Saturday update from Alaska and BWC

The latest news from Ron & T of The Buffalo Wool Co. at RATH Ranch. Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

Hello and Happy Saturday Friends!

Hope all is well in your part of the world. Life here is good, we are in our happy place back in Alaska. Have run into a few friends, and will be seeing more great ones today. Dad and I are going fishing with SleepyBaySalmon and gonna haul up some halibut.

We did go out on a boat salmon fishing last Wed... When you aren't able to keep halibut (we caught like 8) but we did manage to land quite a few Pacific Cod and a few black cod...most delicious fish in the water.

We brought up youngest granddaughter and middle daughter this year. The girls did visit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center... Who have been doing the wood bison releases, and took a Glacier boat tour, and the Sea Life Center.

We did find a wild Alaskan unicorn, it's such a blessing to have 4 generations of family here.

So it's our usual van camping, boondocking river chasing pre-fair fun. Seriously considering doing a caravan next year if any of y'all want to join us. Just rent a van or RV and have some fun. No agenda, just go do what you want, have fun and we can hang out and enjoy the most beautiful place in the world. We have a bit of experience in this, and would love to share it with friends. This is 18 years doing this

yes, we currently do live in a van down by the river. It's cheap, it's comfortable and easy...

so with that, let's see what we can come up with here today. Trying this on the phone as my laptop is dead so it might be slightly wonky

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Ron, T, and the crew here at the Buffalo Wool Co.

Bison month Gift Certificate Winners

Stephen DiLossi

Beth Summitsedge

Gail Koos

Chad Moles

I will get these sent to you as soon as I can get some signal or my laptop working again.

Thank you all for playing along with us, truly appreciate all the kind words about the barrage of stories and stuff

Meme of the day

the Gene Pool...

The Great Bison Adventure of Bud, Ruth, and the Broken Wagon

Once upon a time (well, around 2003) on a quiet 160-acre family farm in Hobart, Indiana—land that Bud and Wally Koeppen’s grandfather had farmed with corn and soybeans since 1932—two brothers and a determined wife named Ruth decided the ordinary just wasn’t interesting enough.Bud, a car-repair guy with grease under his nails and a soft spot for big animals, and his wife Ruth (married since 1979) got a Christmas newsletter from their old wedding photographer. The guy had traded computers for a log cabin and a herd of shaggy American bison downstate. “How the heck could he do that?” Bud wondered. So he and brother Wally (freshly retired from UPS) piled into the truck for a visit. One look at those massive, curious, grass-chomping icons of the prairie and the seed was planted. “If we’re going to lose money on this little farm,” Bud declared, “we might as well lose it on something a little more interesting.”

Ruth, never one to sit on the sidelines, rolled up her sleeves. Together the three of them spent months pounding posts, stretching six-foot fences, building a corral and handling facility, and joining the National Bison Association. Then came the big day: Thanksgiving-ish 2003. A trailer rolled up carrying their first ten bison—seven breed cows, two heifer calves, and one yearling bull with attitude to spare. They named him Big Bad John, after the classic song, because of course they did. Big Bad John stepped off the trailer, surveyed his new domain, and seemed to say, “Alright, humans… show me what you’ve got.”

The herd grew. The pastures filled with more than a hundred of the magnificent beasts—curious Daisy (bottle-fed with one shorter horn), pink-tongued Pink, solid Blackjack, and regal Roosevelt among them. The bison developed personalities as big as their shoulders. They’d swarm the wagon for alfalfa cubes, follow a “funeral procession” if one of their own was moved, and race across the fields at 35 miles an hour just because they could. Bud found his passion. The quiet car mechanic who “wasn’t normally a people person” lit up on tour days, handing out jerky sticks, sharing bison facts, and watching kids’ eyes go wide as the wagon rolled right into the middle of the herd. Ruth held up soft bison hair for visitors to feel and kept the gift shop stocked with leather goods, hides, jewelry, and the best locally raised bison meat around. Wally kept the operation humming.

Their motto practically wrote itself on a baseball cap: “Make America Graze Again.”One sunny Saturday the wagon rattled out with a full load of laughing visitors. Big Bad John’s descendants (and a few calves doing “zoomies”) surrounded them. Bud tossed treats. Ruth laughed as a curious yearling nosed the side of the wagon. Somewhere in the crowd a little kid whispered, “They’re like living history!” And for a moment, on that third-generation Indiana farm, America’s past wasn’t just remembered—it was snorting, grazing, and living large right in front of everyone.That night, after the last visitor left and the store lights dimmed, Bud, Ruth, and Wally sat on the porch looking out over the pastures. The bison were dark shapes against the fading sky. “Not much more Americana than this,” Bud said with a grin.And the bison, if they could talk, would probably agree—though they’d insist on more alfalfa cubes first.

Sport Socks

These things might be the best we have ever made. Been wearing this pair for a couple weeks now and have never felt better. They are basically our OTC compression socks without the compression. They feel flipping amazing.

Perfect for football, basketball, hockey, or just doing the usual stuff you do.

will be a little bit before we have these available... But in the meantime I have a question for y'all.

What color combos should we do? That is where we are. Let us know what you think please.

BWC Stuff in process

So, have a fair bit of stuff in the works. Looks like we are gonna be making some pure American wool products for this fall. Will be a fair bit less expensive than the bison stuff, but it will be our standard high end quality.

We also have the pure bison and copper yarn spun and Mike at the Knitting Mill will be doing prototypes of our new Faraday Hat soon. I'm excited about these.

CAROLINA GLOVE just completed it's first run of bison leather work gloves - production samples in hand at Buffalo Wool Co. They are cut with the same dies they got from Midwest glove - the gloves above that we sold for close to ten years, the Bad News ... but expected; price is up .... but they will be a great addition to our line-up. Stay tuned. If you need anything other than Large, we still have some left in stock. Up

New shirts just got here from American Lictor.

really love this one, will ship on Monday.