Keeping the Family Ranch Afloat
Isn't a Choice for these Women—
It's their Life


Visions of the West
by Andy Anderson

Grace Tingstrom gets to do it all on the ranch she and her husband operate alongside Idaho's Snake River.       Death and taxes aren't the only obstacles that family-run ranches must face. In Idaho's Great Basin, where the winters are long and the cowboys speak Basque, the talk often turns to other enemies that prey upon these homegrown operators such as cheap foreign beef and the latest series of restrictions on grazing government land. Many a fine rancher has fallen victim to these woes, but each of the women whom I was privileged to photograph is determined to make sure that the legacy that was passed on to her continues with the next generation. That's not a prop, it's a working sheep wagon behind Aggie Brailsford whose ranches are spread out over 150 miles.     Following their days and documenting their ways was an exhausting endeavor. Each of them puts in the kind of hours that make an eight-hour day come across like a day off. They don't choose to work this hard; they do because it is who they are. To the core. None would be happier doing anything else, anywhere else. It was an honor to spend the day with each one of them. They are truly remarkable women. Many Westerners know Katie Breckenridge's B-Bar-B Ranch because of her annual Women of the West Performance Horse Sale, which is now in it's sixth year.

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