Cowboys through a camera lens
J-school prof documents the legacy of ranch life

photo by Keith Graham

Wyatt Donald leaves the barn about 6 a.m. after checking on a newborn calf in early spring. Donald lives on the Cayuse Livestock Company, an Angus cattle ranch in Melville that his grandfather started in the 1920s.

By Kelly Jackson
J-School Web Reporter

Horse saddled, camera loaded, cowboy hat ready, extra film packed: the standard checklist for a photojournalist about to go on a cattle drive.

For the past year, Keith Graham, a photojournalism professor at the University of Montana, has been documenting on film the daily lives of two Montana families for his book on ranches.

Graham chose the Cooney family of Cooney Brother Ranch in Harlowton, Mont., and the Donald family owner of Cayuse Livestock Co. in Melville, Mont., as the subjects of his photos. Both families have been cattle ranching for generations, which is what appealed to Graham.

“What I am specifically trying to do within that realm of family ranches is look at families who have been doing it through generations,” said Graham. “So, there is always the question of will the next generation pick up the ranch and continue?”
The Cooney family has three generations living on the ranch and the Donald family has four. And it was through a member of each family that Graham began his project.

During the summer of 2000, a photographic workshop was hosted by Dudley Dana of the Dana Gallery in Missoula and taught by professional photographer Barbara Van Cleve. Graham was assisting Van Cleve at the workshop, where he met Mery Donald, a member of the Cooney family, and Rachel Nash a member of the Cooney family.

photo by Keith Graham

Mery Donald gets ready to rope a calf during branding at the Cayuse Livestock Co.

After some time had lapsed, Graham contacted the two families and told them about his project. Over the past year he has spent increments of two to three days with each family.

“They were the most gracious families,” said Graham. “They even housed me.”

The time he spent with the two families consisted of cattle drives as well as early mornings and daily chores. He used a 35mm camera with black and white film to shoot these scenes.

“I feel that their life and how they live with respect to their daily lives is very important for other people to see,” said Graham. “After all, they’re the people who produce what we eat.”

Along with his Montana family ranchers’ project, Graham has also been working on photographing rodeos around Montana.

“Rodeo and ranchers go hand in hand,” he said. “They are certainly kindred souls and part of the West.”

Graham began working on the project during this past summer, attending10 rodeos all over Montana and shooting with a digital color camera.

“My goal is to give you (the viewer) a sense of the scene and what it looks like and smells like,” said Graham. “A sense of how the cowboys or cowgirls feel.”

Both the family ranchers project and rodeo project are still in the works. Graham has yet to set a completion date because, in addition to family ranching, he also wants to document other forms of ranching, such as sheep and quarter horse.

In the meantime, Graham’s work will be displayed at the Dana Gallery starting March 5.

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