A Frenchwoman from New York came to the Wagonhound, a large ranch outside of Douglas in a snowstorm. Anouk Masson Krantz readily admits she came to Wagonhound carrying not only her cameras, but also a lack of understanding.

Wyoming’s open spaces, the seeming emptiness of the landscape, was the inspiration she sought. She knew at Wagonhound she would find “the power of nature, these amazing landscapes.”

In documenting the lives of the men and women who lived and worked there, she came to understand “all my knowledge about the cowboy around this western way of life, were all sort of misconceptions.” She said, “Once I put my foot through the door, I realized this culture wasn’t dying, but was very much still alive.”

American Indians have deep connections to the high plains of Wyoming and the lands that are now a part of the Wagonhound Land and Livestock, but for myriad reasons they no longer live and hunt there. In the 1800s thousands of people traveled across the landscape. Following Indian trails and the North Platte River were fur trappers and traders, then emigrants, and eventually homesteaders who staked claims and began raising livestock and a few crops.

The high plains roll through this region, becoming less flat, and more rugged as they butt up against the Laramie Mountain Range, with its signature Laramie Peak to the south and Casper Mountain at the northwest end of the arc. 

Wagonhound Land and Livestock now encompasses more than 300,000 acres. It is a merging of homesteads carved out by people who came West seeking opportunity and land. Those original settlers filed claims of 160 acres, built cabins, grubbed sagebrush, brought in cattle, horses, and sheep.

Many of them stayed on their land for generations, expanding holdings by buying out a neighbor – or sometimes marrying the neighbor’s daughter. In this country, it is impossible to make a living on 160 acres; there isn’t enough grass for livestock so the homesteads consolidated to larger and larger properties.

By the time she arrived in Wyoming in 2021, Krantz had already learned some things about herself. An early project led to the book The Wild Horses of Cumberland Island. That work gave her “so much inspiration from disconnecting from my concrete, fast-paced competitive life in New York” that she wanted to find “magnificent untouched landscapes.”

She desired big landscapes that were also inhabited by people. “My first thought was cowboys. But that is not easy for a woman from New York and Paris,” she said. “It started with one piece of paper with one phone number of one rancher in Texas. He introduced me to his friends, and they introduced me to their friends.” This led to her second book: American Cowboy.

Then she connected with Art and Catherine Nicklas owners of the Wagonhound in Wyoming. Once again Krantz  packed her cameras and headed west, this time to document not a culture of people, but a vast ranching operation.

“Most of the people around the world look at this cowboy culture with misconceptions,” Krantz said, admitting she was in that same mindset. Before spending time on ranches in Texas and Wyoming she believed among other things that the cowboy was someone of the past. “Once I put my foot through the door, (I) realized this culture wasn’t dying, but was very much still alive.”

The cowboys of the Wagonhound have a “connection with this land, freedom, independence,” she said. “These people work very hard. They work together as a community with their families, neighbors. There is so much strength coming from these people.”

While the people are a key part of her work, what really attracted her is the place itself. She says, “It’s the scale of the land, the sky, I think that is what still inspires people from around the world to connect with the American Western landscape.”

And then there is the weather. Krantz quickly learned, “One day it might be sunny, the next day it might be 60 mile an hour winds, or snow.” There are times “where you feel like your hands are going to be froze or you [will be] blown off your horse.”

The isolation of the ranch, combined with the wildlife was surprising. “I had never seen anything like that before,” Krantz  said.

Her first photograph was of a long line of elk crossing the road to the ranch. “It was cold and windy. They were crossing. I was just frozen looking at something that I had never seen before and I would never see again, and most of the people around the world would never see. It was magnificent to see that it was still there…the wildlife was still there.”

Krantz  experienced one of the worst storms in recent Wyoming history – the Bomb Cyclone that struck in March 2021 dumping nearly five feet of snow over a two-day period in mid-March.

Krantz  arrived at the ranch just ahead of the snow that just dumped, and dumped, “and then it’s just quiet.” As soon as she could, she was out in the landscape, documenting the cowboy work, but also observing the wildlife. She watched pronghorn wallowing through snow nearly as deep as they were tall.

Krantz said in the storm “the elk were conserving energy, bundled up on the flank of the mountain. The antelope were the opposite – they were frantic. They would race right, left, right, left, using up all their energy. They didn’t know what to do.”

Watching those animals was a revelation for Krantz. As important, she saw the care the ranch hands had for the livestock while working under such challenging conditions.

“It goes back to this misconception I had, being an outsider. To me the biggest discovery was the land stewardship.” She had seen some of that in her earlier travels but really began to understand it during the two years she spent on the Wagonhound.

As she followed men and women throughout gathering, and branding, and doing their daily chores,  she said, “You just learn how they run a ranch. How hard they work. How much it takes to do all this,” she said.

The stewardship involves the use of pasture rotation, which is a “wonderful way to let the earth breathe, rest. What they are doing for our earth is to me mostly unknown to most people.”

Krantz came away from her work in documenting the area realizing the men and women on the Wagonhound, “are probably some of the best stewards of the land that you can find.” She set aside some of her own misconceptions and now knows “how much they do to preserve the land for future generations.” 

Spending time on the Wagonhound, gave Krantz an education in Wyoming ranching and land stewardship. The ranch owners want to do that for other people as well.

As reported earlier by Cowboy State Daily, Art and Catherine Nicklas recently donated $2.5 million to the University of Wyoming that will empower the university’s Ranch Management and Agricultural Leadership Program, fueling change and supporting future leaders in ranch management and agriculture statewide.

To see more about Krantz’ connection to the Wagonhound, pick up a copy of her book Ranchland: Wagonhound.

Candy Moulton can be reached at: Candy.L.Moulton@gmail.com

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Dillon Dingler hit his first career home run, Matt Vierling also went deep, and the Detroit Tigers held on to beat the San Francisco Giants 5-4 on Sunday to avoid the three-game series sweep.

Colt Keith added two hits and an RBI and three Tigers relievers combined for four shutout innings to back rookie Keider Montero’s uneven outing.

Dingler hit a two-run home run in the second inning then doubled and scored in the fifth. Both hits came off Giants starter Hayden Birdsong.

Montero (3-5) gave up four runs on five hits and four walks. Tyler Holton retired four batters and Brenan Hanifee set down five. Will Vest earned his first save of the season when he got Heliot Ramos to strike out looking for the final out.

Matt Chapman had three hits and three RBIs for the Giants, who lost for the fourth time in their last 16 games.

Vierling, who sat out the previous two games with back spasms, got the Tigers going with his third leadoff home run this season.

Dingler hit a ground-rule double and scored in the fifth. Colt Keith also singled in a run to put the Tigers ahead 5-2.

The Giants scored twice in the sixth when Chapman singled in a run and scored on Jerar Encarnacion’s double to make it 5-4.

The Tigers made a pair of strong defensive plays in the eighth the preserve their one-run lead.

Chapman tripled leading off the inning but was thrown out at home trying to score on Mark Canha’s fielder’s choice grounder. Hanifee then fielded Patrick Bailey’s comebacker and caught Canha in a rundown between second and third.

Birdsong (3-2) struggled, allowing five runs on five hits with five strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. He now has a 17.06 ERA over his last two starts.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Giants: INF Thairo Estrada (left wrist sprain) did some running before the game, although manager Bob Melvin indicated the plan is to proceed carefully to avoid another setback.

UP NEXT

Tigers: LHP Tarik Skubal (13-4, 2.57 ERA) faces the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday in Detroit. Skubal has the lowest ERA among qualifying pitchers in the majors.

Giants: LHP Blake Snell (2-3, 4.31) takes on the Atlanta Braves and LHP Chris Sale (13-3, 2.75) on Monday.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

INDIANAPOLIS — Sean Payton hates sacks.

He doesn’t just dislike them. The Broncos head coach cannot stand them.

Not only that, but he puts most of the blame for sacks on the quarterback rather than the offensive line.

It’s a major reason he grew frustrated with Russell Wilson a year ago — Wilson was sacked 45 times in 15 starts — and it’s one of the trends he’s liked in his quarterback group so far this summer.

The first preseason game Sunday at Indianapolis showed more of the same for Jarrett Stidham, Bo Nix and Zach Wilson. They combined to drop back 41 times against the Colts on Sunday afternoon and didn’t take a sack.

“It’s all about knowing where your outlets are, knowing when you’re hot, having a good feel for the pocket and it’s just being on time,” Nix said after Denver’s 34-30 win. “Being in rhythm, if your No. 1 or No. 2 isn’t there, get to No. 3 in a quick manner. I always say I feel like I can take a three(-step) drop, hitch and throw and get the ball out without them physically being able to get to me. It’s all about a quarterback’s timing and offensive line did a great job today keeping us up.”

The group finished 29-of-41 passing for 279 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Here’s a closer look at each’s outing, in order of appearance.

Jarrett Stidham

Possessions/snaps:  2/11

Stat line: 3-of-7 passing, 37 yards, interception

Drive results: Punt, interception

Highlight: Stidham hears “checkdown” taunts from defensive players in practice when he drops the ball off to backs and tight ends, but he played aggressive Sunday. The sixth-year QB hit Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick back-to-back for 27 total yards on his first two throws.

Lowlight: The interception, but it wasn’t Stidham’s fault. Samaje Perine had the ball hit him in the chest, pop up and then in an attempt to corral it, he batted it right to Colts safety Kenny Moore II.

Analysis: Stidham looked good but had four offensive penalties from veterans around him on his two drives and then got unlucky on the interception. He got a fraction of the snaps the other two got on this day. Sean Payton said afterward that will balance some next weekend against Green Bay. A question in the interim: Do Stidham and Bo Nix split reps with the No. 1s in the joint practice against the Packers? Or is it Nix the whole way from here out?

Bo Nix

Possessions/snaps: 5/36

Stat line: 15-of-21 passing, 125 yards, TD, three carries for 17 yards

Drive results: Field goal, touchdown, fumble, field goal, touchdown

Highlight: It looked like Nix’s opportunity to run the two-minute drill was wasted when Lucas Krull fumbled on the first play of a drive, but Denver got the ball right back after a Keidron Smith interception. Then Nix went to work, completing 4 of 6 passes for 41 yards plus a 29-yard defensive pass interference on a pass up the left side for rookie Devaughn Vele. The two-minute operation drew praise from head coach Sean Payton and veteran receiver Courtland Sutton.

Lowlight: The fumbled snap with Luke Wattenberg gets a red flag here for two reasons: One, Nix has had issues a handful of times through the first couple weeks of practice. Two, he hardly played from under center the past two years at Oregon. Payton expressed a willingness to tailor the offense to whoever gets the starting job — perhaps more shotgun and pistol are in the cards if Nix starts Week 1 — but you’ve got to be able to play from under center without worry about ball security.

Analysis: Nix continued on the path he’s been traveling through training camp. Some mistakes here and there. Ball placement that doesn’t completely abandon him but occasionally wavers just enough to make a difference. Overall, though, there’s no reason to be unimpressed with how Nix played. He was in rhythm, threw the ball down the field and showed the ability to play from the pocket or outside. A long way to go and a lot to learn, but arrow up.

Zach Wilson

Possessions/snaps:  5/32

Stat line: 10-of-13 passing, 117 yards, three carries for minus-1 yard

Drive results: Fumble, touchdown, punt, touchdown, end of game

Highlight: The best part of the outing for Wilson was just his ability to play efficiently and confidently. On a putaway drive late in the game, he found rookie running back Blake Watson up the right sideline for 33 yards.

Lowlight: It was a steady outing for Wilson, whose day got off to an unfortunate start when Audric Estime fumbled and the Colts returned it for a touchdown. No major issues, though. The biggest question, really, is if Wilson will get a real chance against non-fringe roster guys against Green Bay or Arizona.

Analysis:  Wilson played against reserves, obviously, but if he continues to stack good days and play aggressive while limiting mistakes the rest of the preseason, the roster picture gets interesting in a hurry. The 2021 No. 2 overall pick clearly has talent and seems to be benefiting from the structure and stability in Denver’s offensive and quarterback meeting rooms. It’s too early to say he’s a transformed player, but the early returns on this project warrant further investment.

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Originally Published: August 11, 2024 at 4:36 p.m.