|
Plate 1
Proud Buckaroo
$1,000
Click to enlarge
Buy this photo
|
Darrin Pfeifer is a traditional buckaroo, a cowboy from the Great Basin Range, which
encompasses parts of California, Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon. Buckaroos distinguish
themselves by their open-crowned hats with short, flat brims, their silk scarves,
chinks (shorter leather chaps), high-heeled boots, dark wool vests, and white, long,
button-down shirts.
|
|
Plate 2
Splendid Isolation
$1,500
Click to enlarge
Buy this photo
|
The YP Ranch is one of the last ranches to "run a wagon," i.e., to send cowboys,
horses, a cook, a chuck wagon, and working dogs out for six to eight weeks at a
time to follow the grazing cattle. "On the wagon" means rough travel to remote locations
without contact with ranch headquarters or the outside world.
|
|
Plate 3
Waiting for Mounts
$1,500
Click to enlarge
Buy this photo
|
It's late afternoon on the YP Ranch. The horses feel a storm approaching and nervously
balk at the entrance to the portable corral. The cowboys wait to receive their mounts
for the next morning, when they will resume work before dawn.
|
|
Plate 4
Return of the Remuda
$2,500
Click to enlarge
Buy this photo
|
A remuda is a large group of saddle horses owned by a working ranch. Each cowboy
is assigned between six and twenty mounts to ride and care for. Cowboys often assess
the quality of the remuda when deciding where to take a job.
|
|
Plate 5
Lining Up the Cavvy
$1,500
Click to enlarge
Buy this photo
|
It is usually the duty of the cowboss to catch a fresh mount for every cowboy, who
must walk to the center of the ring, receive his horse, halter it, and return the
rolled-up rope. Newcomers are often challenged with a horse that bucks or spooks
easily.
|
|
Plate 6
Storm Clouds
$1,500
Click to enlarge
Buy this photo
|
The remuda has been trained to enter a rope corral, and then to face outward.
|
|
Plate 7
At Cow Camp
$1,000
Click to enlarge
Buy this photo
|
The cowcamp is a simple, mobile setup of cowboy teepees and a cook tent or chuck
wagon. It functions as a home on the range and a gathering place. The cowboss, Linn
Battey, has taken his boots off and is entertaining cowboys at his tent. Coffee,
a hot meal, a smoke, and the warmth of the campfire make the cowcamp a home.
|
|
Plate 8
Breaking in a New Reata
$1,000
Click to enlarge
Buy this photo
|
Like many cowboys, buckaroos in the Great Basin typically braid their own rawhide
reatas. This particular reata was made from the hide of a horse that died on the
range. In honor of the animal, the buckaroo skinned it, then dried and meticulously
braided the hide into a rope.
|
|
Plate 9
Tapaderos
$1,000
Click to enlarge
Buy this photo
|
Buckaroo Chet Randall owns a saddle with tapaderos. The leather stirrup covers prevent
a cowboy's foot from slipping. They are intricately stenciled and decorated with
fringes and silver conchas.
|
|
Plate 10
Waiting for the Drive
$1,500
Click to enlarge
Buy this photo
|
The cowboy's hands are rough, calloused, and rarely resting. Their touch can be
forceful, handling the rope that throws the calf to the ground. They also possess
the magic to calm a spooked horse with a simple stroke, gently guide a newborn calf
into the world, kindly ease a thorn out of a dog's paw, or delicately patch a broken
rein.
|