The Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company of West Texas had already established a reputation for the high quality of its cattle and horses when D and Mamie Burns arrived on the ranch in 1942. D became the fifth manager of the ranch's vast holdings, and Mamie took over management of the ranch's Big House, including the feeding and entertaining of many guests who arrived there to conduct business or simply unwind. The recipes and reminiscences in Mamie's notes, reproduced in this book, show that she certainly enjoyed setting a bountiful table. Although she tells us, "On the Ranch I cooked more and enjoyed it less than anyone alive, I guess," her recipes, and her comments on the life of the ranch, show her enthusiasm for preparing wonderful food to enjoy with treasured friends, family, and ranch visitors. This book will give you a taste of her special dishes, as well as a glimpse of West Texas ranch life as it was lived by Mamie and D Burns, their cowboys, and other ranch hands.

The Lazy S Ranch, one of the last major ranches to be established in Texas, came into being at a time when most of the other great ranches were disappearing. Founded in 1898 by Dallas banker and rancher Colonel Christopher Columbus Slaughter, the Lazy S grew to comprise nearly 250,000 acres of the western High Plains in Cochran and Hockley counties, much of which lay in a single contiguous pasture of more than 180,000 acres. Even with careful investment and management, C. C. Slaughter faced many challenges putting together an extensive ranch amid the development of the farmers’ frontier on the high plains. Within a decade, he crafted the Lazy S to become a showplace for well-bred cattle, effective range management, and efficient utilization of limited water resources. He created a working ranch that would serve as a long-lasting legacy for his wife and nine children, to remain “undivided and indivisible.” But shortly after his death in 1919, the family drained its resources, drove it into debt, then divided the land ten ways. In the 1930s, good fortune returned to some of the Slaughter heirs with the discovery of oil on the family lands. Though the Lazy S Ranch was soon forgotten, the breakup of the ranch spurred a new era for the western Llano Estacado and led to the establishment of a county, growth of four new towns, and a railroad across the heart of the ranch, fostered for the most part by the land development projects of Slaughter’s descendants. Here, David J. Murrah covers the entire, fascinating history in The Rise and Fall of the Lazy S Ranch.

Restoring the Pitchfork Ranch tells the story of a decades-long habitat restoration project in southwestern New Mexico. Rancher-owner A. Thomas Cole explains what inspired him and his wife, Lucinda, to turn their retirement into years dedicated to hard work and renewal on 11,300 acres of grass- and wetlands. The Pitchfork Ranch is an inspiring promise for the future in the face of crippling climate change.

The Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company of West Texas had already established a reputation for the high quality of its cattle and horses when D and Mamie Burns arrived no the ranch in 1942. D became t6he fifth manager of the ranch's vast holdings, and Mamie took over management of the ranch's Big House, including the feeding and entertaining of many guests who arrived there to conduct business or simply unwind. The recipes and reminiscences in Mamie's notes, reproduced in this book, show that she certainly enjoyed setting a bountiful table. Although she tells us, "On the Ranch I cooked more and enjoyed it less than anyone alive, I guess," her recipes, and her comments on the life of the ranch, show her enthusiasm for preparing wonderful food to enjoy withy treasured friends, family and ranch visitors. This book will give you a taste of her special dishes, as well as a glimpse of West Texas ranch life as it was lived by Mamie and D Burns, their cowboys, and other ranch hands at the PItchfork Land and Cattle company.

Traces the history and present-day operation of twelve prominent Texas ranches.