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

Welcome to the Weekend!!

Hello and Happy Saturday friends! We made it... was touch and go there for a bit, but got most of the list accomplished, (the short list.. long list will take a couple years to get done) Gonna take the W, and keep on keeping on. Have some fun stuff in the works right now. Hopefully can share soon.

Nothing super exciting happened here this week, just working and having fun, had some good friends spend last weekend here at RATHranch, played games, ate good food, and saw a play in town, oh, and Mike at the Knitting Mill shipping us the second round of Pure Prairie Socks (only about half of the expected ones, we should get the rest this coming week), and a bunch more Advantage gloves. That was good, gonna fill as many of the pre-orders today as we can, probably won't go out til Monday with all the chores I am behind on.

We do have a small favor to ask, won't take you more than a minute or two. Our friend Xander, who is making the film on the native Florida bison is in a photo contest, and a win would be a huge thing for him, and he will be donating the prize money to a couple of worthy causes, feeding the hungry, wildlife conservation and reasearch, ... with all you friends tossing a vote his way, I know we can do this. Vote Here

In the meantime, I think we have some fun stuff today. Do have a few odds and ends we are cleaning up, and two really nice bison leather tote bags, had one made for T with some of the nicer leather we had here, and Art had enough to make a couple extra. Also clearing out the XL leather lined gloves with the vellux lining.

Really looking forward to the Oklahoma Bison Assn auction next weekend, maybe will see some of you there!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Ron, T, Cecil, Piggy Wrangler, and the rest of the crew here at the BWC

Some of our friends have a running joke, that we all got where we are through a series of "Poor Life Choices"

This is all self-inflicted, and I am perfectly ok with it.

American Bison Return to the National Mall

In 2026, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History is going full bison bonanza to toast America's 250th birthday—because nothing says "independence and freedom" like our shaggy national mammal!

On March 11, three ginormous bronze bison will "stampede" cross-country from a Colorado foundry, pit-stopping at museums before plunking down permanently at the museum's entrance on March 18 (public gawking starts March 19). This gift from Naoma Tate and Hal Tate's family is a hilarious homecoming—back in the 1880s, the Smithsonian penned up real bison behind their Castle to save the species from becoming extinct burgers.

Kicking off the fun: "Bison: Standing Strong," a May 7 exhibit dishing the dirt on these beasts' wild ride from prehistoric fossils to modern comebacks, via Smithsonian treasures.As museum boss Kirk Johnson quips, "Bison's epic saga—from ancient stomps to near wipeout and triumphant return—is peak American drama. We're the heroes who yanked them from the brink, and we're still buffalo-ing ahead on conservation!"

From The Herd Bull

I continue to be fascinated by these Germanic (and a few US version) "Schutzen" single shot rifles. They are always very small (4-6 mm or newer ones .22 cal) calibers. Designed for indoor target or varmint shooting. I think there are currently 4 or 5 around here; three for sure. I will probably drop one a week in just so you can see them.

The intricacy of the carving; the quality of the walnut stocks; the wonderment of the Germanic engineering ... and always the fascination of who was it that held this; where, what did he.she shoot.

Schutzen Rifle

From some Friends: Michael and Kathleen Gear

This has been great so far, im not quite halfway yet, haven't found a lot of down time to read, still have a stack of stuff I had hoped to finish this winter.

Here is a little summary from their site: Buffalo Justice by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear is a gripping contemporary Western mystery thriller set against the backdrop of Yellowstone's controversial bison herd. When prominent conservation lawyer Ryman Banks is assassinated, Montana Department of Justice Agent Jillian Masterson is tasked with the investigation, uncovering a tangled web of corruption, greed, and deadly agendas among politicians, conservationists, and assassins. Buffalo rancher John Cody, framed for the murder, fights to prove his innocence while grappling with an attraction to Jillian, as she races to expose the truth before becoming the next victim.

Order "Buffalo Justice"

From All About Bison: The best source on Bison info online

www.allaboutbison.com

When the new bison stamps were announced, I was told after January, but now looking they say spring- summer for the new bison stamps. Some came out already, but it looks like the bison may be a lil longer.

I searched by computer for the last image I had of this stamp and this came up. HA

“ Buffalo stamps, ” are tracts of hard blue soil , supposed to be due, originally , to the presence of alkali and saline properties in the ground, causing numbers of buffalo to crowd together, licking and stamping the life out of the soil . It is a curious fact that our domestic cattle, imported to Kansas, no matter how well supplied with salt, soon acquire the same habit, not licking the soil, but crowding and stamping upon the same spots. In such places the grass is very short, wiry and thick, looking like green hair, if such a comparison be at all allowable. Some people here say that it is really the best of land and that after being broken up and sown in wheat a few years, it will become extremely fertile; but I will wait awhile and see results before endorsing that opinion. J.H. Beadle 1860