The Noble Ranch in Cora, Wyoming, was founded by James Mark Noble in the late 1800s and is steeped in tradition and legends.
Samuel Nelson is the fifth generation on the ranch and one of the keepers of family cowboy tales that he grew up hearing from his grandparents and parents.
“The reason that we hang on to these stories is it’s a great thing to remember where you come from and what it took to get there,” Nelson said.
The stories are also entertaining, and Nelson enjoys sharing them with family and friends.
“Some of them you need to decipher if there’s truth to it or if it’s all just fiction,” Nelson said.
He gave an example from his grandfather, Nelson.
“My grandpa was left-handed, and when he was young, he lost his thumb in a rope accident,” Nelson said. “He would tell us that he and his brother were trying to get a moose out of a bog hole that got stuck there after they had killed it.”
The two brothers roped the moose carcass and were trying to pull it out. To do so, they needed to keep their horses in sync. When his horse jumped to pull, it flipped his grandpa’s hand down into the dally and popped his thumb off.
“Grandpa said that an old raven came and grabbed it, and before they could do anything, he flapped off with it,” Nelson said. “I still don’t know if it’s true or not.”
Wyoming Beginnings
Family stories have been passed down in the Noble and Nelson families for generations. Nelson said that his great-great grandpa James Mark Noble came from Pennsylvania and the stories he told his family about his arrival in the Cowboy State have been preserved for generations.
“He came as a young man, bringing cows to the Sundance area of Wyoming,” Nelson said. “He had a horse named Rosy Punch, and he had just the nastiest old cow boss you ever dealt with.”
When James reached Wyoming, he was fed up with the treatment he was receiving and decided it needed to end.
“He carved himself a handle into an old prickly pear and waited until the boss went to bed,” Nelson said. “He then took that prickly pear and paddled that boss’s butt as many times as he could.”
By the time the boss struggled out of his sleeping bag, the young James Noble had saddled his horse and taken off for greener pastures.
All the cowboys were shouting, “Go, Rosy Punch! Go!”
James then landed in South Pass, did some mining there before homesteading in the Cora area where the family ranch is still set up today.
“A few things have changed just a little bit, but for the most part, it’s all the same,” Nelson said. “We still have the same barns, the same outbuildings, tack room and the old blacksmith shop.”
According to Nelson, the stories that have been passed down over the years give deeper meaning to the family ranch. He records the ones he knows in journals for his daughters, the sixth generation of their family growing up in Wyoming.
Preserving The Ranch
After leaving the gold fields of South Pass, James Mark Noble established the ranch and then his son Carroll Richard Noble kept it going through the Depression.
“What my grandpa and ancestors did still affect us today,” Nelson said. “They were able to maintain the ranch through the Depression and keep it in the family.”
Nelson has gaps in the story of how exactly the ranch was saved and wishes he could go back in time to ask. What he does know, he heard from his mom, Tina Noble.
“They had the subsidy where the government would pay a certain amount per cow to the rancher,” Nelson said. “But you had to put the cows down in order to receive that money.”
Carroll considered the offer since the family could use the money but ultimately turned it down. He chose instead to keep their herd intact and refused the subsidy.
“One of my grandfathers had an old truck and would do outhouse cleaning for people during the Depression and things like that,” Nelson said. “Not a fun job, but it was a money maker and at least kept food on the table.”
Nelson’s grandpa, Richard “Dick” Noble, carried on the tradition of hard work and preserving their stories.
When Dick was a young kid, his grandfather took him to the hobo camps in Rock Springs, and the trip left an impression on him that he passed down to his daughter and grandson.
“Grandpa said that the men would invite them into their camp and share what little food was in their stew pot,” Nelson said. “This taught my grandpa to value the food they had.”
When the steak was tough or when Nelson would complain about something, his grandpa would tell that story.
A Tradition Of Storytelling
“I’m a storyteller,” Nelson said. “I’ve always been enthralled with the stories of my ancestors and what they had to go through, and then just their lessons that came from that.”
Nelson said not all the stories were about humor or lessons. Some were just about how life was as they built up the ranch.
“I can remember my grandpa telling me stories of how his dad, Carroll, used to stack the loose hay,” Nelson said. “He used to ride up and he’d look over the haystacks to see how much hay they had.”
During drought years, Carroll could still see the bottom of the haystack because there wasn’t enough hay to put in the haystacks.
“They just took in another notch in their belt and away they went,” Nelson said.
Preserving The Future
Nelson said that by preserving these stories, it gives him a connection to his family and hometown. It also inspires him to do his own part by remembering what his family had done.
“My grandpa was one that helped sign the bank note to get the drift fence put in so that the cowboys had a way to push their cows up,” Nelson said.
Dick Noble also supported his community by putting his name on the note for the Pinedale Rodeo grounds so that they could be financed by the bank to purchase that property. This is part of the legacy that Nelson wants his daughters and extended family to remember.
“By knowing and sharing these stories I draw near to my family,” Nelson said. “Those that have passed on but have left a Noble Legacy for me to follow and my family doesn’t seem too far away when I speak of them.”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
