18B - FALL ARTS FESTIVAL, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Heritage, today
Historic Ranch Tours 2 to 7 p.m. Sept. 7 Snake River and Mead ranches $50; info: 307-733-3316 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
I
By Jennifer Dorsey
f you go on the Historic Ranch Tours on Sept. 7 and there’s something about ranch life you want to know, don’t be afraid to speak up. What’s the difference between a red Angus and a black Angus? Color. What do cows eat? Grass. Do they travel by train? Rarely. Mostly trucks are used. “There are no dumb questions,” said Lance Johnson, manager of Snake River Ranch, one of the two ranches on the tour. He and Barbara Hauge, a third-generation member of the family that owns Snake River Ranch, enjoy showing visitors around during the Fall Arts Festival tour. “It’s really fun from our standpoint,” Johnson said. Buses will leave from the Home Ranch parking lot in Jackson at 2 p.m. Saturday, take participants to Snake River Ranch and Mead Ranch, and return at about 7 p.m. During the afternoon there will be barbecue, musical entertainment and the opportunity to soak up ranch atmosphere and learn a few things about this integral side of Jackson Hole life. Historic ranch tours are a natural fit for Fall Arts Festival, Hauge said. Cowboys, horses and cattle are all elements of the genre of art we know as “Western.” The landscape and the wild animals that entice so many artists also have close ties with ranching. “Part of that landscape — many hundreds of thousands of acres, and the wildlife too — is ranches,” Hauge said. As tour participants get a sense of ranching Jackson Hole-style, they’ll see how it has evolved with the times. At Snake River Ranch, for example, the tour will start in the 1930s at a cluster of buildings from that era, including a potting shed, blacksmith’s shop, bunkhouse and barn. From there visitors will walk over to the modern era: electric scales, corrals and hayshed. “Ranching has evolved into a more humane method,”
PRICE CHAMBERS / news&guide file photo
Historic Ranch Tours give Fall Arts festivalgoers a close-up look at a facet of life that has inspired many artists whose work is classified as “Western.” In 2008, Jim Lucas showed visitors around his family’s ranch, the Lazy AA.
Johnson said. Some of that method isn’t obvious to visitors. Snake River Ranch cattle are hormone- and antibiotic-free. The animals are handled with low-stress, humane methods. And the ranch practices intensive grazing, allowing the cattle to eat in one spot then to move to a fresh pasture. The cattle become quite willing to move, because they know they’re going to a better place.
“Two cowboys can move 1,400 in 30 minutes,” Johnson said. The opportunity to show ranching’s roots and how raising livestock has evolved is one reason the ranches like hosting visitors. “We encourage people to ask questions of any kind,” Hauge said. Tickets cost $50. Call 307-733-3316 for information.
JOIN US
under the Big White Tent on the Town Square during the Taste of the Tetons for a
WINE TASTING & SILENT AUCTION 11am-5pm | Sunday, September 8
DISCOVER INCREDIBLE BUYS AT A SILENT AUCTION:
Everything from dinners to spa services, fishing and float trips, golf and snowmobile outings, art and collectibles and much more...
PARTICIPATE IN OUR RAFFLE: Drawing at 5pm, Sept. 8th Need not be present. 1 for $5 or 5 for $20 RAFFLE ITEMS INCLUDE
Two Nights at Jackson Lake Lodge w/ choice of activity for 2 (May/June/Sept/Oct) Golf for Four at Jackson Golf and Tennis Club (May-October 2014) Two 5-Day Ski Passes for Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Winter Weekend Stay at Triangle-X Dude Ranch Teton Aviation Scenic Flight for 2-3 FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT US ON FACEBOOK: JH Fall Arts Festival Wine Tasting & Auction Presented by the Jackson Hole Rotary Supper Club in conjunction with the Fall Arts Festival's Taste of the Tetons
rcjhsupperclub.org
We answer to, llc Schultz law Firm no one but you.
259569