A Room with a View

My studio is tucked into the hillside of what we call the “River Pasture.” It overlooks the bottom ground of the ranch, the Cheyenne River, and the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands. It is my studio, office, and kitchen, and it has a wonderful windowed main room that frames the prairie in all of its glory.

The River Pasture is about 2,000 acres and consists of high, flat ground, hillsides that gradually roll into the bottom ground, and sagebrush and cottonwood savannas that indicate where the river used to be. It is indeed a special place.

In our rotational grazing program, the buffalo spend three weeks once or twice a year in this pasture. During these weeks, I stay pretty close, a damage-control watchdog of sorts.

When they are here, the buffalo can often be seen from the studio, grazing the bottom grounds and the hillsides.

Or they can be two miles away, completely out of sight.

Occasionally they pay a visit to the studio. When they arrive, whatever I am doing comes to a stop, and I watch and listen to them move about and graze. It is a thrilling experience to be safely surrounded by 800 head of buffalo! And no, it never gets old. 

During the buffalos' last visit, a good friend of mine and also my grandson Barrett were visiting. They each positioned themselves to a side of the room to take in the show and to watch my back as I crawled out to the front edge of the deck with my camera and iPhone.

The buffalo are somewhat used to me, and they were aware of my presence. I moved slowly and even though I was super excited, I remained calm enough to capture a little video. I hope you enjoy it and that it transports you to the prairie, if only for 92 seconds.