Cattle Drives

This time of year in Mackay, Idaho the snow is creeping down the peaks of the lost river range and soon the valley floor will be all white in a winter wonderland. The mornings are bitter cold and there is a stack of six cords of firewood outside and a warm fire in the wood stove inside. This is the time of year that I like to bake—creamy scones with white chocolate and apricots. Apple pies and cinnamon rolls.

The cattle of the local ranches have been brought home from their summer grazing and it’s a common sight to see a cattle drive through the the town of Mackay along the highway. Cowboys in denim jeans, flannel shirts warm, rainproof windproof jackets, chaps and cowboy hats riding their favorite quarter horses with their little cattle dogs usually blue healers and boarder collies bringing up the rear. The cowboys run their horses ahead whistling and whooping to drive the herd or run after a stray steer that might veer off into someone’s yard which is always graciously met with a “sorry, mam” and a tip of of his hat. They bring the cattle down from summer grazing and keep them at the ranch all winter where the cows calve in cold of January in a lofty straw bedding to prevent bacteria.

The Ranchers and cowboys in the Lost River Valley are a breed set apart with big hearts and a devotion to their family and the land. Much of the area is the same as it was 200 years ago primarily because of the ranches in the area.