(September 19, 2022) It’s not hard for Ken James to imagine what it was like running a cattle ranch a century ago in the steep, rocky canyons near Bagdad in central Arizona. It was not much different from what he does every day as foreman of Freeport-McMoRan’s Yolo Ranch in Yavapai County.
Most of the ranch is inaccessible to motor vehicles, which are largely confined to the winding dirt road that cuts through the mountains between Bagdad and Prescott.
Work still is primarily done on horseback, just as it was in 1885 when Yolo Ranch was founded. During the twice-yearly roundups, James and the crew of hired cow hands spend weeks living in the rugged wilderness, flushing out unbranded cattle and culling those that will be taken to market to be sold. The rest of the year also is largely spent in the saddle, riding fences, checking water holes and making sure the hundreds of cattle that roam loose in the isolated arroyos stay healthy.
It’s a hard life in hard country, but it’s the life James grew up in and still loves.
“We still have to make a lot of horse tracks,” James said. “That’s the only way you can get around here. It’s a good lifestyle. It’s not too hard if you’ve been doing it all your life. It’s all I’ve ever done and all I ever wanted to do. I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.”
James says he feels a special connection to the land and to those who worked it before him. One part of the ranch that particularly fascinates him is a small cluster of Native American ruins, a reminder that people have eked out their lives in the same rugged mountains for centuries. For its part, the company has expressed its commitment to protecting the ruins and other important cultural resources in the area.
“The whole ranch pretty much fascinates me,” he said. “What I think about more than anything just sitting up on one of those rims is turning time back to a long time ago when the Native Americans inhabited the ruins. I wouldn’t want to go back and stay in that time, but just to see what it looked like. That’s what I think about more than anything.”
Read the full story about the company’s Yolo Ranch and other features in the current edition of The Miner. A short video accompanying this story captures a day in the life for James and the cattle ranch he manages.
Photo: Ken James relaxes with his wife Sheryl after a long day of working with cattle.