Catching up with the Native Cowgirl
Farmers and ranchers are always battling things outside of their control when it comes to their livelihood. Weather, the rising cost of doing business, market price for their goods, and consumer buying habits are just a few of the variables that affect their bottom line. Add to that list, radical groups on the fight against unwarranted environmental and animal care and the battle seems uphill all the way.
We profiled three Montana ranch women that have taken to social media to try and help educate consumers about what it takes to provide food for their families while giving them an inside look at the lives of every day farmers and ranchers.
On three very different levels, these women are each making a difference for the industry.
The many faces of Cheyenne Wilson
Written by Cyd Hoefle
Photography by Cheyenne Wilson
Reed Point, MT
Cheyenne Wilson divides her time between two ranches, one on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and the other south of Reed Point, that has been in her husband’s family for decades. A fifth generation Montanan, she grew up on her parent’s ranch in southeast Montana outside of Terry, where her love of cattle and horses was fostered. She and her husband, Shane Wilson, raise half draft horses, a cross between Quarter horses and draft horses, and black angus cattle.
But if operating two ranches isn’t enough, Cheyenne also is a writer and photographer specializing in social media marketing and the promotion of agriculture.
“I started blogging in 2013 about ranch life and living on an Indian reservation hoping that I might bring in another stream of income for our ranch,” she started. “I dabbled in photography and did some social media and things just started working.”
Cheyenne prides herself on platforming the romantic, but necessary side of ranching and hopes to help consumers better understand where their food comes from and how it’s raised.
“I try to keep my posts positive and inspiring,” she said, “truthful but fun.”
Her Facebook page and Instagram are filled with photos of horses, cattle and the workings of things going on at the ranch. She often adds trivia about agriculture or a short video of ranch life, feeding horses, checking cows, roping calves.
“I have a saying, ‘Whatever you do in life, do it to please the 8-year-old you were and the 80-year-old you will be.’ Everything we do matters, some things just matter more than others. Take the time to figure out what matters the most and do it.”
Her most favorite subject to photograph are horses because as she says, “horses are the romantic side of the west!”
She offers a firsthand perspective on being a ranch woman in modern times.
And it’s working. She has over 100,000 followers from across the country and has since become a rural business coach specializing in helping women in agriculture build their businesses.
“What I’ve done has worked,” Cheyenne said. “Now I’d like to help other women succeed too.”
Incredibly busy not only helping on her family’s ranch and working with other women to build their businesses, Cheyenne also homeschools her 13 year old son, handles the social media content for Art of the Cowgirl and has a successful networking business.
“I’m not a perfectionist,” she said, “I’m a realist. I’ve figured out how to prioritize. My husband and son are first in my life and everything else fits into place.”
She’s also learned to give herself grace.
“I don’t feel too busy,” she said. “I have a saying, ‘Whatever you do in life, do it to please the 8-year-old you were and the 80-year-old you will be.’ Everything we do matters, some things just matter more than others. Take the time to figure out what matters the most and do it.”