Writin' for the Brand

Tales of the Ranch

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  • Native Americans,  The Cowboy Chronicle,  Western History

    Returning Home: the Tragedy and Triumph of the Great American Buffalo

    November 13, 2020 /

    Published in: The Cowboy Chronicle Volume 24 Issue 6 November 2020 Publication of the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame With profound joy and a great sense of a spiritual connection they watched the animals step out of the trucks and onto Tribal lands once again, greeting them with traditional welcoming ceremonies. The buffalo and their way of life had been gone for generations, but the longing remained in the people’s souls. The relationship between the buffalo and native people is deep, personal, and ethereal. While the stories and sacred ceremonies had been retained, the youth could not completely understand the kindred relationship because they had not been able to…

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    Mary Patricia Martell Jones 0 Comments

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    War Bonnet!

    August 13, 2018

    Necessities for a Nomadic Life

    August 18, 2019

    The Legacy of the Horse in the Lives of the Great Plains People

    August 25, 2016
  • The Cowboy Chronicle

    North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame Podcast

    November 13, 2020 /

    I was interviewed by Bill Palanuk, Media Director at the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame, after my article- “Little Misery”: The Rise and Fall of a Forgotten Badlands Town, was published. This aired on October 21, 2020 North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame  Any time you pick up an issue of The Cowboy Chronicles newsletter, you have undoubtedly read articles written by Mary Pat Martell Jones. Mary’s passion for history is very evident in her articles and also on her fabulous website writinforthebrand.com which is maintained by her son Michael which she greatly appreciates.We’ll get to know Mary just a bit better today here on Cowboy Chronicles – The…

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    Mary Patricia Martell Jones 0 Comments

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    In Good Company

    February 13, 2019

    The Lewis and Clark Trail Museum

    February 7, 2015

    Who was Benjamin Henry?

    October 10, 2018
  • Ghost Towns,  History,  North Dakota History,  The Cowboy Chronicle

    “Little Misery”: The Rise and Fall of a Forgotten Badlands Town

    October 18, 2020 /

    Published in the Cowboy Chronicle Publication of the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame Volume 24 Issue 5 Newspapers from New York to Paris and London in the late 1870’s and early 1880’s were abuzz about the Dakota cattle boom on the northern plains of America.  Books, such as James Brisbin’s The Beef Bonanza or How to get Rich on the Plains (1871) and Trans Missouri Stock Raising; the Pasture Lands of North America by Hiram Latham ( 1881), fueled the excitement for the expanding cattle industry.  In 1879 The Bismarck Tribune proclaimed that that western North Dakota possessed “the best grazing lands in the world”.  A writer for the…

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    Mary Patricia Martell Jones 0 Comments

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    Booming Settlement to Ghost Town: Whispers of the Living History of Charbonneau

    January 29, 2015
  • The Cowboy Chronicle,  Western History

    Just a Bit About the Bit

    June 14, 2020 /

    A good relationship between the horse and his rider is all about communication.  A horse can sense fear, anger and competence, and will react accordingly. However, a good ride whether for work or pleasure, requires effective communication between the horse and rider.  Since ancient times the bit, in one form or another, has been the instrument to help send these messages.   The horse is the only animal we control by putting something inside their mouth. The ancient man’s experience of controlling a pack or riding animal before the domestication of the horse, was by various forms of nose pressure. This method would not work for the equine as its…

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    “It’s a hard way to make an easy living” : Wayne Herman to be Inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame

    February 10, 2015

    “Come and Get It”

    May 30, 2018

    The Railroad and Settlement in Early North Dakota

    April 9, 2015
  • North Dakota Today,  The Cowboy Chronicle

    Sentinel on the Prairie: Celebrating Twenty-five Years of the Preservation and Protection of North Dakota History

    May 28, 2020 /

    He had been thinking about this for a while now.  So many stories and moments, friendships and connections were passing through time. They drifted like the wind across the prairies, and he hated the thought they could all be lost. Countless hours were spent visiting with folks and embracing all the memories and history he could. The stories they told may not have been notable markers in history, but they embodied the character and the essence of the generations.  These moments in time woven together were the fabric of America’s western history and an important part of a great national epic. Those who built North Dakota, who dreamed, sacrificed and…

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    Mary Patricia Martell Jones 0 Comments

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    The Wild Horses of Roosevelt’s Badlands for The Cowboy Chronicle

    November 10, 2017

    The Wild Horses of Roosevelt’s Badlands

    February 24, 2018

    Knowing Your Past Carries You into the Future

    July 8, 2018
  • The Cowboy Chronicle,  Western History

    Branding Across Time

    November 4, 2019 /

    When thinking of the American West the image of a laconic individual with the requisite boots, chaps, and hat comes to mind. We envision him on long cattle drives, riding along miles and miles of fences or on a great roundup. In our minds we can see the cowboy chasing down a hapless calf, roping and wrestling it to the ground by a campfire with branding irons in the flames. Another cowboy grabs it and burns the owners mark on its hip. It’s all part of the mystique of the cowboy, some of it romanticized in art and the movies; all of it based on reality and much of it…

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    Mary Patricia Martell Jones 0 Comments

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    The Lewis and Clark Trail Museum

    February 7, 2015

    The Western Trail

    February 13, 2015

    “Come and Get It”

    May 30, 2018
  • History,  Native Americans,  The Cowboy Chronicle

    Necessities for a Nomadic Life

    August 18, 2019 /

    It was time to move. The young woman took down their tepee and secured the poles to the horses, building the travois’ that would carry the rest of their home and other worldly possessions.

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    The Battle at Guilford Courthouse

    May 1, 2019

    A Century Since the Great War; Family Ties

    November 12, 2018

    Straight to the Horse’s Mouth

    April 30, 2019
  • History,  The Cowboy Chronicle,  Western History

    Straight to the Horse’s Mouth

    April 30, 2019 /

    At first glance, especially to those unfamiliar with all that is involved in horse care, the new exhibit at the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame might look like medieval tools of torture.  No need to worry, these old malicious looking implements are just a set of equine dentistry tools from 1904, donated to the hall by the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation. It is believed that equine dentistry practices began about 2000 years ago on the steppes of northeastern Asia and Mongolia by ancient nomads. The horse has the distinction of being the most significant domesticated animal of the past 5000 years, playing a critical role in the development, growth…

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    Mary Patricia Martell Jones 0 Comments

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    Necessities for a Nomadic Life

    August 18, 2019

    A Century Since the Great War; Family Ties

    November 12, 2018

    Just One More Ride

    December 9, 2018
  • Biographies,  The Cowboy Chronicle

    Charles Franklin Martell: Pre-1940’s Ranching Division nominee 2019

    February 13, 2019 /

    In 1908 a young man left his family dairy farm in New York going west to fulfill his dream in western North Dakota. Charles Martell arrived with nothing, worked for his uncles and was on his own by 1914. He established a ranch headquarters known as “Horse Camp”, running several hundred head of horses and cattle. Martell learned to identify and purchase strong breeding stock and expertly break horses. The 1920’s saw local horse markets declining, but Martell found new profitable markets for local horses in New York.  As farming practices became more mechanized the horse market again declined, so he shifted his focus to cattle. Martell’s ranch grew to…

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    Mary Patricia Martell Jones 0 Comments

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    Biography of George W. Nohle

    March 1, 2015

    The Cowboy Doctor

    December 22, 2020

    The Wandering Man

    June 4, 2019
  • North Dakota History,  The Cowboy Chronicle,  Western History

    In Good Company

    February 13, 2019 /

    The North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame shares its mission, and more than a few of its honorees, with the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Chester Reynolds had a dream. He was a Kansas City native who rose from sales manager to president of Lee Jeans. He had a creative mind and came up with the idea of Buddy Lee, a doll who “modeled” miniature samples of his company’s clothing line.  But Chester’s greatest dream was to find a way to enshrine the cowboy and his era.  He worried our great western heritage was being lost in the modern world. The idea for a national museum first came to…

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    Mary Patricia Martell Jones 0 Comments

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    The Wild Horses of Roosevelt’s Badlands for The Cowboy Chronicle

    November 10, 2017

    Biography of Andrew J. Nohle

    February 28, 2015

    Biography of Charles Franklin Martell

    February 28, 2015
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