henderson - biography

"Talks too much in class" was the complaint parochial teachers bestowed on me in my grade school years. But then, words have always fascinated me which is probably why I have dabbled in free-lance writing and cowboy poetry for a long time. In spite of the alure of a huge annual income as a writer, I have not been able to quit my regular job of ranching...however, I wouldn't want to. I have to confess to being addicted to the ranching lifestyle since I was a child. It is how I have made my living all of my adult life, other than some odd jobs to support my ranching habit, such as working the pens at a livestock auction barn, working in a large animal vet clinic, or substitute teaching. My poetry is a diary of my cowboying and ranch experiences, ruefully in some cases when the first hand experiences document past personal discomfort or hard-earned lessons! So if you are interested in booking my poetry PROGRAM, (click here) incentives such as a monetary fee, free food, fuel, and lodging will get my attention since I have moved up a level in comfort from my cow camp days.

My published works include numerous anthologies, THREE CHAPBOOKS, a CD, (click here), newspaper articles, a weekly column, and several segments of poetry in a Harlequin super romance, "Southern Reason, Western Rhyme" (by Sharon Brondos). On the more practical side, you can find several excerpts of my early ranching experiences in Houghton-Mifflin’s "Leanin’ Into the Wind- Women of the West". My itinerary as a poet has included traveling from Durango, Colorado to Bowman, North Dakota and many points in between, doing poetry programs. I have written a weekly column fairly regularly for my local paper since 1990. May 2006, I released my first CD (with the musical background help of Zieb and Joan Stetler) entitled "Kids and Kritters".

Many people mistakenly believe ranching is a job for "uneducated rednecks". A cowboy today has to have a college education if they want to maintain that job as a sustainable business. I currently run a cow/calf/yearling operation which raises all natural, grass-fed beef. My husband and I incorporate modern technology not availble to the cowboys of the old west, such as ultrasounding our calves for carcass traits and DNA testing our breeding stock for tenderness genes. However, I still fiercely hold on to the old-fashioned rural values of neighborliness, honesty, 'fixin' yer own fences' otherwise known as responsibility, and courtesy. Ranchers still have to deal with the challenges of weather, wide open spaces, and wild-eyed critters. Trail drives are still a necessary part of moving cattle from one place to another, although they don't cover near as much country as the historical drives.

As a member of L.E.A.D. class VI (agricultural leadership class) from 1999-2001, I traveled to Ireland, England, and Europe. In 1998, I traveled to Queensland, Australia for thirty days, thanks to stay-at-home help from my parents. I accompanied my husband, who went in conjunction with the University of Wyoming's W.I.R.E. team (teaches how to integrate, or utilize all the ranch resources.)

Who would have thought a back-country cowboy would end up being president of Wyoming Cattlewomen? The group picked me in 1993-1994, when we hosted the last big (50 contestants) Beef Cook-Off in Cheyenne, WY. In support of my industry, (Beef, which is why we still have cowboys today) I am past-president of two county Cattlewomen groups, and on the Board of Directors for the Wyoming Stockgrowers. I freely admit to being a full time meateater and would starve as a vegetarian. When someone spread the nasty rumor that I was willing to work for low pay (as in zilch!) I was also chosen the first lady cowboy to be elected an officer in my county stockgrower group. As many of us learn, particularly through the passage of years, personal faith is a big component in how well we deal with life's challenges. In partial payment of that debt, I am a past president of my church’s parish council. I am currently working to organize fellow ranchers into a new generation co-op to market our grass fed beef.

I have been married to Frank Henderson since Dec. 1985. Before that, I was married to a fellow cowboy, Larry Svrko, who died of a brain aneurysm during the 1981 calving season. Larry left me the legacy of two beautiful children: a daughter and a son. When I married Frank four years later, he adopted my children. We worked hard over the years to form a new family. The fall of 1999, my nineteen year old son was killed in a truck accident within two weeks of grandchild number 3 being born to my daughter. Since 2003, Frank has been a prostate cancer survivor and I am a breast cancer survivor. Frank retired Sept. 2005, with over 32 years as a University Extension Agent. He then went to work at the coal mines on a blasting/explosives crew. We announced that he had taken a less stressful job. I also manage a neighbor’s 5000 acre ranch, of which over 2000 acres burned in a massive wildfire the summer of 2006..

Over the last 22 years, I have constantly been at-the-ready to respond as a wildland firefighter with my county rural fire department. My husband and I are responsible for a military style 6x6 fire engine (see the fire training photos). We are unit #381. He is the driver. I am the hoser. In the off season, I am the county training coordinator for the wildland firefighters. The off-season runs from when the valves on the engines will freeze up in the fall (and we have to drain the trucks), to when they will stayed thawed out in the spring and we refill the tanks for the summer.

Over the years, I have learned to be a better listener, along with other life lessons. Today, if several of my friends, acquaintances, and neighbors knew I was once tagged with "talks too much in class" they would be amazed. A more common label today is "she's pretty quiet"...unless you get me on stage reciting my cowboy poetry!

Despite being a cranky old rancher with strong views about government intervention in my livestyle, I was federally appointed in 2005 to be on the state Farm Service Agency committee. I have to admit to accepting some of those program's help, such as the burn assistance program for our pastures following the severe fires in 2006. I have been chairman of the Grand Entry at the state high school rodeo finals for over 14 years. I spent 10 years as a substitute teacher and was a long time 4-H shooting sports instructor. I love it when my grandkids can come stay at the ranch. The rest of the time I am a bum.