Got to go to Brazil and Argentina with the Western Folklife Center and Boojum Expeditions.

Some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen.

These gauchos use really big loops with a lot of coils.

They turn their horses off as they throw. Their riatas are tied to their cincha on the off side.

Wylie roped a steer for our side. Made some new friends too.

Everybody did really. After the roping the lamb was done and when we couldn't possibly eat another bite the music started up. Wylie Gustafson, Sourdough Slim, Charlie Seemann and Hal Cannon were repping for our group.

(I'm trying to get the audio linked up here)

Next Wylie, Charlie, Hal and I got to go visit Telmo De Lima Freitas, a talented poet/singer/musician who is also well known for his generousity. There was more churrasco, some kind of really good pan dulce and of course a lot more music. We left Telmo's casa loaded down with gifts, among which was an antique accordion that Charlie says plays great!

(I'll try to get some audio here, too)

Senhor Borges had booked Wylie and the Wild West and Sourdough Slim on a regularly scheduled show about Gaucho culture. They dedicated the episode to our visit and had a great concert one night. People were lined up around the block and I heard they turned a couple hundred away after the 900 seat theater filled up. Wylie and Slim were joined by Sr. Borges and Renato Borgetti and his band. They also had an extemporaneous speaking contest kinda like a debate set to music. It was really cool. The topic concerned our visit. One guy would make a flowery pronouncement and step back to the crowd's applause, then the other guy would try to outdo him. The whole shoot out went on for about 15 minutes. I can't wait to hear what they were really saying. (Hal Cannon promised to get the Portugese translated and when he does I'll post it here, along with at least a sample of the audio.)

Wylie and Slim were great and the crowd was really responsive. They laughed in all the right places and seemed to really enjoy themselves.

I was really impressed with the hospitality and warmth we encountered in Brazil. Sr. Borges had obviously gone to great lengths to try to show us as good a time as he said he'd had in Elko. I would say that the Brazilian equivalent of "cowboy culture" is certainly alive and thriving in Porto Alegre.

On to Buenos Aires where we took in a dinner show at "Senor Tango". I used to think flamenco dancing was about the most romantic kind of dancing there was but now I'm convinced that the tango is it! (George Gund IV has a great photo of this event!) ( I'm hoping to provide a link to all of the stills taken by our group. I know Maryanne Mott and Ted Lyster have some killer photos, too) ( the stills I'm putting in here are just stolen from the video I was shooting)

Next day we got to visit with world-class braiders Armando Deferrari and Pablo Lozano who showed us a bunch of work that rivals any I've seen, anywhere. That night we attended a surreal concert at a little biblioteca that featured Wylie and his band, Slim, a country-blues singer named Gabriel Gratzer and a country band called Yulie Ruth. Again, the crowd was really responsive and this time there were a whole bunch of north american style cowboy hats in the crowd. A good time was had by all, I'd say.

A short plane ride south to Bariloche and half of us were off to the estancia of Martin Jones. Martin runs cattle and sheep and has recently been doing a little dude wrangling to augment the estancia's income.(sounds kind of familiar)Martin has been working with Boojum Expeditions for a while now and he is every bit as classy as all the Boojum associates I've run into so far. It felt really good to get out in the country and ride around a little.

above Martin's headquarters

I really enjoyed visiting with Martin and his gauchos, Andres and Nolasco. My spanish started working a little better down here in Argentina (had no luck with the Portugese they speak in Brazil) and Andres and Nolasco were patient enough to keep repeating what they were trying to tell me in different ways until I could understand what they were talking about. Martin's english is better than mine.

Martin Jones

Andres

Nolasco

These guys are all good hands. I'm sure they could go punch cows anywhere and fit right in pretty soon. They had a nice solid bunch of horses and they sure showed us some nice cow country. Martin is one of those guys who is always looking for a better way to do things. He said next thing on the agenda for them was to shear the ewes, before they started lambing. I asked him if they didn't knock a bunch of lambs out of them, shearing when they were so heavy. He said not as many as they lost from splitting pairs when they sheared after lambing was done. Added benefits were that the ewes, being newly colder, would go find the warmest places on the estancia which helped the lambs and they'd eat more too, which helped their milk production. I hope to return some day and pick Martin's brain some more.

Here Nolasco is moving a band of sheep out of a shady little lunch spot ahead of the rest of the group. His extra horses are helping him.

Mucho viento. They weren't kidding! I stretched my hat out about 2 sizes from mashing it down on my head to keep it from blowing off on this day.

Wylie helps water the horses.

Heading to the summer headquarters

All in all this was as memorable a trip as I've had. I sure thank the Western Folklife Center, Boojum Expeditions and all the travelers who made it possible. In addition to the gauchos we met I really enjoyed meeting new friends in our group and hanging out with some old ones, too.

I'll try to add to this report when I can. We had another day of gaucho games and music when we reunited with the other half of the group. I'll try to put up as much audio and video from the trip as I can. Check back down the road for an update to this entry.

looking down into Smith Canyon

camp at Cottonwood

The second night I was there I'd just gone to sleep when my horses got into a fight and an ORO mare tried to escape by jumping over the barb-wire fence, but she didn't quite make it. I had to cut her out of there and drive the 3.5 hours home to doctor on her and catch a replacement.

The next couple of days went pretty good. The cattle were fat and there was a lot of feed left. If I owned the whole place I might have left them there a while longer, but I figured I better stick to the plan. They were really scattered and the biggest bunch I trailed up only had about 5 cows and their calves in it. On the 4th day I started out of the little holding trap with about 40 cows and their calves and a few bulls (about 80 head, total).

heading for Smith Canyon

They left the holding trap in fine style and strung out about 1/4 mile as they traveled up the road. I was pretty proud of them as at the rate we were traveling I figured to make the 4 mile drive by noon and still have plenty of time to brand the handfull of late long-eared calves in the bunch. That was when I snapped the picture above.

If I had been up on the point where I should have been instead of back there farting around with my little camera patting myself on the back, I probably could have kept the leaders from turning up Mud Spring canyon to get a drink instead of staying on the road like I wanted em to. But I wasn't and they did and when I ran up there to turn em around another little bunch went down the canyon and pretty soon I had cattle scattered all over the place. This was when I began to re-think my idea about how efficient it would be to just work this pasture by myself.

After many bad words and a lot of effort by my little mexican horse Noriega ( Frank Begay re-named him "Osama" because he's hard to catch), I finally got em lined out and up the road to where I was gonna brand the calves and put em through the gate. Which I would have done if I hadn't figured out when I counted them that I was short 4 cows and had split 2 pairs - a red steer and a black heifer hadn't mothered up and were looking back down the road.

I went back to Mud Springs where I'd spilled them and cut for sign around the outside of where I'd been and sure enough there went their tracks back down the canyon towards camp. I overhauled them about 45 minutes later and we turned around and made the drive again. The red steer got tired of waiting, crawled through the fence and came trotting down the road to meet us. He and his mom were pretty glad to see each other.

When I quit for the week I was still short about 35 cows, but I found a hole in the fence between us and the neighbors. Frank and I will go over there when they work and then we'll try to find whatever is left in Cottonwood. Job security.

We've made 4 trips to France in the last couple of years and this fall I'm trying to edit on that project. That is pretty much what I've been up to when I haven't been out chasing cows. Here's a trailer
for the show.

The country was really beautiful ... way different scenery than I'm used to in Arizona. Lots of big timber, lush meadows and spectacular views. Water everywhere.

above Corral Lake

John, me, Monty, Jacque, Cynthia, Gerry
photos by Charlie

Charlie and Sara

John really knows the country and how to get around a pack string, and a dutch oven too.

John took over the family ranch in Twisp when his dad died a few years ago. He's got quite a string of horses and mules there now. He's packed in the area most of his life, with a stretch in the middle as a smoke-jumper fighting fires. He kept us entertained with great poems and stories.

In keeping with the theme this summer of "fire", we had a big one southeast of us, 94000 acres in the Methow Valley. We could see the smoke but the prevailing winds kept it going the other way. John told us stories about jumping into thick forests ... how you aimed for the tops of the trees so your chute wouldn't get fouled on the way down. I said what do you mean, the TOP of the tree? He said yeah you just try to get a bearhug on it as soon as you can. Look for one with some spring in it but not too much. He said they usually carried 150 ft. ropes to let themselves down, but sometimes had to use the 250 footers.

One afternoon Gerry, Monty, Jacque and I decided to go fishing. I thought I could short cut the trail to the lake and led us off into the trees and bogs till I got us way too far below the lake. Fortunately a deer jumped up in front of my horse and I fell off him ... after Monty caught him for me he showed us where the lake really was. I may never live it down. Well, I probably could forget about it but I doubt if Monty will let me. It was worth it though because at the lake Monty caught the tastiest batch of cutthroat trout I have ever eaten.

TR Stewart trotted over from his camp that evening and played us some great music. We had a little jam.

Next day John was telling us Canada was pretty close and I'd always wanted to see Canada so John took Charlie and me to the border for lunch.

John and Charlie head for the border.

Seemed way too soon to be packing up on that last morning. All in all a great trip. I was really sorry to see it end. The Riggs' are great folks, and I'm sure we'll be friends a long time. They're sure easy to travel with.

Charlie's easy to travel with, too, positive, solid, always thinking, and keeps you laughing.

Got to know John a lot better on this trip, and I'm glad for that as well. He generously gave me some good packing lessons, much appreciated, and some good conversation, too. He showed us some beautiful country, mounted us good, led us good,fed us good and caused us to have a lot of fun.

Thanks John, thanks Riggs's. thanks Western Folklife Center

(ps If you're passing through Twisp John can line you up with a day ride on his ranch or point you to one of the outfitters he does contract work for if you're interested in a longer trip.)

After the burns the oak brush comes right back and the new growth is really tender for 3 or 4 years. Trails open up and springs start running again. We would find 70% of the cattle in those pastures over in the burns, in areas they never used to use. I think fire is a good thing here for everything but houses.

Rincon fire 1 week later

Welcome to this page. Thanks for stopping by. Thanks also to my friends at the Western Folklife Center for giving me a chance to participate in this digital adventure. I'm flattered to be included in the crew they've assembled so far.

I guess the idea is to share a little bit about who we are and what we're doing. I'll try to post some notes and some pictures of what's happening on the ranch.

If we can we'll post some video clips and maybe a little music, too.

We got all but a few cattle I'd left on purpose way up high where there was lots of old dry feed, and drove them off of there into Cottonwood. We cut Frank's cow and her calf back as we figured she was still too weak to make the drive.

The evening Frank and Dustin pulled out we had to go to a wedding. I was kinda wore out as we'd been getting up at 3 to beat the heat and I was looking forward to sleeping in. We had a great time at the wedding but Juanita had to drive home and when we got here at 1:30 am I learned from my neighbor on our answering machine that lightning had started a fire right where I'd left those cows.

I staggered out of bed the next morning and trotted about 5 miles up there and found the fire. It had struck a ridge right below the top of the ranch, burned up a big steep bowl and rimmed out right where the cattle had been, then pretty much laid down and gone to sleep. There were just 2 little trees with visible flames about a foot high. The cows that were there had pulled out. I got behind one old bull that was leaving anyway and started him off towards a tank about 500ft and a quarter mile below. When I got there I found him in a kinda stand-off with 3 firefighters they'd helicoptered in the evening before. We had a good visit. The team leader had been gung ho the night before. He said things really got going for awhile there and he had wanted to call in the air-tankers and the whole nine yards. Fortunately we have a Ranger who is willing to let a fire burn when conditions are right and she had told them to let it go for awhile. All us professionals on the ground there decided it was pretty much out anyway. I told the crew to have the dispatcher call me if they needed me and started for home. The wind picked up a little and it warmed up a lot. I stopped to water my horse down the country a couple of miles and looked back up there. There was smoke all the way across the top of the ridge and in places the flames were probably 20 ft high. The fire would crackle around a big juniper tree and then whoosh, up she'd go. Amazing.
It rained a little that evening and things pretty much quit but we almost had a hell of a fire.

A few days later I went up there to see what was going on and I picked up a little bunch of cows with an extra calf. I started them over to Trail tank and tried to remember where I'd seen that calf before. As we got to the tank it dawned on me. Damn! That's the calf that was following Frank's cow. There she was. Again. Stuck up to her chin.
I probably would have just shot her if Frank hadn't already showed me the way to get her out. This time though, the pickup was about 8 miles away and it was about 3 pm when I found her. I trotted home, got the truck and got her out of there one more time. It rained again and those tanks caught enough water to cover up the bad mud so she'll be allright next time she goes by there.