Adventures in Greenough, MT: Chapter 2 - Bridger

As a kid on the ranch, I was enamored with the landscape and the ephemeral weather conditions that, I believe, were spurred by the pasture's water content. In an electrical storm the air takes a yellow hue and lightening bolts seem to come from underneath. It's quite a sight to sit on the front porch and watch lightening strike everywhere, leaving behind dead cattle, struck so violently their hoofs are blown right off.  Youthful entertainment.

My father, who I consider a refined man, was less concerned with the ranch's geography and typography and potential for exploration as he was with the animals. He was always in love with the animals: the elk, badgers, bull trout, coyotes, and most of all the cattle. Walking right up to a 2,500 lb. bull in the pasture and kindly scratching behind his ears, the man was fearless and a bull whisperer of sorts. Working with bulls, I had a more pragmatic approach to the goliaths and feel that after some experience with five distinct breeds I have a working-knowledge of their differences.

The Greenough Cattle Company, later called the Mullendore Beef Program, was a purebred operation and we used to run Black Angus, Red Angus, Salers, Hereford, and Galloway. Each breed had their own disposition. The Red Angus and Hereford were mild-mannered and didn't require the same level of alertness for personal safety that Salers and Black Angus did. I always attributed the Salers' uppity nature to being French and it's important to know that when moving a Salers they're as likely to jump a fence as they are to turn and walk alongside it. In the market, Salers drew a discount as older ranchers just didn't want to deal with jumping out of their way and potentially breaking a hip. 

The Galloway, a long-haired Scottish breed, was on the other end of the spectrum from Salers. They were easy to move around and because they looked so different than the other breeds, more bison-ish and rugged, I preferred them. And then there's the Black Angus, the most valuable per pound breed and the winner of our blind taste tests, who were the most wild and athletic. When in the pasture with a Black Angus I was never comfortable and maybe it's their fierce black hair or their flexible smooth stride, but whatever the case these beasts could run you down and eat ya.

I believe it was late-spring, the time was ambiguous, however the location pinpoint, when my Dad and I, driving around looking at calves in a pasture adjacent to the Morris house (haunted as hell), spotted the most impressive-looking Hereford bull calf we'd ever seen. His shape was perfectly beefy and his coloration almost all red - a valuable trait. We knew then and there that this was a herd bull and being a B year, ear tags go in alphabetical order to help identify the age of cattle, we named him Bridger.

It was really something to have a genetic base born right there on the ranch, as many of our other herd bulls came from the sale ring. My Dad's love for Bridger and what he represented was so pure that through the years, as Bridger became father and grandfather and great grandfather, and even won bull tests where his EPDs (expected progeny difference - used to determine what a cow or bull's offspring will look like) out-performed all other Herefords, or any bull I think, our love for Bridger grew and grew. Bridger's success was proof that my Dad and I have a pretty good eye for cattle.

While Bridger was the star and heart-throb, there was another B bull named Bannack that was worthy of praise as well. Less stocky, Bannack was long and dark red and subtle and while Bridger's genetics were pervasive, Bannack also did a great job and I hold him in high-regard as well.

These two bulls, Bridger and Bannack, remain in my mind as the heroes of our cow herd and I'd be so tickled to one-day see a relative bearing a resemblance to them and as I wind this post up it's a breeze to tie together as the reverence I hold for these animals far outweighs that of the land. The land, barring anything as extreme as mining, will forever be there, while the animals and their bloodlines, touch a different place in my heart. A place of honor and pride and unity. The animals tie everything together and they symbolize the spirit of a place and are definitely part of the family.