RANCHING ON THE MARFA PLATEAU
South West Texas, USA
Across most of Texas, a working ranch carries one cow per five or ten acres. On the Marfa Plateau, it takes up to a hundred and fifty. That single number explains the history, the scale, the hardship, and the particular stubbornness of everyone who has ever tried to make a life here.
There is a mesmerising rhythm to what follows after the animals are brought into the main holding pen, as the cattle are “cut” into their separate groups, the mothers away from their calves until each set is processed. I feel myself tense as I hear and feel the disturbance among the separated pairs, each mother lowing in distress, the calves jostling each other in certain panic adding their own cries. Still, I continue to perch on the wood topped surface of the rear of the pens and after awhile I am caught up in the choreography of the cowboys at their work and the synchronicity of their movements…
Everything but the Ranch, by Ru Freeman (Panorama)
pre-dawn, the Fletcher
dawn ride, the Stein
round-up
Conrado Almancé
calves and cows
working the pens at the Fletcher
cutting the cows from their calves
Cree Wells
branding and vaccinating
wrapping-up
back to the ranch
surveying the pasture
truck consul
Gerry Aufdengarten
pool room, The Fletcher
ranch office
round-up crew 2019
This body of work would not exist but for the support of one man, Ellery Aufdengarten. Ellery and his family welcomed me to their ranch and their lives, and supported every idea I had, however unconventional. We became good friends. Ellery passed away suddenly in 2020 and left a huge hole in the hearts of everyone who knew him.