Tara Miller

Big Piney, Wyoming, 1993

“When we first got married, we had a cow-camp job for nine years up in the mountains just herding the cattle. But the situation changed. I became a mother and we started to run the ranch. You’re forced into a different role from the one you really wanted to do.

But as far as being a cowpuncher, I get real tired of it. I got burned out up there at cow camp when I had to do so much of it. Getting up at three in the morning and trailing the cows all morning, that’s fine. Then the sun comes up, you get hot, the flies start biting, and your horse is tired and you’re tired. It gets old. It’s just plumb work, but you still like it. You go up and down all day—you get second winds. It’s real wearing because you care about every little calf.”