  |
|
Inside the Santa Ynez Valley Magazine - Summer 2002
|
Shortly after dawn in May 2002, some 20 friends and neighbors gathered at
Jim Buell's ranch for a round up. (top photo) |
At Left, an 1889 photo shows a round up from an earlier generation, also at the Buell ranch .In that era, after round up the cattle were driven to Gaviota where they were loaded onto transport trains. (above) |
Ranch manager Willy Norlin guides a cattle trailer up to an ancient loading chute. 70 cattle fit into each double-decker trailer.
(top right)
|
|
"Everything depends on the grass, " says Willy Norlin, long-time manager of Jim's two spreads, La Rancheria and Rancho Jonata, "so everyone's rounding up at the same time. Everybody helps each other out&emdash;that's how the Rancheros Vistadores got started."
Just after dawn, 20 hands gather at La Rancheria, men and women clad in jeans, sturdy shirts, down vests, and riding boots, some sporting brand new hats, others the occasional glint of jewelry. Their breath steams in the cool air, horses dance and shift, and dogs brim with studied excitement as the riders secure cinches and adjust tack, sip coffee, or simply savor the task ahead.
By mid-day, Willy's crew has nudged and cajoled most of the cattle into a 100-acre holding field where the edgy bovines spend the night in a bunch. The following morning, the cowpokes work as a team to move the animals into rustic corrals (rescued from the bottom of Lake Cachuma before it became a lake) and onto trucks that will carry them to a feedlot in Nevada.
In 1867, R. T. Buell bought the entire sprawling 26,000 acre Spanish land grant called Rancho San Carlos de Jonata and built an operation that set the standard for working ranches in Santa Barbara County. Today, his great grandson, Jim Buell, runs the family business much as his forebear did, but instead of driving his cattle to Gaviota to meet the transport trains, he and his crew load them into semis parked near the ranch gates that border Highway 101.
Taking a break from his old fashioned labors, Willy Norlin admits, "Round up hasn't changed much over the years, that's the interesting thing about it. Same pasture, same thing, except for the trucks. It's a lot of work, but a lot of fun, too. I like the action, all the cowboys, the whole project. After all the hard work of keeping the cattle fed and healthy, it's like seeing your harvest in the corral"
Despite the century, the space travel and wireless toys, today's round ups prove that horseflesh and sweat, cattle and teamwork still prevail on working ranches and remain fundamental features of the code of the west. |
