Montana Journalism Review -- Summer 2002

Table of Contents

Editor's Note

About MJR

Contact Us

MJR Archives

UM J-School

Chasing the heartbeat of Montana
Mary Cooney stops after herding several pairs of cattle into a new pasture at the Cooney Brothers Ranch near Harlowton. The Crazy Mountains are in the background.

Springtime at Cayuse Livestock Company means time to brand the new calves, born in February through April. Cattle are gathered and brought into a corral. There are several jobs for members of the Donald family and neighbors. Some rope, some wrestle, some brand and some inoculate the calves. Mery Donald forms a perfect loop as she sets to rope a calf.

Photos and text by
Keith Graham
Associate Professor of Photojournalism
at the University of Montana

My first years were on 77 acres outside Jackson, Miss. When my dad bought the property it came with a sign about the size of a billboard that read “The Farm.” It wasn’t even a real farm. We had a horse named Buster, three dogs and a dozen chickens. We sold The Farm and moved into town when I was four years old.

All the while we had a genuine farm, about 50 miles south of Jackson, left for my father by his father who had bought it during the Great Depression. Daddy G had paid cash for the farm, five cents an acre for some, seven cents an acre for the better land.

Even when we moved into town we would go to the Daddy G’s farm on most weekends. I loved my time on the farm, because it seemed you could ride your horse forever there. I’ve always admired and appreciated what farmers and ranchers do.

They are the real producers, the heartbeat of this country. The life isn’t easy or glamorous. It’s hard work, but those who work on the land have a sense of contentment. You don’t have much money to put in your pocket, but I wouldn’t change this life for anything, says John Cooney of Cooney Brothers Ranch.

The University of Montana awarded me a grant to document mutigenerational Montana family ranches. Over the course of a year, I visited the Cooney Brothers Ranch outside Harlowton and the Cayuse Livestock Company in Melville four or five times each.

Both ranches began as sheep operations; the Cayuse in 1914, the Cooney Brothers in the early 1920s. Now both raise Angus cattle. There are three generations living on the Cooney Brothers Ranch, four on the Cayuse Livestock Company.

The families, the Cooneys of Harlowton and the Donalds of Melville, opened their lives and their homes to me. I love turning off the highway and heading toward the ranches, places of sky, beauty and toil.

The Donald family was up before sunrise and rounding up the cattle as the sun made its way over the Cayuse Hills. Mery, Donald (left) and her father-in-law, Bill Donald and his dog Louie round up the cattle before taking them to the new pasture.

Leah Cooney (left) and Rachel check the amount of vaccine before continuing to inoculate the calves that are being branded today. They also mark the calves with the large crayon. This was at an early spring branding at the Cooney Brothers Ranch, which is located about 15 miles south of Harlowton.

One of Wyatt Donald’s responsibilities is to make sure all the newborn calves are healthy. Donald knew this calf needed a pill, so he looked for almost an hour this morning locating this calf. Once he finally located it, he walked calmly up to it, gently got it on its side, and gave it the necessary medication. The Donalds raise Black Angus cattle on their ranch in Melville.

It’s late April and the Cooney family are branding. They gathered the cattle around mid-morning and worked until around noon. They had lunch, some of their own Angus beef. The Donald family and other neighbors pitch in and help. At the far right, Wyatt Donald and his girlfriend (now fiancee) Stacy LoPresti smile at one another. Donald and LoPresti will marry on September 5, 2004.

Mery Donald jumps over the corral fence that was erected for a late April branding on the Cayuse Livestock Company. Some of the cattle jarred the portable corral loose so Charley Rein (left) and Mark Thompson were tightening it.

Wyatt Donald has to keep track of all the newborn calves. He does so with a numbering system by tagging the ear of each calf. A different colored tag is used each year.

Back to top

Back to Table of Contents