Last fall the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame recognized Chris LeDoux with the Cowboy Spirit Award, which is given to someone who has promoted, preserved, and honored the lifestyle of Wyoming cowboys.
The lyrics in one of LeDoux’s best-known songs “You Just Can’t See Him From The Road” could be a theme for the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame: “He’s worn a lot of leather off the tree; He’s had one or two good horses that he counts among his friends; He never drew a breath that wasn’t free.”
The chorus of that great song reflects a cowboy “out there ridin’ fences” where he “makes his livin’ with his rope” as he is “ridin’ for the brand.”
Wyoming’s working cowboys fit that mold and it’s true you don’t always see them from the road. Instead, they are in the back country and out in the big wide open herding cattle and sheep. It’s an industry started two centuries ago that is still going strong.
The Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame mission is to preserve, perpetuate, and celebrate Wyoming’s working cowboy legacy and heritage. Since its founding a dozen years ago, the WCHF has recognized more than 500 working cowboys with induction. And the organization is seeking nominations now for the Class of 2025.
To qualify a cowboy must be at least 65 years of age and have made a livelihood working horseback for at least 45 years. The cowboys in the WCHF are both men and women; gender doesn’t matter as long as the individual can do the job.
To make a nomination, prepare a written biography of the cowboy, focusing on the work they have done handling livestock, riding the range, and most of all in the saddle. Add details about ranches where they worked, gather up some photos, and make a submission.
While the WCHF recognizes men and whom who still do cowboy work every day, many inductions are posthumous.
Among the legacy cowboys who have been inducted are George Amos who started working for the Keeline Ranch in Campbell County in 1884 and became the ranch foreman. At the time the ranch operated on open range that required a lot of riding. Cow camps were set up across that range and Amos and the cowboys who worked for him had to cover many miles in between camps.
Horses were essential and the main form of travel in those days. Amos literally covered hundreds of miles and the cowboy work was his life.
By 1906, the Keeline brothers were running 33,000 sheep and 30,000 head of cattle on the open range across northeastern Wyoming. They built a monstrous horse barn 60 by 80 feet that stalled 40 horses and held 150 tons of hay in its loft (it’s still visible from Highway 50, 16 miles south of Gillette).
It took two roundup wagons with up to 70 cowboys all summer and fall to brand and ship the cattle. They shipped two complete trainloads of cattle every two weeks. George Amos and those Keeline cowboys definitely were the cowboys you never saw from the road. He was inducted into the WCHF in 2024.
Marie Jordan Bell was born in Laramie County, Wyoming to Iron Mountain rancher John L. Jordan and Jeannette Liggit Jordan on June 8, 1898.
All Marie ever wanted to do was work outside with horses and cattle. She got her first horse at age four; broke her first horse at age nine; worked extensively with her father throughout her childhood, teens, and early 20s; and helped the Swan Land and Cattle Company on their last roundup when she was in her late teens or early 20s.
The spurs that the Swan gave her in appreciation are now in the collection of the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum.
After she married John Bell, they leased the Polo ranch outside of Cheyenne and ran the Bell Packing plant in Cheyenne. They ran cattle and sheep and trained polo ponies, which they sold back East. John traveled a lot so Marie became the working partner.
After the Depression land prices plummeted and the hard days at the packing plant paid off when John and Marie were able to buy the Iron Mountain Ranch in 1938. She spend her days riding and working with the livestock, and was inducted into the WCHF in 2020.
If you know someone like these cowboys, consider nominating them to the WCHF. Nominations are accepted until Feb. 15. For full information and a nomination form visit www.wyomingcowboyhalloffame.org.
Candy Moulton is the executive director of the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame. She can be contacted at Candy.L.Moulton@gmail.com
