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When a brutal winter storm puts a herd of cattle at risk, I faced a choice: turn back or keep going into dangerous conditions because something living is depending on him. In this true ranch story, we explore winter cattle feeding, fear and survival, hard-earned ranch knowledge, and the cowboy code that teaches responsibility when no one is watching. It’s a conversation about courage versus recklessness, caring for livestock, and faith under pressure.
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Kent Rollins
Cowboy Cooking, Cast Iron, Outdoor Cooking, Grilling, Dutch Oven Cooking
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
I get up that morning 4:00, make me some
0:02
coffee and walk outside. I get to
0:04
realizing
0:05
this is an epic storm for us in our
0:08
country. Record snowfall.
0:11
Drifts
0:12
5 to 8 ft. I can remember getting stuck
0:15
in a pickup thinking, "Ain't much
0:17
[music] diesel in here. I'm 7 mi from
0:20
the house. I ain't seen nobody. Maybe I
0:23
can get out. Maybe I won't."
0:29
Howdy. My name is Kent Rollins. I've
0:32
been a cowboy and a chuck wagon [music]
0:33
cook for over 30 years, cooking for
0:36
ranches all across America. You might
0:38
have seen me [music] on the Food Network
0:39
or alongside my beautiful wife Shannon
0:41
on our YouTube show where we share
0:43
cowboy cooking from the trail. But now
0:45
[music] we're going to take you behind
0:47
the scenes to real campfire
0:49
conversations. Join us as we share
0:51
humor, cowboy wisdom, and stories full
0:53
of history, heart, faith, and of course,
0:56
a little fire. So grab you a cup of
0:58
coffee, pull up a chair, and welcome to
1:01
the podcast.
1:07
>> I want to start off this episode
1:11
making it this is from a listener's
1:13
comment.
1:14
And it
1:16
it disturbed me a little bit
1:19
because it said that Major sleeps like
1:24
why does Major sleep so much? He's super
1:26
cute, but why does he sleep so much?
1:27
Lady, do you know how hard this dog
1:29
works?
1:30
>> [laughter]
1:30
>> Do you know how hard it is to lay here
1:32
during these episodes, not move? He's in
1:35
his like look at this Lola bed. He he
1:38
upgraded his bed.
1:40
>> Oh, yeah.
1:40
>> So I think I I don't know. You guys
1:42
comment all the time. It's so funny
1:44
because
1:44
>> woke up a little.
1:45
>> He's moving. You'll write like, "Oh, at
1:47
minute 5:42 Major moved."
1:50
So, but if you were in this bed, man,
1:53
would you move?
1:54
>> I have seen a lot of comments that say,
1:56
"You know, I didn't know if he was
1:57
real."
1:58
>> I know.
1:59
>> Uh it is it is hard being a schnauzer,
2:01
but it's really hard to have to sit and
2:03
do podcast all the time.
2:05
>> I mean, you guys know. You listen to us.
2:07
Hopefully, you're not sleeping through
2:08
it.
2:08
>> going to give this man's name, but he he
2:10
left a comment that really touched my
2:12
heart. You know, and uh
2:14
it was um
2:16
about can we fix things, you know, from
2:18
what we did before.
2:19
>> Yeah.
2:20
>> And he said, "I want you and Shannon to
2:21
know
2:22
I've never fixed a lot of stuff in my
2:24
life till I started watching y'all's
2:26
videos. And now
2:28
I fix food and I take to people."
2:30
>> Aw.
2:31
>> He said, "Y'all fixed my broken heart
2:34
when I lost a loved one.
2:37
And now I need to give back. So, we can
2:39
all fix something, you know? And folks,
2:42
I might not get all your comments
2:44
answered, but I see every one of them. I
2:46
do. And uh it's a great thing to have
2:49
such a great family.
2:50
>> Yeah, absolutely. Um I do also want to
2:53
say if you're watching on YouTube, can
2:55
you notice my new shirt I just got? And
2:58
it says cast iron cowgirl because our
3:03
new season is coming up on the Outdoor
3:06
Channel. It's called the Cast Iron
3:08
Cowboy. I didn't get a nod in that
3:10
title, so I had to make my own shirt.
3:13
>> [laughter]
3:13
>> And so, that's coming up in September.
3:15
What do we know the date?
3:16
>> It's like 26th or 7th, something like
3:19
that.
3:19
>> Okay, we'll post that officially. You
3:20
can look it up, but it'll be on the
3:22
Outdoor Channel.
3:23
Um okay, season 2.
3:25
>> Guys, it was fun.
3:26
>> Oh, it was.
3:26
>> We went to some wild places. We set the
3:29
wagon up in Florida next to a palm tree,
3:32
which was wild. Um
3:34
did kind of gator hunting.
3:36
>> Yeah. It's uh
3:37
A lot of great ranches and great people.
3:39
>> to a sheep ranch, and Wendy showed us
3:44
the stock dog training for sheep, which
3:46
was unreal.
3:47
>> Yeah. I don't think I don't think Midge
3:49
can pass.
3:50
>> Our dogs are too lazy to be working
3:52
dogs.
3:53
They're on They're all on the couch
3:54
right now.
3:55
>> They They ain't hard.
3:56
>> But okay, so like speaking of um the
3:58
Cast Iron Cowboy season 2, you got we
4:01
got into a wild storm in one of these
4:05
and I was
4:06
I was going to kill you if the storm
4:08
didn't kill you because
4:10
uh you were So, we've got the tarp, the
4:13
fly of the wagon, which is the tarp that
4:15
goes over connects to the wagon goes
4:16
over camp. Our stove is under it. That's
4:19
where we cook. And this storm comes out
4:21
of nowhere. We're in Wyoming.
4:24
And it's looking bad. And I remember I'm
4:28
screaming you can't really hear me
4:29
because the wind and the rain's coming
4:31
down so hard. And you're standing there
4:33
in the middle holding a metal pole as
4:37
this lightning is going all around you.
4:38
And I was so mad. I was like, "Get like
4:41
you have to let it go." And you were
4:42
just like, "I can't." You were laughing.
4:45
Chris Morton was sitting there laughing.
4:46
You guys didn't care. And you're like,
4:48
"I don't want it to tear up the fly."
4:50
>> You had a job to do. You were
4:51
responsible.
4:53
This was something that I cared about
4:55
and that it took care of me and provided
4:57
for me. So,
4:59
>> But is it worth your life?
5:01
>> A lot of times it is.
5:03
>> So, that's what we're going to get into
5:04
is an epic storm.
5:06
>> Ooh.
5:06
>> And I asked you before we started this
5:09
episode. I said, "Was this like a bad
5:11
storm? Was this the last storm?" And you
5:13
said this was the most significant
5:16
harshest storm that you had ever
5:18
experienced when having to look out for
5:23
cattle.
5:24
>> Yeah, for livestock.
5:25
>> Give me all the information like where
5:27
Where are you at? What's happening
5:29
before the storm hits?
5:30
>> Southwest Oklahoma. I'd say
5:33
I want to say it's 2009,
5:35
maybe 2010.
5:37
In December,
5:39
uh 3 or 4 days before just like
5:41
Southwest Oklahoma can be,
5:44
50s.
5:44
>> Oh gosh.
5:45
>> You know?
5:46
And but you you listen to the weather.
5:48
>> Okay, let's go ahead and take a look at
5:49
our blizzard warning. So, what are the
5:51
chances of the factory stand at zero
5:54
>> coldest temperatures of the season
5:56
coming.
5:57
>> This is an Oklahoma blizzard, one that
5:58
you may not have ever seen, and folks
6:00
will be talking about this one for
6:02
generations.
6:03
>> Record snowfall.
6:05
Drifts
6:06
5 to 8 ft. You know, and our country
6:10
down in Southwest Oklahoma, you get 3 in
6:12
snow and wind blow 40 mph, you can get
6:14
some big drifts, you know.
6:15
Uh you want that moisture to stay out
6:17
there in the field, but a lot of times
6:18
it's just blowed up hanging up on
6:20
something else.
6:21
But you know, you you get to thinking
6:23
and you know,
6:24
it ain't going to happen, you know. And
6:26
weatherman have missed it so many times.
6:28
>> Okay, and we have kind of discussed this
6:31
with weatherman and predicting weather.
6:34
And so, were you you looking for any
6:37
nature signs, telltale signs? Like, what
6:40
were you looking at from past experience
6:42
that wasn't related to the anchorman was
6:45
telling you?
6:46
>> Well, I think a lot of it was
6:48
um
6:50
you'd see everything feeding more.
6:53
You know,
6:55
there would be
6:56
so many more metal larks that winter.
6:58
And they were just thick everywhere.
7:01
And they were just feeding. Uh what deer
7:03
we did have, you'd see them out all day
7:05
grazing, not just early of a morning,
7:07
late of an evening, you know.
7:10
>> Uh I seen more turkeys probably that
7:12
week too that were just busy. Everything
7:15
was busy. They knew.
7:18
>> Interesting.
7:20
>> And as it got closer, the weatherman
7:21
even upped the amounts and the amount of
7:24
wind.
7:25
You know, so
7:27
when this
7:29
I took it as a deal as
7:30
I'm going to be prepared.
7:33
I'm going to feed cattle heavy before it
7:34
gets here because if this gets really
7:37
bad, I can't get to them.
7:39
>> This is what's interesting about like
7:40
the cowboy life is like you're not only
7:43
looking at this storm for you, but you
7:45
have this entire herd
7:47
>> Oh, yeah.
7:48
>> that is relying on you that you also
7:50
have to think about.
7:51
>> You can't just leave them out there and
7:52
say, "Oh, it's a snow day. I'm going to
7:55
sit in the house and play cards, you
7:58
know?"
7:59
Them This was my mother's livelihood,
8:02
our neighbor's livelihood, my
8:04
livelihood. This was something that was
8:06
instilled in me in my blood from many
8:08
years ago about
8:10
you have something you take care of it.
8:13
So,
8:14
as it even got closer to where the day
8:16
it was going to hit, you know,
8:19
I can remember being like 40°
8:22
that afternoon, but
8:23
you heard of a blue norther?
8:25
>> Yes.
8:26
>> This was one of them. The sky was pretty
8:28
clear that day and you look back up
8:29
towards the north and there was a roll
8:32
of blue and black clouds and a roll of
8:35
dirt that was coming with it.
8:38
You know, and when that hit, uh
8:40
when it probably blowing 40, 50 mile an
8:42
hour when it first hit.
8:43
>> This is not even the beginning of the
8:44
storm.
8:45
>> This is just it coming in, you know,
8:47
ahead of that [clears throat] cold
8:48
front.
8:49
>> Can Can I back you up because I not
8:51
growing up in the cattle industry, what
8:54
are the the things that you are doing to
8:57
prepare for the storm?
8:59
>> Well, first of all, I made sure I had
9:00
plenty feed. That's something you plan
9:02
on back in the summer, you know.
9:04
>> Which that's wild to me like to try to
9:06
have to plan that out.
9:07
>> You want to always have too much.
9:09
>> Yeah.
9:10
>> Running out is not an option, you know.
9:12
We fed a lot of what we call cottonseed
9:14
cake, which was a pellet that was about
9:16
3 or 4 inches long. It was compressed.
9:19
It was made of cottonseed, a little
9:20
molasses, something that's high protein
9:23
cuz when everything is covered with snow
9:25
or it's really cold,
9:27
>> Yeah.
9:27
>> you're not looking for cattle to gain
9:30
weight, you're looking for cattle that
9:32
you want to maintain what they have,
9:34
>> Okay.
9:35
>> build a fire in them cattle. It gives
9:37
them energy, gives them warmth, you
9:39
know.
9:39
>> So you're just scattering feed out?
9:41
>> Well, at times, but you make sure you
9:43
have this. That night I remember going
9:45
down there and loading
9:48
a whole lot of 50-lb sacks of cake in
9:50
the back of the pickup. I didn't have a
9:52
cake wagon. I didn't have a cake feeder.
9:54
This is all by hand, you know.
9:56
But one thing you got to remember, too,
9:59
if there's a lot of snow on the ground
10:00
and you go to dumping cake out there and
10:02
then all them cattle come up, they're
10:03
just tromping it. Can't find it.
10:05
>> Right.
10:06
>> So,
10:07
you have to think what's going to
10:08
happen.
10:09
Um
10:11
Before I went to bed that night cuz I
10:12
fed cattle heavy the evening before,
10:15
made sure everybody You then you get to
10:17
thinking, well, they say it's going to
10:19
be like 9° in the morning, you know,
10:22
wind chill be -25, -30.
10:25
Cattle got They got to drink water.
10:27
>> Yeah.
10:28
>> So, all all the stock tanks, galvanized
10:31
tanks,
10:32
they'll have a float on them hooked to a
10:34
faucet where they get full, faucet shuts
10:36
off.
10:37
That don't work in the winter.
10:38
>> Yeah.
10:39
>> Hose freeze, float freeze, no. So, you
10:42
go around to all the different stock
10:44
tanks and there's a bunch of them for me
10:46
and for the neighbors, and you unscrew
10:48
all the hoses,
10:50
you know. You put the hoses back down in
10:52
the ground in a meter box where you hope
10:54
they don't they're not frozen in the
10:55
morning, and you turn the water off
10:58
because it's going to freeze that tank
11:00
solid.
11:01
I've seen it freeze a 4-ft deep tank
11:04
that's a 16-ft circle solid in ice.
11:08
>> Are you thinking at this point like, ah,
11:09
the weatherman's probably got it wrong?
11:11
>> Well, it's already snowing.
11:12
>> Oh.
11:12
>> You know, so I'm thinking maybe they're
11:14
right. And I'd listen to weather from
11:16
one channel in Oklahoma City and then
11:18
I'd turn it to Amarillo and listen to
11:19
another and sort of think, you know, cuz
11:21
the ice is coming from the northwest,
11:23
not from towards Oklahoma City, you
11:25
know.
11:26
And they were all painting a bad
11:27
picture.
11:27
>> Oh, well, then that's
11:29
>> But I got to thinking to myself that
11:31
night as I laid there cuz I was having
11:32
going to sleep. There was a lot of stuff
11:34
blowing around. You could hear it
11:35
outside.
11:37
How many school kids are laying there
11:39
thinking,
11:40
"Hope it snows enough we don't have to
11:42
go to school."
11:43
>> Mhm.
11:43
>> You know?
11:45
How many ranch kids was thinking,
11:47
"It's going to be a long couple of three
11:49
or four days." You know?
11:51
I get up that morning 4:00, make me some
11:53
coffee, and walk outside
11:56
on the porch and there's a drift that
11:58
comes over my back porch on the
12:00
concrete. It's probably 5-ft high.
12:03
And there was about 10 in of snow on the
12:05
ground and the wind was blowing 35 mph
12:08
and it was 11°.
12:10
I get to realizing
12:12
this is an epic storm for us in our
12:14
country.
12:15
I mean, you couldn't even I hadn't had a
12:18
nightlight that stood down there and set
12:20
of pins. You could not see that light
12:22
because the snow and the wind was
12:24
blowing so hard. It was just dark.
12:27
And I'm thinking, "We ain't feeding cake
12:29
today. We're putting out more hay."
12:31
>> On top of the snow?
12:32
>> On top of the snow because they can feel
12:35
it. They can see it.
12:36
>> What is the biggest danger to cattle in
12:38
an oncoming storm like this?
12:40
>> Well, first of all, do you have enough
12:41
protection on them if it's really cold
12:43
that you can prevent frostbite? If snow
12:46
gets really deep and you have an old cow
12:48
that's maybe getting close to calving or
12:50
a heifer and she's got a pretty good
12:53
udder system on her.
12:55
Uh if them are dragging in snow and
12:57
they're cold, the snow's deep, what's
12:59
happening? Frostbite.
13:01
You freeze a quarter one of them udders,
13:04
ain't no more milk.
13:05
If you've got cows that's calving at
13:07
this time and we had a few on my
13:09
mistake, they shouldn't have calved till
13:10
about February. There was some young
13:12
calves on the ground.
13:14
>> During the storm?
13:15
>> Yeah. And if them calves are laid down,
13:17
say they're out of the wind at a time,
13:19
but that wind is swirling,
13:21
a lot of these cattle are not freezing
13:23
to death. A lot of these cat baby calves
13:26
are drowning because that snow is
13:28
blowing up through their nostrils,
13:30
melting as it gets in their lungs,
13:32
[music] you know.
13:38
>> Kent, you know I am big on skin care.
13:41
>> Yep.
13:42
>> But I think what the problem is when we
13:44
think about skin care, we think of our
13:46
face. But really we need to look at the
13:48
whole body because it's the largest
13:50
organ of our body is our skin. And
13:52
that's why I love One Skin. One Skin is
13:56
anti-aging products and especially when
13:58
I'm talking about their lotion, women,
14:01
you understand that creepy skin look,
14:03
even for guys.
14:04
>> Yeah.
14:05
>> But One Skin has got that covered
14:07
because of their exclusive peptide that
14:10
they use. In fact, they've actually
14:12
tested over 900 plus peptides and
14:16
they've come up with what they call OS1.
14:19
It's a key driver in tackling aging.
14:24
>> I'm all about some of that aging. We
14:26
work out in some of the most harsh
14:27
conditions there is out there when you
14:29
get the heat and the wind.
14:31
But I know when you said, "Hey, you're
14:34
going to start using this stuff on your
14:35
face."
14:36
I can I can feel the difference. You
14:38
feel like your
14:39
your skin has moisture but you get
14:41
tightness, you know. And it just makes
14:44
me look better and feel better.
14:45
>> It's rugged good looks.
14:46
>> There you go.
14:47
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research, One Skin is helping you unlock
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15:05
That's 15% off oneskin.co
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with code Cowboy Kent. And after you
15:11
purchase, they're going to ask you where
15:13
you heard about them. Please support our
15:14
show and tell them that we sent you.
15:21
Did you have a
15:23
of thinking, "Oh, this is bad."
15:26
And did you have a panic moment?
15:29
>> The only thing that really got me when I
15:30
walked out there and I seen that was
15:33
can I get this done?
15:35
Because there's so many things that had
15:38
to had to work. First of all,
15:42
when I'm talking about feeding hay,
15:44
I don't have a tractor that's got a cab
15:46
on it that's got a heater.
15:48
>> Oh, no.
15:49
>> I just have an open-top tractor that
15:51
I've had hooked up
15:53
with one of them warm and glow plugs and
15:55
the heater and that's the dipstick to
15:58
keep it to where I can start it that
16:00
morning.
16:00
>> Mhm.
16:01
>> And I go out there and start that thing
16:02
plenty early. And I got hay forks on the
16:04
back and hay fork on the front. I can
16:06
carry two bales at a time.
16:08
But you weren't going to drive a
16:09
four-wheel pickup through this, a
16:11
four-wheel drive pickup. It was bad.
16:13
You know,
16:14
um
16:15
when I left the house, I did have
16:17
lights.
16:18
I left the house and I told uh
16:20
my youngest son, Jeff, "I don't know
16:22
when I'll be back.
16:24
There's a lot of things counting on me
16:26
today
16:27
and I hope the good Lord takes care of
16:29
me."
16:30
>> So, you were taking You'd mentioned the
16:31
neighbors.
16:32
>> Yeah.
16:32
>> herd. So, you're taking care of your own
16:34
herd, your mom's herd, and the
16:36
neighbors?
16:37
>> Yeah, because people can't get out. You
16:39
know, Jerry and Ricky were at They were
16:41
with Childress, Texas. They wouldn't
16:42
even get there. They'd closed 287 down,
16:44
you know, plus 62 coming into Hollis.
16:46
And so, I'm thinking
16:48
I'm going to hit mine first, you know,
16:50
and um
16:52
so, you'd back up and you'd
16:54
I knew I'd fed them cattle the night
16:56
before down at the river, you know. Can
16:59
I get to the river in that tractor?
17:00
Where them
17:01
pasture roads, east-west roads, are
17:04
going to drift full, you know,
17:06
especially if they've got something
17:08
for that snow to catch up on one side
17:10
and then blow across. But
17:12
when you load two bales, you got a
17:14
little more weight. And I
17:16
when I get down there and get a little
17:18
closer,
17:19
it's not sunup, but the wind begins to
17:22
lay just a little.
17:24
And I hear that sound that I that I
17:26
wanted to hear, and that's the bellering
17:28
of cows. I'm close because I didn't I
17:30
didn't even see them. No, you didn't
17:32
know where they were at the time. It's
17:33
dark, you know.
17:35
And they were bedded down down there
17:37
close to that river, which was a good
17:38
thing.
17:39
But to get water, that's nearly I'd say
17:42
3/4 of a mile back up there to set of
17:44
pins where the water tank was. So,
17:47
I'm thinking I'm going to feed
17:48
everything.
17:49
I'll break water after lunch, break ice,
17:52
clean the tanks. So,
17:55
you go back since it's two bales at a
17:57
time,
17:58
and you you go back down there. Now,
17:59
I've got on set of insulated coveralls,
18:02
got some good gloves.
18:05
But I ain't wearing no toboggan.
18:07
>> Why?
18:08
>> I just never did really like nothing on
18:10
my ears.
18:10
>> Oh my gosh.
18:11
>> got this old hat pulled down, I got on
18:13
wild rag, you know.
18:16
And I realize I got to have some
18:17
sunglasses. That old snow and stuff and
18:20
the wind blowing across your face all
18:21
the time is just eating my eyeballs up.
18:24
And I'm not going ain't like I'm going
18:25
25 mile an hour. I'm going maybe 10 mile
18:27
an hour, you know.
18:29
Go back up there, get more hay, take it
18:31
back, get more hay, take it back, go to
18:33
another pasture, repeat the same thing
18:35
because cattle are scattered over 3 or 4
18:38
miles in different places, different
18:40
different pastures.
18:42
And then I think
18:44
I need to go and feed Windham's,
18:46
you know.
18:47
So, then I get on that tractor and I go
18:49
4 or 5 miles north of my house, get some
18:52
hay, go to taking his cattle.
18:55
And then I go back down the river to
18:57
take care of another set of cattle.
18:59
>> So,
19:01
you've got limited resources.
19:03
>> Yeah.
19:03
>> It's a horrible storm. It's cold.
19:07
What is it that's driving you to take
19:11
care of other people's stuff when, you
19:14
know, the the instinct would be like
19:16
take care of your own.
19:18
>> Well, sure I'm going to take care of my
19:19
own, but it was raised and instilled in
19:22
us from as long as I can remember.
19:25
You help out.
19:27
If if somebody can't get there or do
19:29
something, you do it for them cuz you're
19:31
there.
19:32
Don't just think, well, I was going to
19:34
feed yours, but you know, my feet was
19:35
cold, so I just went in the house.
19:37
>> Which would probably be kind of easy to
19:38
do, right?
19:39
>> Yeah. Yeah, I'm sorry you lost four cows
19:41
and five baby calves due to that snow.
19:43
You know,
19:44
lost livestock happened in this deal.
19:46
There was quite a bit. Uh
19:49
and cattle could easily get out and
19:51
wander off after some of this quit
19:54
because the snow had drifted over
19:55
fences. They just pack it down, take off
19:57
walking, you know.
19:58
>> You've talked about the cowboy code
20:01
before.
20:01
>> Yeah.
20:02
>> How does the cowboy code play into this
20:04
exact situation?
20:06
>> Riding for the brand. What does that
20:08
mean?
20:08
>> mean?
20:09
>> Well,
20:10
we had cattle at my brand on them, my
20:12
mother's brand on them,
20:14
the guy I was working for his brand, but
20:16
then there was also the neighbor's
20:17
brand. Now, even though it's a
20:19
neighbor's cattle, they weren't mine.
20:22
Well, you know, be a whole lot quicker
20:23
to us feed them one bale for them 50
20:25
cows. They can get by on one bale, you
20:27
know.
20:28
No. When you
20:31
take that code of ethics that I learned
20:32
as being a cowboy and you apply it to
20:34
life and it'll apply where whatever
20:36
you're doing in life,
20:38
you treat them as they were your own.
20:41
That your life depended on it, that you
20:43
take care of them. We're all going to
20:45
face them storms. We're all going to
20:47
have them challenges,
20:49
but you can't turn your back to it and
20:50
say,
20:52
no, today's a snow day, you know, I'm
20:54
going to stay in the house. If we'd have
20:56
done that and never got out,
20:58
how many cattle would have died?
21:00
What would that have looked at if people
21:02
would come down later and say,
21:04
no, I thought you was a pretty good
21:05
fellow, but look, there's 10 dead cows
21:07
out there, dead baby calves. You got a
21:09
lot of hay, why don't you go feed them?
21:12
You know?
21:13
You have to realize when you take on a
21:16
responsibility
21:18
that you have to fulfill the task, no
21:20
matter what the weather is, no matter
21:22
what the conditions are that you're
21:24
facing, you have to step out in it, you
21:26
have to be brave, you have to be bold.
21:28
Did it hurt? I've never been this cold
21:30
in my life.
21:31
>> Oh, really?
21:32
>> Oh, yeah. It was miserable.
21:33
>> And we did a whole episode of where you
21:35
nearly died of hypothermia.
21:37
>> Yeah. And uh
21:39
it's I can remember getting stuck in a
21:41
pickup too later on that week
21:44
thinking
21:46
ain't much diesel in here. I'm 7 mi from
21:49
the house. I ain't seen nobody.
21:52
Maybe I can get out. Maybe I won't.
21:55
But I hated to walk that 7 mi home in
21:57
the snow.
21:58
>> Do you get you were getting finally to
22:01
the first set of cattle?
22:03
>> Yeah.
22:04
>> What do you see? What are you thinking?
22:06
>> Well, I count first cuz everybody's down
22:09
there. And it's light enough that I can
22:10
see.
22:11
>> They're all So, they're going to herd
22:12
up, right?
22:13
>> Oh, yeah. You know? And I'm thinking I
22:15
hope nobody got that feeling in their
22:17
gut like, "Hey, I think I'm going to go
22:19
over here and knock a calf under this
22:20
mesquite tree." You know?
22:22
>> How many How many calves that night?
22:24
>> None for us.
22:25
>> Okay.
22:26
>> Which was good because we tried to have
22:28
calves in February and this storm came
22:29
in December. So, we was pretty lucky. I
22:31
just had two calves that had already
22:33
been born.
22:34
>> But they're still very vulnerable to
22:36
this.
22:37
>> You know?
22:38
We did have some cattle that had
22:39
frostbit ears from this. You know, it'll
22:42
freeze off the edges and they'll just
22:43
fall off. Had some cows that lost some
22:46
quarters on their udders because it just
22:48
too cold.
22:49
>> Oh.
22:49
>> Um
22:50
but
22:51
when I could count and I could see,
22:53
"Okay,
22:54
it's 54 head in this pasture. Count is
22:56
right. So, let's go to the next one."
23:00
But then I remember you you got come
23:01
back.
23:03
You can't just break the ice because
23:05
it's solid.
23:07
Break the ice, scoop it out with a big
23:09
old pitchfork, get the tank clean, fill
23:12
it up with water,
23:14
try to get all them cows to come get a
23:16
drink while it's not frozen
23:18
because you're going to clean that tank
23:19
out every day when it's like this.
23:22
They'd be a pile of ice out there to
23:24
sink the Titanic when we got through
23:25
with all this stuff. And it
23:28
I don't know how many water tanks there
23:29
was.
23:30
There was so many just filling us.
23:33
And we have a great We had a great rural
23:35
water system that we were able to get
23:36
away from the windmills and all this
23:38
stuff and it was easier.
23:40
But
23:42
to me that was some of the worst of it
23:44
because you'd get wet, you know,
23:46
breaking ice and you'd get splattered
23:49
and it was just miserable cold.
23:51
>> I'm curious, was there anything that you
23:53
had learned that was like passed down
23:57
that you had to pull from your like bank
23:59
of knowledge during this storm?
24:02
>> Should have been a doctor.
24:04
>> [laughter]
24:05
>> Should have had a nice cushy office job.
24:07
>> Nah, I think what I learned most of all
24:09
from my dad and them because they went
24:10
through this more than I did, you know,
24:12
back in the '30s and the '40s.
24:14
>> Was that because weather was the natural
24:16
conditions were worse or
24:17
>> I think so in a way but it wasn't always
24:19
just snow. Sometimes it was drought.
24:21
>> Yeah, okay.
24:21
>> You know, everything else. You know, I
24:23
think the thing that was taking me more
24:24
time than actually feeding cattle was
24:27
having to break ice on all these
24:29
different stock tanks.
24:30
>> Right.
24:31
>> And I'm thinking cuz it'd be
24:33
it's already dark. You ain't even got
24:35
through, you know, and just
24:37
cattle still up there up there up there
24:38
licking the ice wanting to drink, you
24:40
know.
24:41
And then I remembered
24:43
Daddy told me, "If that wind ain't
24:44
blowing
24:46
and you got a 55-gallon barrel
24:49
put some concrete blocks in it,
24:51
something
24:52
put it in that stock tank where it'll
24:53
sink.
24:55
Put you some diesel in there. Put you
24:56
some kerosene in there.
24:58
>> Wait, kerosene in the
25:00
>> In the barrel. Make sure it ain't going
25:01
to leak.
25:02
>> Yeah.
25:03
A lot of fire.
25:04
>> In the Oh, in the barrel. It's Oh.
25:08
>> It ain't going to freeze.
25:10
You know, and
25:11
it you might run out You might burn all
25:13
the fuel, but I'd learned You sort of
25:15
need a wick like a candle, you know, to
25:17
keep keep things going or keep it They
25:21
have a have a vent on them barrels, bung
25:23
holes where you can unscrew it to get
25:24
some air out. Just give it a little air.
25:27
Get you a bed of coals in there. Get
25:28
something that's going to go to where
25:29
you can keep that water warmed up a
25:31
little. That way when I'd go back that
25:33
tank tomorrow, it might have had No,
25:35
maybe this much ice, 2 in. You know,
25:38
instead of being 3 ft thick.
25:40
And he And he always told me he said,
25:42
"Remember when you're out there and
25:44
you're doing this,
25:45
you may be alone.
25:47
You You You may have to get off and
25:49
walk.
25:50
Always make sure, and he he taught me
25:53
this from experience, I kept a trash bag
25:55
on the tractor. And in that trash bag
25:58
was a dry set of clothes,
26:00
>> Oh.
26:01
>> a dry pair of socks,
26:03
another pair of gloves.
26:05
And that way it was
26:07
I mean, it wasn't like I was going to
26:08
have to do surgery on something. Wasn't
26:10
in there like that. But it was sort of
26:12
like enough to get you by, to keep you
26:13
from freezing to death, to get you home.
26:16
>> Did you run into any medical issues with
26:17
the cows?
26:19
>> Oh, there there were some
26:21
>> [clears throat]
26:22
>> um
26:22
that you knew
26:24
they were going to have frostbite. Um
26:26
You know, and there ain't a whole lot
26:27
you can do to prevent that after they
26:28
got it. But uh
26:30
anything that I seen even of the
26:32
neighbors that I thought was close to
26:34
calving, I'd think, "Here's what we're
26:36
going to do, sugar.
26:38
So, when you come up to get a drink
26:39
today, and cattle are a whole lot easier
26:42
to pen when they're hungry or they need
26:44
a drink,
26:45
we're just going to keep you up here in
26:47
this lot at this barn, and I'm going to
26:49
shut you up in that barn. That way if
26:51
you have this baby calf through all
26:52
this, we got a whole lot better chance
26:55
that he ain't going to freeze to death,
26:56
you know, because
26:58
I I remember during that storm in that
27:00
year there
27:02
I found I found cattle for you know, we
27:05
didn't lose any we were very fortunate,
27:06
but the neighbors I'd find some of
27:08
theirs cuz they'd give me the count, you
27:10
know, and you come up one or two short.
27:11
>> Mhm.
27:12
>> And even after the snow quit, they
27:13
stayed on the ground for 2 weeks, you
27:15
know, before it went to warming up good.
27:18
And I'd get horseback and get out there
27:19
and get to looking and you'd find a set
27:21
of tracks wandered off, you know, and
27:23
they'd be an old cow that had a calf,
27:24
but he'd froze to death, you know, so
27:27
it's
27:29
when you think about it, you know, you
27:30
think, "Oh, the West was so romantic,
27:33
the great times that we had, you know,
27:35
singing songs around the campfire."
27:38
>> You know, they do. The cowboy life is
27:41
very romanticized.
27:43
>> Yes.
27:43
>> In Westerns, in books, in movies.
27:46
Um
27:48
but this is not the case.
27:49
>> No, I don't remember anything romantic
27:51
happening during this time, you know. Uh
27:54
it's
27:56
the American rancher and cowboy that's
27:59
out there that's working on these big
28:00
outfits or small outfits, you know,
28:04
you may see him in town and they're in a
28:06
pickup, you know, and or they got a
28:07
horse and trailer and you think, "Oh,
28:08
them guys must have been out riding
28:10
around all day."
28:11
Go with them someday in the winter.
28:12
>> What is the most misunderstood
28:15
aspect of cowboy life that is
28:18
romanticized, do you think?
28:21
>> I think that it's all riding around in
28:22
the pickup pulling a horse trailer or
28:24
you're on your little horse with your
28:27
guitar and your hat thrown back singing
28:30
a little melody, you know.
28:32
>> [laughter]
28:32
>> Uh
28:33
I don't remember none of those times,
28:35
you know.
28:37
Would I trade it for anything in the
28:38
world? No. Best times ever, you know,
28:42
but
28:43
there's a great sacrifice that goes
28:45
along with it. And I think that goes
28:47
back to
28:49
whatever you're doing, whatever you
28:51
think you're going to get done,
28:53
or if you're doing it for the neighbor,
28:55
make sure you're going to treat it like
28:56
it's yours.
28:58
Take pride in it.
29:00
>> How do you think
29:02
caring for livestock or caring for
29:05
somebody else
29:07
in certain situations changes a person
29:09
or how did that change you?
29:11
>> Well,
29:13
I can remember and
29:15
Wendell, dear friend of ours,
29:17
uh he was a carpenter, but he uh
29:20
they couldn't get out there. Jerry and
29:22
Ricky couldn't get out there, his two
29:23
sons. But when it was over,
29:25
they come and try to pay you,
29:27
>> Mhm.
29:27
>> you know, for your time, which I was
29:29
feeding their hay, but if I couldn't
29:31
have got to their hay, I'd have fed them
29:32
our hay. You know, they'd
29:33
[clears throat] give it back to me.
29:33
They'd have replenished the supply.
29:36
I got the biggest blessing for it
29:39
because
29:40
I knew that if I was in a bind and I
29:43
couldn't get somewhere and they were
29:44
there,
29:45
they'd probably treat my things better
29:47
than theirs, you know. I can remember
29:49
folks we'd be gone, me and you. You
29:51
know, my oldest son and his wife, Taryn
29:53
and Chase. When we would be going
29:55
somewhere, we'd say, "Can you water the
29:56
flowers, water the yard?" It looked
29:58
better when we come back.
29:59
>> Mhm.
30:00
>> It's
30:02
it's a great thing to me and makes me
30:04
feel so good to know that when
30:07
>> [clears throat]
30:07
>> you do something and you weren't asked
30:10
to do it.
30:11
I didn't get a call from them, any of
30:13
them say, "Hey, I'm not going to be able
30:14
to get over, you know, can you feed my
30:16
stuff?" It's just instinct. It's just
30:19
something that's in your heart,
30:20
something that's been passed down to you
30:23
from generations, looking out for your
30:25
neighbor.
30:26
>> How long did the storm last?
30:29
>> Ooh.
30:32
I remember having to feed cattle and
30:33
break ice for a solid week, really heavy
30:36
to where most time in the winter I was
30:38
feeding three times a week, you know.
30:41
But I was putting out hay nearly every
30:43
day because when an old when the grass
30:45
and everything is covered with snow and
30:47
it ain't melting,
30:50
they got to have something. So,
30:52
that's somebody bringing hay to them,
30:54
you know. And uh it
30:56
when I finally got me a spot to where
30:57
I'd really packed down a bunch of snow
30:59
with that old tractor running back and
31:00
forth, you know, then I finally come
31:02
down there and I would uh put that
31:04
front-end loader back on that tractor
31:06
and I'd scoop all that snow off to where
31:08
it was just grass again. Then I could go
31:11
to feeding cottonseed cake to where it
31:12
didn't get tromped to death. But,
31:15
I'd say a good week to 10 days, but the
31:19
aftereffects of it lasted longer than
31:21
that because
31:23
you you're you'd look at your hay pile
31:24
and you'd think, "If we have one more of
31:27
these, two more of these storms, are we
31:29
going to make it? Do we have enough hay?
31:31
Do we need to go buy some hay?" Because
31:34
you might have thought you put up enough
31:36
hay,
31:37
but you weren't counting on having to do
31:38
it feed like it's a blizzard every day,
31:42
you know. And I didn't want people to
31:43
drive down the road later and look at
31:45
them cows that I hadn't think,
31:47
"We did a poor job taking care of them.
31:49
Bones sticking out on them."
31:51
>> You you've talked a lot about
31:54
asking for help, and it's okay to ask
31:57
for help, and it's important to do that.
31:59
But, it sounds like in this situation,
32:01
you didn't have help. It was all on you.
32:05
>> Yeah, I mean
32:06
>> Be like
32:07
just the the logistics of it. Nobody
32:10
could get to you to help, right?
32:11
>> No, they were I mean, it was everybody
32:13
was that way, you know. The people got
32:15
cattle all over our country, and
32:17
everybody was trying to get to their
32:19
cattle, you know.
32:21
Days that started at 4:00 in the morning
32:22
and ended at 8:00 at night, you got you
32:24
had lights on the tractor, you know.
32:27
But, it's
32:29
I can remember my youngest son, Jeff,
32:31
when he'd come home cuz he had to feed
32:33
stuff at home,
32:34
you know.
32:35
And uh he was a trooper. He he never
32:38
never batted an eye. And I think them
32:41
chickens and all the stuff that he took
32:42
care of the cows and the two horses
32:44
probably looked better
32:45
than if I'd have done it, you know. But
32:48
>> [snorts]
32:49
>> Was there a stress that you felt though?
32:51
Because like now everything's relying on
32:53
you. This the the livelihood of this
32:57
this cows, your own health. You were
33:00
completely isolated. What did that feel
33:02
like at like what what were you panicked
33:04
about that at all?
33:05
>> The The first morning
33:09
when I'd rode down to the river
33:12
and I was going to the south and the
33:14
wind's out of the north. So it ain't so
33:16
bad. I mean, sure 9° wind chill about
33:19
-20, but it's not beating me in the
33:21
face.
33:23
But when I
33:24
got that hay out and topped back out
33:26
from the river and come back to the hay
33:28
pile, the wind's out of the north.
33:31
And it felt like it was just burning
33:33
your face off.
33:35
You know, and I'm thinking
33:37
I don't know that I
33:39
I can do this too many more times today.
33:43
And I'd get up there and I'd back up my
33:45
pick up hay
33:46
and get on that tractor and I'd think
33:49
don't don't say that.
33:51
>> What kept you going though?
33:53
>> I think it was
33:55
really
33:57
the determination that had been
33:58
instilled in me for so many years ago.
34:02
>> And where did that come from?
34:03
>> My dad.
34:05
The old timers.
34:06
If you've got something
34:08
or you want something and you don't take
34:10
care of it, you don't deserve it.
34:13
And I love cattle. I love ranching.
34:17
And my mother at the time after my daddy
34:19
passed away, she needed those as her
34:21
livelihood.
34:23
And that lawyer that I was working for,
34:25
they were his cattle. I'll make sure
34:27
they're taken care of, you know, and the
34:28
neighbors too.
34:30
But it's
34:33
I remember being wet. I remember being
34:35
cold. Them old leather gloves, they'd be
34:38
froze, you know?
34:40
And uh
34:42
I I wouldn't go home and ever go back in
34:45
the house because I knew if I really got
34:47
warm I'd think,
34:48
"Hey, you know I think I'm going to stay
34:49
in here. I'll see you cows next week
34:51
sometime, you know?" So it was
34:54
it would have been easy to quit.
34:56
>> Mhm.
34:57
>> Um
34:57
>> [clears throat]
34:59
>> but I ain't never quit. Why start now?
35:01
>> If If you're talking to someone
35:03
who doesn't have cows
35:05
>> Uh-huh.
35:06
>> but's in a situation of they want to
35:08
give up.
35:10
When do you give up? When do you know
35:12
this is too much for me? Or when do you
35:14
just have to keep going? What's that
35:15
line?
35:16
>> I think the only time you give up
35:19
is when you can't breathe no more.
35:22
When your heart stops.
35:24
When the good Lord says, "Time to come
35:26
home.
35:27
You can give up now."
35:30
I've been in near-death situations
35:32
twice, maybe three times.
35:35
But I didn't give up.
35:37
It's fight or flight.
35:39
And I don't care if you're feeding
35:40
cattle and it's
35:42
3 ft deep snow and it's -700°.
35:45
Or if you're sitting in an office and
35:47
everything around you is it seems like
35:49
it's just caving in and things are
35:50
suffocating and you don't know what
35:52
you're doing and you think, "I can't do
35:53
this again tomorrow."
35:55
First,
35:56
step back, take a deep breath, and look
35:57
at it. Think,
35:59
"I can do this. I've got faith in me."
36:02
Ask the good Lord for help. That's what
36:04
I did all them three all them days it
36:06
was snowing and I was freezing to death.
36:07
I said, "God, bring me a heater."
36:09
>> But there had to have been a line,
36:11
right? Like there is a safety line.
36:12
There is a
36:14
a I have to stop line.
36:17
>> You stopped when it was so dark you
36:19
couldn't see no more and the day was
36:20
done.
36:22
I I'd heard so many of them say and my
36:24
dad told me he said, "You do as much as
36:26
you can do today till it gets so dark
36:27
you can't see it.
36:29
And then you go home and start over
36:30
tomorrow.
36:31
Good Lord willing, it'll still be there.
36:33
And [clears throat]
36:35
it was such a blessing when you would
36:37
work that hard, come in, froze nearly
36:39
froze to death, I'd get me a hot bath, I
36:41
mean hot.
36:44
Give me something to eat, have some stew
36:46
or some chili or something that's going
36:47
to warm your gut.
36:48
Next morning, I'd take two thermoses
36:50
full of coffee, sit on one, tie on that
36:52
tractor,
36:53
and start over. But when you'd go back
36:56
and you'd think you'd do a count, I
36:58
didn't lose nothing.
37:00
It's all life.
37:01
I played a part in this. I made a
37:03
difference.
37:05
That's why you don't quit. That's why
37:06
you don't give up. Because you can make
37:09
a difference. You might not cross the
37:11
finish line first, ever.
37:14
But that don't mean you just
37:16
sit back there and wait, don't even try
37:17
to cross it.
37:19
You put forth the effort,
37:21
and you'll get there.
37:22
May take you a little longer,
37:24
but what would it What would it have
37:25
done if I'd have quit?
37:27
What would have happened?
37:28
>> It's It's the those who were depending
37:31
on you, and your responsibilities were
37:34
greater than your own self-comfort.
37:37
>> Well, I think that's what life's about,
37:39
most of all,
37:41
is
37:42
trying to do something
37:45
not for the glory you receive from it,
37:48
or the maybe what's all for you,
37:51
but to being able to help people out.
37:53
You're always going to get the bigger
37:55
blessing.
37:56
Wendell and Ricky and Jerry,
37:59
they tried to pay me for 20 years. They
38:01
tried to bring me hay every chance they
38:03
got.
38:04
I know they would have done the same for
38:06
me,
38:07
every day.
38:08
And there's people out there that still
38:10
would, but
38:12
I don't know, it's just to me it was the
38:14
greatest blessing of all.
38:18
Because the sun's going to come out.
38:20
It's going to warm up.
38:22
And when that snow all melted off and
38:24
the grass become green, little shoots of
38:27
green grass begin to come up, baby
38:29
calves hit the ground,
38:31
running around, 100 mile an hour,
38:33
feeling good.
38:35
And you see that and you think to
38:36
yourself, I played a part in that.
38:39
I got to help that come about. Now, I
38:42
didn't make grass green,
38:45
but I took care of them cattle well
38:46
enough that they could get through that
38:48
storm and I get to see that. That was
38:50
the blessings.
38:51
>> If you could sum up this experience and
38:54
how it played into the cowboy code and
38:58
the code of the west, what would it
39:00
ultimately be?
39:02
>> Don't be a cowboy.
39:04
>> [laughter]
39:04
>> No, I'm kidding you there. I wouldn't
39:06
trade it for anything else in the world.
39:08
I think it was
39:10
whatever brand you're riding for,
39:12
whether it's yours, the neighbor's,
39:14
whatever you do in life,
39:17
do it like the whole world is counting
39:19
on you.
39:20
>> Mhm.
39:20
>> And you can't let them down.
39:22
I don't care how tall the stirrup may
39:25
seem when you're trying to get on that
39:26
horse,
39:27
swing up there, step a foot in there. If
39:30
you can't, lean him up against side of
39:32
the trailer and then get on him. But
39:34
never think that you can't get it done.
39:36
That's the biggest thing cuz I know we
39:38
get so many comments now, people say,
39:41
"I'm struggling through life. Will you
39:42
lift me up in prayer? Please help me. I
39:44
can't face another day." I say, "Number
39:46
one, you're not in this alone.
39:49
God's with you. We're with you."
39:51
>> Storms can come in all different
39:53
situations.
39:54
>> storms.
39:55
>> They're not just snow or rain or wind,
39:57
they're the storms of your life. What
39:59
are you doing to get through them? How
40:01
are you hunkering down to survive? And
40:04
uh we've done we've done episodes before
40:07
on on getting through storms. We have
40:09
more stories on storms, but I think
40:11
they're just so telling and they've got
40:14
such a deeper message than just like I I
40:17
went through this and I got through it.
40:19
This is how who I am on the other side.
40:20
There's just so many lessons that can be
40:23
given in storms.
40:25
As I mentioned before, we went through a
40:27
crazy storm in the Cast Iron Cowboy
40:30
season 2.
40:31
In fact, you did a couple of them. There
40:33
was a really bad one you did in Arizona
40:36
where the wind was so bad it was
40:37
literally flipping burgers off of the
40:40
grill.
40:41
>> Yeah, probably worst wind I've cooked in
40:43
and that was solid constant all day. You
40:45
know, on the Babbitt Ranch out there,
40:46
but
40:49
you've heard it, weather the storm.
40:51
>> Yes.
40:52
>> Now, can you be prepared for some of
40:54
them? Yeah, some of them will sneak up
40:56
on you. They'll bite you in the butt you
40:58
didn't even see them coming, but with
41:01
a little bit of encouragement from
41:04
people around you, the faith of God that
41:06
you have in him, and the trust
41:08
even them ones that sneak up on you, you
41:10
make it through.
41:11
>> You'll be prepared for it.
41:13
Well, you guys please tune in mark your
41:15
calendar for the new season of Cast Iron
41:17
Cowboy
41:18
and for the upcoming storms that we're
41:20
going to talk about cuz there's been a
41:23
lot of them. Ones that ripped the flight
41:26
into didn't think we were going to make
41:28
it, but we do and that's why we get to
41:31
see you guys every week.
41:33
>> And we never take that for granted.
41:34
Remember as we often say and I don't
41:36
mind saying it till I do, you are not
41:38
fans, you are family to me and Shan and
41:41
this hard working Styles who that has
41:42
slipped through another episode today.
41:44
>> Guys, let me
41:45
>> No, did he move at all? I wasn't paying
41:46
attention.
41:47
>> [laughter]
41:48
>> Well, we sure enjoyed this today, Shan.
41:50
We did. I had a great time. I'm glad
41:52
that storm is over and behind me, but I
41:54
learned a lot from it and you can too as
41:56
you go through the storms in life. But
41:58
it is with pride, honor, and privilege
42:00
that I tip my hat to all the servicemen
42:02
and women and all the veterans that have
42:03
kept that old flag a flying. You have
42:05
weathered many a storm for us [music]
42:07
all. We commend you all and lift you up
42:09
in prayer daily. God bless you each and
42:11
every one and I'll see you down the
42:13
podcast trail.
42:24
>> Pioneer.
People & Society