Wedding Bells

Roaming Cattle and Weddings

by Connor McCauley in May

Howdy folks! Welcome to the Tritails Monthly newsletter.

The month of May has definitely been a little different than years in the past. Normally we  aren't too worried about the aesthetics of the ranch as long as it is functional. However, this month we have been painting, cleaning, and preparing for the first wedding that has been on the ranch in decades. Also, we have a very interesting story about a bull that may be passed down for generations and eventually turned into legend, The Lone Bull.

The Lone Bull

The classic TV show The Lone Ranger was about a wild cowboy who traveled the open west with his Indian companion friend. During the show, he was never arrested or captured by anyone. He never was unmasked due to his diligence and persistence. He indeed was a lone ranger.

It was a typical work day in 2020 when Faith came across something entirely unexpected. She was doing a usual feeding run when she happened to see ahead a lone black Angus cattle. Intrigued with this bull, she came closer to inspect and noted the number on the bull. It was definitely ours, only it was not in her notes. This bull had not been seen since she started working the ranch. She put on her detective hat and asked the former ranch hand, Jarred, if he knew anything about this bull. However, he came up empty after inspecting his notes too. These notes went back nine years! 

This situation became a blatant case of an elusive bull. He quickly became Harrell Ranch's Lone Ranger or Lone Bull. He had avoided being identified and had stayed unmasked for all those years. Being elusive is quite atypical for a bull because bulls usually come when called like any other cattle. This bull, however, had his eye on being free and unrestrained. He hid away in the canyon and roamed the flats.

Even though we unmasked the identity of this bull, he still evaded being rounded up for two more years. It wasn't until Aaron and Faith were out traveling across the flats that the Lone Bull was spotted. He happened to be between their truck and the fence, which was the perfect advantage the two cowboys were looking for. Faith attached her lassoing rope to the hitch on the truck, and Aaron pulled up slowly to the bull. When in striking range, Faith was able to lasso the bull from the top of the flatbed. Her cowboy skills were finely tuned that day. Finally, the Lone Bull had met his match.

Aaron had to find a ride back to grab the trailer, and thankfully Mary was at his disposal. Faith waited for him while he went to grab a trailer. A few moments later, the Lone Bull was officially captured. It was the end of a long beautiful ride for him. His wit differed from other bulls, and he enjoyed a long beautiful run of roaming the ranch as a Lone Bull. He will become a legend and story passed down for generations.

The Wedding at the Harrell Ranch

The wedding, which was my wedding, was indeed an experience that blew me away. I had way too much fun marrying the woman I loved. Helen is just such a bright joy. She puts smiles on so many faces but especially mine. I could write for a long time about how amazing she is and how blessed I am but for your sake, let's jump into the details of having a wedding on the ranch.

Setting up a wedding is no joke, especially when the venue is your home. There was no better place for us to have the marriage than the ranch in our case. The ceremony took place on our concrete patio with a phenomenal view of the Palo Duro Canyon, and the reception was down on our picnic grounds. We had a fantastic wedding set up on the picnic grounds thanks to boss man, Sam. He put together a dance floor, a large flatbed trailer for the band, a fire pit to cook steaks on, and various things. Helen and I had some idea of what to expect, but we were blown away by the results. Everything was perfect.

We had a great turnout of friends and family on the wedding day. The leader of the bible study Helen and I attended married us. He did a fantastic job and helped us proclaim our love to one another and our faith in Jesus to the attendance. The ceremony could not have gone any better. Even Oscar, our ring bearer and faithful canine companion seemed to understand the importance of his role. The dancing was excellent and the band was on fire. The food? The main entree was OUR beef so do we even need to talk about how people were going back for seconds as they ate the best steaks of their lives?!

Overall, Helen and I were just blown away. The love from family and friends was making us glow. The work that everyone put into helping us was just outstanding. We have many people to thank, and we won't do that here, but there is one conclusion we have, we are blessed! We could not have asked for a better day.

Prayer Requests

You can feel free to disregard this part of the newsletter, but we always need prayers. Please do not think we are asking you to only pray for us but rather just add these things to the things you already pray for. We really appreciate and believe in this.

• A blessed union between Helen and Connor.
• Success in some changes we’re making in our wholesale department.
• Success in a great farming season this year. 

Thank You so much, and don’t hesitate to let us know if we can pray for you.