Gail Steiger

Plains to Pampas '06

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 21:40:25 +0000

Nov. 27 - Dec. 11

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.

Working in Cottonwood - fall 06

Sat, 28 Oct 2006 02:00:43 +0000

Last month I had to move some cattle down the country into our Smith Canyon pasture, according to the annual operating plan we'd agreed on with the Forest.

looking down into Smith Canyon

Gardians

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 06:18:51 +0000

My friend Lorraine Rawls is a singer/songwriter I met at the NCPG in Elko several years ago. For a couple of years Lorraine talked about going to France. I always said sounds great take me with you and she always said ok, I'll find us a gig and I never really thought anything would come of it. Next thing I know she's not only gone over there and lived with a French family for a month while taking a total immersion French course, she's found these French cowboys. They raise bulls for these bloodless bullfights and they are really cool and she's gonna put together an exhibit on them and could I come shoot some video for the exhibit.

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.

Cascades pack trip with Western Folklife Center

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 00:57:38 +0000

Mid august I got to go on a 4 day pack trip generously donated by John Doran to benefit the Western Folklife Center. Two couples, Gerry & Cynthia Riggs and Monty & Jacque Riggs (good friends but not relatives) bought the trip at last year's silent auction. Charlie Seemann came along to rep for the Folklife Center. What a great time!

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.

Fire

Wed, 09 Aug 2006 06:12:36 +0000

Fire is amazing while it lives and it's influence is felt long after it has died. We welcome it in brush country, where the regrowth it stimulates is highly palatable and nutritious. USFS did several controlled burns on this ranch in the 80's and the results were really good. They burned areas where the brush had taken over everything. It was taller than a person horseback and nothing used it, no deer, cattle, javelina ... nada.

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.

First try

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 03:37:24 +0000

Howdy,

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.

summer '06

Sat, 15 Jul 2006 23:07:55 +0000

For the last few years the big question around here is where will you have water from June-August. We have several dirt tanks on the mesas and lots of live water (springs and creeks) which is fine when it rains but can get pretty scary when it doesn't. It got pretty dry here from 2000 - 2002 and it was real scary. This year we got no rain from October05 - March06. None. We'd had a good summer last year though and there was still some tank water up on the mesa where the cows were this spring, but not much and towards the middle of June I got nervous as usual, and started to move off the mesa down into Cottonwood, where this year there was plenty of water in the creek.

Cottonwood Pasture

Sat, 15 Jul 2006 23:00:17 +0000

cottonwood pasture

ranch description

Sat, 15 Jul 2006 18:04:13 +0000

The Spider is a relatively small ranch. 300 head Forest permit on 68 sections.6 big pastures and a few smaller ones All pretty rough country. Lot of variety. Top end is about 6000ft. Pine trees and cedar mesas and bottom is 3400ft. Sonoran desert. Lot of granite boulders and chaparral in between. Lions, deer, elk, bears, coyotes, javalina and lots of other little critters.
This is a cow/calf operation where we calve in the spring and try to ship yearlings weighing around 700lbs.the following spring. Cows are pretty much on their own. We only feed bought hay to the horses we have up and to the cows sometimes when we're working and can get a pickup and trailer to whatever little holding pasture we're working into. We provide salt and mineral supplements and that's about it.
My job is mostly about trailing them up and rotating pastures according to a plan we develop with the Forest Service in January every year. Sometimes it's hard to figure out in January when and where it's going to rain in July and August and we have to adjust accordingly. We really have 2 growing seasons. Spring and Summer/Fall. If our summer rain is late sometimes that season can be pretty short. I try to not be in the same pasture during the same growing season for 2 years in a row. This is a little harder then just having a summer country and a winter country as cattle don't really know where they're going all the time, but I think it's a lot better for the country to let the perennial grasses have a chance to make seed at least every other year. I try to make a move around the middle of April, then again around the middle of July, and again middle of the fall. We stay long (5-6 months) in the winter.
I try to torture these cows as little as possible. The only processing they get is when we brand and vaccinate the calves. No hormones, antibiotics, bug spray or anything else not absolutely necessary. We drive them everywhere they go. The only time they get on a truck is when they're getting sold. All this really helps keep them gentle and that really helps in this rough country. I hire 1 or 2 day working friends to help me the first week or two of a move, and we'll usually get about 70% of the cattle in the pasture, then I pretty much go find the remnant by myself. There's always a little remnant somewhere. Job security.