11/03/2025
For those of you who don’t know, leather work is Will’s second job. His first is that of a full time cowboy here on the Four Sixes ranch. Will and I live way out on the ranch (12 miles of caliche road) at what’s called “South Camp”. The word “camp” is used to describe an allotment of land assigned to the cowboy’s care, plus a house, barn, etc, where we live. I won’t tell you the exact acreage Will’s responsible for, but I will say the largest of his 4 pastures is 14,235 acres. These 4 pastures are extremely beautiful with draws and canyons, but the elevation changes make the country pretty rough & difficult in places. Outside of spring and fall works (branding and weaning seasons when the entire ranch is gathered & worked as a crew), Will spends his days throwing out mineral, spraying mesquite, fixing fences, welding areas when he needs to, checking cattle, roping/doctoring calves, riding, training, & shoeing horses, & when it rains, making sure his water gaps are not down. (Water gaps are places in the fence designed to give or “break” when rushing water pushes through carrying debris. This keeps the fence from constantly breaking worse, & keeps debris from building up, but it means these areas have to be checked & fixed promptly to prevent cattle from crossing over them.) Will works hard on the ranch every day, & then comes home and applies that same work ethic to our leather business. I hope this has given y’all a glimpse of our lives here, & hopefully helps explain why sometimes your orders might take awhile (thanks for your patience!) Leather work done the right way is a slow and tedious process, but Will strives for excellence in each product so not only can you be proud of your item, but so it will last you a lifetime. And bonus, you can tell the story of the real Texas cowboy who made it. 😄
Fun fact for all of you Yellowstone fans, if you want to see a glimpse of South Camp, go back and watch Season 4 episode 6. That’s really our bunkhouse where Jimmy “stayed” (our leather shop in real life), and our house/kitchen table where Will told Jimmy to “take your hat off.” 🤣 And the scenes where they’re trotting are really here at South Camp.
