Arkansas Neighbors

In the early 1830s, treaties with Native Americans opened the Arkansas Territory up for settlement. One of the earliest families to settle on Osage Creek in the Arkansas Territory was the Chaney family. The area later became known as the town of Osage. The Chaney's property changed hands in the early 1900s to the Sisco family.

What began as an effort to clear a pasture ended in a life passion for Cecil and Sharon Swepston, owners of the Broken S Ranch in Ft. Gibson, Oklahoma. They needed the back 40 acres of their 80-acre ranch for cattle, but the area was difficult to brush hog and extremely hard on equipment. That’s when Cecil purchased some goats to take care of the problem.

Growing up in the hallowed hills of Kentucky horse country, Joyce Graening was indoctrinated into the horse culture early. Joyce vowed that as soon as she could, she'd have as many horses as possible. When the time came, Joyce fulfilled that dream, though not with the high strung Thoroughbreds she grew up around. Instead, Joyce opted for the steady and versatile Missouri Fox Trotter. After years living just outside of Fayetteville on 15 acres, the Graening's decided to make the move to the 120 acres they owned just outside of Prairie Grove. “They were about to annex us into Fayetteville and we needed more pasture. I had more horses than I had brains,” she joked. “We thought it would take awhile for the house to sell, but it only took two months. The people who bought the house wanted in quickly, so we had to scramble and lived in a travel trailer while our stable and living quarters were completed. There was nothing here; we had to put the road in and everything. We lived in the stable until our house was completed.” Following the willowy, retired professor of Kinesiology around her large stable, you get a feel for why she loves the Missouri Foxtrotter so. The photos that line the walls showcase the versatility of Joyce's horses. In one photo a beautiful dappled grey is shown in Western Pleasure, in the photo beside it the same horse is shown being ridden in a sidesaddle competition, while yet another photo shows the horse in the English class. Joyce currently has 18 Fox Trotters and a BLM mustang in her stable. Comanche, the mustang is the “babysitter” of the group. “Comanche is very smart, and when I wean babies, I just turn them out with him.” Joyce and her husband Jay, a retired professor of mathematics who taught at the University of Arkansas for 33 years, describe the farm as their retirement exercise plan. Between the horses, the 60 or so head of Limousin mixed cattle, and the assorted dogs that they are always taking in, life on the farm isn't exactly the picture of a laid back retirement.

Located on the Missouri-Arkansas state line is a sight seldom seen in Northern Arkansas today. JW Guffey and his son, Bryan, and son-in-law, Lee Lester, run a cattle feed lot. Most cattle operations in Arkansas now are either cow/calf operations or breeder stock, but almost everyone runs their cattle on open pasture, supplementing as necessary.

TMB Angus Ranch and Breeding Services, owned by Terry and Mary Brown, has been developed over the years to become the premier operation that it is today. They run 50 cow/calf pairs of registered Angus and raise registered Angus bulls on their 200-acre ranch near Leslie, Ark. They sell seedstock by private treaty. Their four grown children, Angela Thornburg, Chris, Terry Jr., and Travis Brown and six grandkids live in several different states.

Steve and Karen Hamm own 777 acres just five miles west of Alpena, Ark.  When they first visited the area, they were living in Phoenix and were on a short vacation. Little did they know that northern Arkansas was destined to become their new home.

'Good food' is the slogan of the 65-acre DH Farms of West Fork, Ark. Located on a picturesque hilltop in the Boston Mountains, near West Fork, the DenHerder family farm is a sprawling mixture of pasture and wooded land. The DenHerders work to make the farm sustainable and to operate as a team. The farm is a diverse mixture of livestock and produce, to meet the needs of the local farmer’s market and the interests of the DenHerder family.

Twenty-five LaMancha and Nigerian Dwarf doe goats, 22 bottle-fed kids, four adult bucks, three Great Pyrenees guardian dogs, an Australian Shepherd and a donkey named Nellie roam Simple Pleasures Farm on Nubbin Hill near Leslie, Ark., owned by Phil and Dawn Hurd. 

"I just love my goats,” chuckled Patty Horner from Rockin’ Rock Ranch in Salem, Ark. “I could just spend hours out with them and the babies. They are all jumping and hopping around the field and me. They are just fun to be around,” she added.

When it comes to shooting trap, brother and sister duo, Cord and Brooke Riley are right on target. The siblings are members of the Huntsville FFA Chapter’s shooting sports team. Huntsville’s FFA team has won the state trap shooting tournament for two consecutive years, and they are hoping for their third win in April.