift yet, so I was the gate man. I'd hop out, open the gate, and shoo cows from trying to follow us thru to the greener grass on the other side. They must have figured I don't do this all the time so they crowded me a bit, but I've still got some Gate Man Moves and I shut 'em out.
We drove along the tree line you see in the photos and we examined the special head gate system her late husband Stan had invented to flow water downhill to the hay meadows so it wouldn't create a gorge and wreck the hillside. There weren't any mosquitoes so we drove along with the windows open. I guess we started tasting the dust between our teeth about the same time so she offered me a stick of gum to make talking more pleasant.
We bumped along the trail until we came to an old homestead up against what looked like a windbreak, but it was really Cottonwood trees, wild roses and gooseberries growing along an old irrigation ditch. She asked if I'd hop out and jump over a barbed wire fence and see how far the water had traveled down the ditch. I only hiked about a hundred feet before I saw a little flood of water taking over the dry portions of the ditch as it went along. The pasture is flood irrigated so when the ditch gets close to full, it overflows thru openings and floods the hay meadow.
I was starting to figure out this was a working tour and work doesn't stop just to show a photographer around. The work on the ranch is divided up among Madeleine, her son Scott (who is away most of the time because he is a commercial pilot), ranch co-managers Coke and Molly Landers and some other essential ranch workers. I can't forget the Landers daughters...I don't know what their chores are, but I know they are substantial. The high hay meadow is Madeleine's job.
We stopped at the old Coleman cabin right there next to the ditch and I stuck my head in the open but metal grated door. I could tell by the design and decaying furnishings that it had once been a cultured household. Unfortunately, tragedy had struck the family and it had been abandoned.
Back at Madeleine's home we had a peach iced tea as we tried to figure out how to send pictures from her phone to my phone. The cabin and panorama shots came from her phone.
I had not known her late husband Stan or how he had died. The short of it is, his horse had shied in such a way that he became paralyzed from the neck down when he landed.
That put Madeleine on a steep learning curve to figure out how to make a go of it. She isn't shy about telling anyone of the good luck or providence of having Coke and Molly Landers as her ranch managers...and their adorable girls, Matazi, Mesa and Maddie, of course. It was during this time property was put into the conservation easement with the trust.
The three Landers girls asked if they could help me take pictures for this story. I immediately recognized the wonderful opportunity of having them help tell the story of their lives in pictures. I think you will find a worthy effort in their images. Just a few more words...and we'll let the pictures do the talking.
The day of the picnic, things started off early in the morning with a free tour of the historic Green River Drift, which included a stop at the historic Sommers Homestead and Trappers Point.
At the picnic there was music by Dave Munsick The Songteller, (danced to by Scout and Ruby, of course), mingling, beverages, and kids activities. A delicious dinner was by Pitchfork Fondue.
Zack Turnbull invented a rocket sled with a Grizzly on it so we could all practice fumbling with our bear spray, brain cramps and whatever other bodily reactions might occur as we imagined claws ripping off our scalps.
Jamie Burgess said he used to help gather cows in this meadow when Stan was alive and I was glad he agreed to let me make a memorable photo.
Madeleine was gifted by The Trust with a fine photograph by Arnie Brokling depicting The Drift. In her address, she mentioned the moose, mule deer, white tail deer, fox, coyote, wolf, golden eagle, red tail hawk and antelope that live on the ranch. This spring she had seen one antelope mother with triplets and one with twins. We learned that antelope milk is the richest of all the mammals in North America. "I am so glad you were all here to celebrate this with us," she said.
A huge - Thank you - to Lizzy Votruba, the Communications Manager of the Jackson Hole Land Trust for believing it was important to record the picnic in a memorable way.
The Land Trust works to protect open spaces, wildlife habitat, working lands, and community spaces in Jackson Hole and Northwest Wyoming.
"We protect land primarily through the use of a tool called a conservation easement. An easement acts like a blanket upon the landscape, being passed down from owner to owner, protecting the land for generations, uniquely shaped for each special aspect of the land upon which it sits. Each easement is different and varies depending on the desires of the original landowner."
You are all free to use these low rez photos for personal use. I do sell hi rez images.
Terry Allen: txpartisan@gmail.com
|
