From Old West to Mountain West: Opheim, Montana

Opheim, Montana – population 25. Not hundred, not thousand. Just 25 people. A quiet little town with no stop lights and no grocery store. Just a filling station where you can get the basics, the local Co-Op, and a café. And, of course, a rodeo arena. The nearest ‘big’ town (with a grocery store, doctor, etc.) is 50 miles away in Glasgow. Opheim, Montana is where Wesley’s dad David was raised, and where Wesley spent the first 2 years of his life before his parents moved down to the ranch we are currently on. Wesley’s parents have some land in Opheim that they purchased when they lived there, and we also have the ranch that David’s Mom & Dad ran when they were living. Currently, the ranch in Opheim is home to our steers and spay heifers, and the house that Wesley’s grandparent’s once lived in. It is a small, white, cozy home with a living room, kitchen, basement that has a bedroom & bathroom, and 3 bedrooms & 1 bathroom upstairs. I was in love with the house when I laid eyes on it. The swing set that Wesley played on as a child was still in the back yard, as was his tricycle. Although the physical items were rusted over, the memories he made there with his grandparents are those he’ll never forget.

As soon as we arrived Wesley & his Dad began unloading the horses so they could stretch, get something to eat & drink, and relax before being loaded back in the trailer to head to the rodeo they were entered in later that day. I grabbed our bags & headed inside to greet Moo Moo. I walked up the concrete sidewalk to the white wooden door of the antiqued house and when I opened the door the smell of ‘the country’ greeted me (anyone in my family knows what the country house smells like – its not a bad odor at all…but smells can take you so far back…and that one brought back memories for me). I rounded the corner and found Moo Moo standing in the kitchen and as she turned to look at me she started to cry. I dropped everything to comfort her and she grabbed & hugged me tightly. It was the first time she had been back to the house since Wesley’s grandmother - David’s Mom - passed away back in October of 2011. It was hard for her to be there with all of Myrtle’s things as she had left them, and then she and I spent some time looking at old photos of Wesley when he was a baby & growing up, and of their family. When the guys arrived inside, Wesley and I made our way to the room we were going to be staying in and unpacked a few things, then I headed to the kitchen to help Moo Moo make some lunch for all of us before we headed downtown to the rodeo parade that started at Noon.

Some of Wesley’s family still lives in Opheim, like his godparents Bill & Gretchen (Bill and David’s Mom were brother & sister), and their son Todd and his wife Lori, and their 3 children Brooke, Blair, and Ty. Brooke is 12, Blair is 9, and Ty is 7. Those kids love Wesley and me, and we love them as well. They were in the rodeo parade that day so we decided to surprise them & go to the parade and watch them ride their horses down Main Street. We loaded the horses back up in the trailer, and headed down to Main Street to watch the parade roll thru town. As we got there the flags were being carried thru town followed by a bunch of kids on their horses. Brooke, Blair, and Ty were 3 of those kids. They were so excited to see us, and waved & smiled so big as they passed our pickup. Then we got to see a bunch of really nice old classic cars come thru, tractors new & old and big & small, and the famous mechanical bucking bronc. For being a small town, Opheim knows how to do a parade. Only in Opheim would you find youngsters on their horses, 4 wheelers, and parades of old and new tractors and cars. And, where else can you find a mechanical bucking bronc rolling down Main Street? Only in Opheim. Since Opheim is so close to the Canadian border, they fly the Montana State Flag, the US Flag, and the Canadian flag, something that I hadn’t seen before until that weekend. It was amazing to see a town of 25 multiply eight times its normal size as people from all around (including Canada) lined the streets in their cars & pickups to watch all people ride thru town in the parade from town to the rodeo arena that is about 1/8 of a mile from Main Street.

After the parade we made our way over to the rodeo grounds so Wesley & David could pay for their rodeo entries, and we could watch the rodeo. Moo Moo and I got our chairs out of the horse trailer, and found a good spot to set up at right next to the arena where we could see all the action. The rodeo kicked off with the singing of our National Anthem as Old Glory was paraded around the rodeo arena. Then the Canadian National Anthem was played as the Canadian flag flew over the rodeo grounds. After paying tribute to our country, and Canada, the rodeo was underway. As the rodeo announcer was introducing the contestants and the next event up, he was also asking for people to sign up to do the calf dressing contest. There were 3 people to a calf dressing team. Calf dressing – count me in! Moo Moo and I were so in – now all we had to do was find one more person for our team. LORI! Jewel went to ask her & she agreed. Of course the kids were thrilled we were entered in the contest & couldn’t wait to see us compete. Originally we were told that the calf would be haltered with a lead rope & we would get to hold the rope as the calves were let out of the chute. Then we were to put a t-shirt over the calf’s head & the t-shirt holes thru his front legs to ‘dress’ him. Piece of cake for these girls! We had it all figured out. Jewel was going to hold the calf’s rope, Lori was going to hold it down, and I was going to dress it! If only it had worked that easily. As the calves were turned out into the arena we were told we do NOT get to hold the lead ropes…we have to chase the calves around to catch one! WHAT?! So off we went…we chased, and chased, and got sooo close, but we never caught one. And after the first team caught & dressed a calf, we gave up. But, we had a great time together & we laughed about that contest all evening.

Ty was entered in the mutton bustin’ contest next so I quickly got my camera together to snap a few pictures of him riding the sheep. He did so good! Even though he didn’t win he had a great time. The next kid’s event was the pig catching contest. Brooke, Blair, and Ty were all entered. There were 4 pigs that were to be released in the arena and about 20 kids trying to catch one of them. If they caught a pig, they got to keep the pig as well as $5 in cash (which is a pretty big deal if you’re a kid). The pigs were released & the kids were off! They ran and fell and got up and ran some more. In the end, Brooke ended up catching a pig. We were all pretty excited about it, but I’m not so sure that her parents were too excited about adding to their swine collection! Wesley, David, and Todd were next up in the team roping competition. None of the guys placed in the roping, but they all had a good time getting to rope together. After the rodeo was over, we all headed over to the beer garden to have a cold one, then Wesley and I went with the kids & Lori back to their house so we could see all their fair projects since they have been begging us to see them, and we got to watch them do their chores & work with their animals. First stop – the sheep barn. Then it was on to the pigs, and we rounded out our animal tour with their steers. While over at their ranch we were able to visit with Wesley’s godparents Bill & Gretchen. Bill’s health isn’t the greatest so it was nice for us to be able to sit down & talk with them for a bit while we were in town.

When Wesley and I got back to the ranch & house, I made us some sandwiches for supper, and shortly after his parents arrived home with the horses. We helped them unload the horses, give them some water, and then we headed to Bruce & Sami’s house to visit with them (Bruce takes care of the ranch in Opheim for us, and Sami is his wife). Sami was out of town that day, but we visited with Bruce for a few hours before calling it a night. Upon returning back to the house, David & Moo Moo had called it a night, so Wesley & I crept to our room and did the same. One of my favorite things about Opheim is being able to sleep with the windows open, and waking up to the horses outside our bedroom window the next morning. Nothing beats having the crisp fresh air coming thru your window to cool the room while listing to the stillness of the calm winds and horses grazing outside your window. It was so quiet and so peaceful.

Monday morning (July 1^st) we woke up to the smell of sausage on the stove as David was cooking breakfast for the 4 of us. We sat at the kitchen table that morning drinking coffee and I listened as the 3 of them shared stories of Wesley’s grandparents and about the ‘old timers’ of Opheim. Monday was a day for business as we were meeting a potential cattle buyer at the ranch to look at our heifers & steers. After videoing both our heifers and steers, the buyer left and Wesley and I loaded up to come home. We said goodbye to Opheim at about 11:30 Monday morning as it was time for us to head back south to our home.

Upon arriving home, the dogs were SO excited to see us, and we were equally excited to see them. We got the horses unloaded, fed the dogs, calf, and chickens, and said hello again to our home.