The High Lonesome

 

Howdy, my name is Chip.

I am a rancher in the southeastern corner of Wyoming.

I live in a state that is still pretty young comparatively speaking, and I have seen or experienced a good deal of it’s history. My background and hobbies have enabled me to learn and experience many of the things that make Wyoming unique. My family homesteaded here nearly a hundred years ago and we have grown with the young state.

My Dad remembers the day the U.S. Cavalry patrol stopped at the place to water their horses. They were out looking for a bunch of Souix Indians that had jumped the reservation and were out on a horse stealing raid.

When I was a young boy I met and talked with a very old Souix Indian. He had been at the Battle Of The Little Big Horn, when Custer and his command were killed.
He had been a young boy and had been told to stay out of the fighting, but he saw some of the battle from a nearby hill.

I have driven the old "Cheyenne to Deadwood Stagecoach" with an 8-horse hitch, lived in a Tipi, trapped beaver in cold mountain streams, hunted with a muzzle loading rifle, talked to my son during “Desert Storm” via satellite, and now I talk to my friends all over the world on this magic box.

I guess when I look back on it, my life has been pretty eventful. I rode a horse 4 miles to a one room school between neighboring ranches. There was one other student and one teacher. It was 40 miles to high school and I graduated in the largest class in the history of the school. There were 13 of us.

I have met three United States Presidents, two cabinet officers, I don’t know how many senators and congressmen
and I am not a politician.

I’ve gotten drunk with, been in shooting contests with, been hunting and fishing with movie stars. I was trying to break up a bar fight one night, and a future Governor of Wyoming stood back to back with me, I hauled him and his wife around the state after he was elected.

My wife Linda and I were both in law enforcement for years. I was a Wyoming Highway Patrolman and my badge number was #25. Linda became a Deputy Sheriff and with a little coercion on my part with the Sheriff, she wound up with the same badge number as me....... #25.

We now live back on the ranch 40 miles from Cheyenne, Wyoming. It is 40 miles to the nearest grocery store, and so quiet that there are times I can here the rumble of trains on tracks over 20 miles away.

I call this place "The High Lonesome."

Linda and I have a hobby called "Buckskinning." It's the re-creation of the lifestyle and skills of the old mountain men of the 1820's and 30's.

Now I spend my spare time visiting with my friends on the internet and writing stories about mountain men and cowboys and a feller named "Iggy."

You can learn more about all of this
by reading my stories below.

I've dug ditches and dinosaurs and worked at the United Nations. Some day I am going to retire and start riding the grub line again and meet all the wonderful people I have met on the internet.

You know when I get to thinking about it,
it has been quite a ride.

See ya down the trail!!!

4/23/01