Joni's Cows

 Joni is a local woman...daughter, sister, aunt, mother, grandmother...who is also a horsewoman who owns cattle. (She was a student of mine in 1977-78.) She has had at least two serious "wrecks" on horses, but it has slowed her down only slightly.  Each spring, she moves her cattle from the "home place" to their summer pasture, miles away.  It's a major operation, requiring cowboys and cow dogs on the trip.  For the locals, the trip is described as "across Cricket Flat, down into the Minam-Wallowa canyon, across the highway bridge, down the railroad tracks and then up a steep grassy hill to the summer range on Smith Mountain." Joni is at the head of the herd.  In the fall, the move is reversed.  She asked me to photograph some of the move, and I agreed.  I decided to focus on Joni.