Jerome says his grandfather began the ranching tradition in their family. “He was active in rodeo but my father was not. Our entire family had a love for horses and that ultimately led to us raising cattle on our land,” he said. In fact, the brand Jerome uses today was inherited from his grandmother.
Desiree Bell says their ranch started small nearly 35 years ago. “We only had 12 head of cattle; a real rainbow heard. Every animal was a different color and different breed,” she said. “But today our heard is made up entirely of black Angus cattle.”
On their ranch everything is done the old-fashioned way. They rope instead of using branding tables. They ride horses instead of using four-wheelers. And they use methods handed down to them from two or three generations of Native American Indians ranchers in their family.
And though they admit ranching is hard work, they consider the ranch they have scratched out for themselves their dream. “The best thing about ranching is the freedom. There’s nobody to answer to except yourself and your family,” Desiree said. “And the banker at the end of the year. But if you do your job right, you don’t even hear from him.”
Jerome said keeping animals healthy and strong is the hardest part, and fighting with the weather, machinery breaking down, and long hard days of work. “But those are problems every cowboy faces,” he said. About the only difference is that they also have to deal with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which they say can be very difficult at times.