THE HANGING A DIAMOND RANCH Now THE KRAMER CROWDER HORSE RANCH

John Butterfield, won a government contract beginning in 1857 to deliver mail to San Francisco, California from Tipton, Missouri and Memphis, Tennessee within 25 days, which was the beginning of the Butterfield Overland Stage Company. (Lately, when a letter we mailed to Helena arrived there one week later, we decided Mr. Butterfield was considerably ahead of his time.)

The two-way, semi-weekly route covered 2800 miles with 139 change stations and a water stop every 30 miles. The engines were mustang race horses capable of out-running any Native American interference along the way. Just in case of bandits, a gent rode shot-gun alongside the driver. Wells Fargo purchased the stage company, and Mr. Butterfield then founded another enterprise that survives today – American Express.

Violet, his granddaughter, was born in northern Montana and became a race horse rider and a match race jockey, which is where two riders agree to a race of a length of their choosing. She was the first Miss Montana and later married Ed Brooks, a lawman and rancher that came up from Texas with his herd and settled in Montana. He became the Sheriff of Prairie County.

As illustrious as were her own and her grandfather's careers,

she too had a renowned descendant, daughter Bobby Brooks Kramer, a tough and strong woman, that was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame for her competitive riding, training, and breeding of horses.

In 1943 Bobby married Bud Kramer while he was in the Army, and upon his discharge they built one of the greatest horse ranches in the nation, the Hanging A Diamond Ranch.

In the 1930s, when homesteaders failed or moved on, they released their extra horses (as today, people with unwanted pythons toss them into Florida swamps for other people to handle). Those animals bred, and wild horses were a problem to the new owners of the land. "Eating like a horse" is not a joke, for the beasts consumed grass that the ranchers intended for cattle.

Where did the Kramers fit in? They rounded up the wild horses the land owners sold them, as many as 10,000 head per year. Then they broke them, and sold them as riding or draft horses. In 1965 Bobby obtained a pilot's license, so she could round up the animals using an airplane. This was a woman that enjoyed speed – it was literally in her blood – and before long she was winning airplane races. As part of all this horse business, they also bred award-winning quarter and cutting horses.

Everyone must know what a quarter horse is, but do you understand about cutting horses? (No, they aren't meant for butchering.) A word or two may make the paintings more meaningful. Imagine yourself mounted and confronting a group of cattle, generally young steers and heifers. Your task is to separate out, or cut, and keep out of the herd, two or more of them, and at least one must be from deep within the pack, not milling around on the periphery. Much of the initiative comes from the horse, which must be guided by leg cues, not hands, for much of the operation.

Bobby Kramer won a great number of awards for horses she raised, trained, and used in competitions. She was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 2000, and at the age of 81 she had six AQHA All-Around Championships.

Their ranch house began existence as a homestead era school, and, over the years, they turned it into a pleasant, cozy home. The ranch included 76,000 deeded acres plus 60,000 leased and is located just three miles northeast of Billings. When we visited several years ago, it was uncertain how long it would remain intact, for the County had decided to build a by-pass around Billings which would have bisected the ranch almost directly at the house.

The present owners of the now-named Crowder Kramer Ranch are Gary and his wife, Linda, Crowder. They live in the charming house, and their rodeo photographs, plaques, trophies, and other prizes nearly cover their wall space.

A veteran of the Vietnam War, Gary, a native Montanan, had been living in Colorado when he was hired in 1968 as the full-time horse trainer for Bobby and Bud. At the time raising bucking, cutting, and quarter horses, along with sheep and longhorn cattle on their Hanging A Diamond ranch, the Kramers knew they had found a remarkable wrangler. On his part Gary realized he had found his career, not to mention true friends and advocates. Before she died at age 91 on January 5, 2005, Bobby adopted Gary.

It was difficult for us to believe that just on the outskirts of Billings lay a horse ranch with more cowboy, cowgirl, and Wild West connections than anyone ever would have guessed. Stage coaches, beauty pageants, wild horse roundups, women's racing horses and airplanes, rodeo champions: the modest spread has roots reaching into a good deal of America's history and is working to influence its future.

A Champion Cutter in Her Eighties

This oil painting on old barn wood shows Bobby at what she did best and for a very long time. Just look at the ramrod posture and iron will radiating from this lady. No cow in its right mind would dream of crossing her. If we were one, we would run in whatever direction her eyes or her horse pointed.

Mr. Butterfield's Granddaughter

Oil on scrap metal recovered from a homestead site on our property, this picture is based on an old photograph of Violet Davison Brooks repairing her saddle near her ranch on Big Sheep Mountain.

The Stare Down

Gary Crowder is memorialized by this oil painting on barn wood. He, like his mentor, has won more awards in cutting and other horse sports than this article has room to enumerate. The painting captures the form, strength, and concentration necessary to dominate competitions as he did.

The Champion

Another oil on barn wood makes evident how Linda Crowder has acquired so many barrel racing and other titles in equine sports. She is famous as a competitive rider, horse trainer, and instructor, teaching both in the Billings area and in California.