Pearls of the Prairie

• In a recent Blog I wrote about Ruby Prohosky, a “Ruby in the Rough” who enriched our lives in the Horse Prairie Valley. In addition to Ruby, there have been numerous other “Pearls of the Prairie”, many of whom predated our family’s connection to the Horse Prairie Valley. These women, in their own way and time, have been as shining as Ruby.
  
  The first “pearl” of the Valley that I would like to praise is my wife, Marie, who with our manager, Urs Schmidlin, developed a world class guest business and ran it for more than 10 years, missing her family and all typical summer activities, such as family reunions and vacations. Pitching the ranch and taking reservations all year long, worrying about every detail of serving meals, ensuring that cabins were clean, etc. was all consuming to Marie. Marie did not grow up dreaming of working on a cattle and guest ranch in Montana! She was also not a natural outdoor person. She also was not a gourmet cook, although she raised and fed 5 children. When I purchased the HPR Marie had no idea what she was in for. But she dutifully went along. At first she was reluctant, and then her enthusiasm grew over the years. She dressed Western, she rose long before dawn, she managed difficult guests, and always kept an eye on the wranglers. Marie saw more camping and Dutch oven cooking in the first few years of managing the guest operation at the HPR than she saw all her life growing up in an all-girl family in southeastern Idaho. Marie learned to supervise, to praise, to constructively criticize, to motivate, and to reprimand. She became a world-class chef, hostess, and manager. I will always love Marie for being such a great partner in every way, including putting the HPR on the international map of world-class guest ranches.
  
  In addition to Marie I pay tribute below to other women of the Horse Prairie Valley who are tough, yet feminine, and who have left their fingerprints on the Valley and our lives:
  
  · Sabine Hagedorn Duncan --- Bine is the only person I know who ever purchased an airline ticket from Frankfurt, Germany to Butte, Montana (“Buttie” as she first pronounced the name). One evening while at our home in Utah I received an email from a young, 19-year old girl from Bavaria, Germany, who wanted to work for a summer on a Montana working cattle ranch. I told Marie that it might be nice to allow such a young lady to fulfill her dream. We called Bine and also visited with her parents, Siggi and Doris Hagedorn. We were convinced that Bine would be a great addition to the ranch and her parents were comfortable with allowing her to have the adventure. When it came time to pick up the German girl from the Butte airport our son, Matt, was the first volunteer. My he looked good all dressed up as a Cowboy! They first met at the airport, had a wonderful and romantic summer at the ranch, got married, and today live in Utah with their beautiful daughter, Lisa. Bine was a good wrangler and employee. She is fond of relating to us her first day on the ranch when she, along with the rest of us, learned that our cook, Jeannie Beirny, and her husband, had been brutally murdered on their ranch by their son, who was that day at large in the area. As Bine watched these events played out, with wranglers carrying guns, a manhunt, and us all looking for a new cook, she thought that she really had come to the wild, wild West.

• Wendy Wooten (Bingham) --- Wendy from Oregon was one of our finest wranglers. Wendy always had a cool head and was so helpful to guests. She also knew cattle and livestock and could ride with the best of them. Marie really relied a lot on Wendy for nearly every aspect of the guest operation. There was nothing that we could not trust Wendy to do at the HPR. Wendy was so cute that she caught the eye of a male wrangler named "Jake", also from Oregon. Jake and Wendy are one of today's finest ranching couples and we are delighted that they are able to be ranchers in Oregon, as tough as it is.
  
  · Jeannie Beirny --- Our first professional chef. Jeannie would show up at the HPR in the early morning hours to ensure that all of the meals for the day were prepared and ready for the guests and staff. She lived at the “Bierny Place” with her husband, whose father was a miner from Butte and who had homesteaded their ranch across the Valley, digging one of the ranch’s main ditches by hand. Then one morning Jeannie didn’t show up for work. We didn’t know Jeannie well but we knew that she was punctual and could cook and that she was dependable. We had heard about her son’s troubled life and were saddened to learn that this son wiped out his entire family, including eventually himself. He tied up his parents in the basement of their home, and then set the home on fire. We soon saw the plume of fire towards the Beirny ranch on that dreadful morning and knew that something really bad had happened at the Beirny place.
  
  · Karen Morrow --- Our second chef, who came to the ranch with her friend, Rick Morrow, and who married Rick in the Old Red Barn at the HPR. Karen was a former Miss Idaho and graced the HPR with a touch of class. Karen knew how to dress up and had a charming and calming disposition. She was a good friend to Marie. She taught us how to professionally host.
  
  · Sherrie Brown--- Sherrie was a chef and then continued to clean cabins at the HPR. She always worked hard and was always willing to do any chore we asked her to do. Sherrie also drives the mail in the Horse Prairie Valley. Sherrie grew up in the Ennis area, on a ranch. She has always worked hard………always.
  
  
  · Sherrie Moseley --- Sherrie grew up in Kansas and always loved horses and the West. Sherrie worked for us for two years, living at the ranch through the fall of 2006. Sherrie was selling women’s clothing in San Diego when we found her. Sherrie is as good at customer service as anyone we have ever worked with. Sherrie was also as good at giving arena riding instructions as anyone we have known. She was tough, feminine, and refined.
  
  · Laura Schmutz --- One of the first and most talented woman wranglers we ever hired was Laura from Louisiana. Laura sent us a very impressive video of her roping and handling a horse. Laura returned to the HPR for several summers and also to get married to another HPR wrangler. I saw Laura once man (woman) handle a Bull as well as anyone. Laura was smooth and elegant on a horse. She had that southern Bell beauty and manners and made a great contribution to our ranch.
  
  There are, of course, others, including another daughter in law, two daughters, and a mother-in-law. There are also Laurie Schmidlin and Marie Cervantes, who have supported their respective husbands at the HPR for more than a decade. We also enjoyed the very professional services of the Carnahan girls, Cory and Kathy, from Oregon (Kathy will soon marry one of our male wranglers, Devon Thompson).
  
  The ranch would have never succeeded and the Valley would not be the same if it were not for the “Pearls” in the Valley. I honor them for their contributions to the HPR and the Valley.
  
  In another blog entry I will write about some of the outstanding "Men of the Horse Prairie Valley"!