The late John C. Budd, of Big Piney, is one of four Sublette County cowboys selected for induction into the 2024 Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame. Budd liked to point out to his friends that when he was a young cowboy he had ridden the length of present-day Sublette County and never encountered a fence. 

Courtesy photo

SUBLETTE COUNTY — The Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame (WCHF) selected 23 inductees for the Class of 2024. Among them are four cowboys from Sublette County — Kevin W. Campbell, Bondurant; John C. Budd, Big Piney; Gary Lozier, Big Piney; and Steven C. James, Daniel. The Pinedale Roundup will highlight one recipient each week. A special thanks goes out to Jonita Sommers for her assistance with each cowboy’s profile.
The public is invited to an Open House and Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame Celebration at the Sommers Homestead Living History Museum on Sunday, Sept. 1 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. A free lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m. with beef, homemade bread, salad, potatoes, beans, homemade desserts and pies. The Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame program will start around noon. Free admission. Everyone is welcome.

The WCHF State Board of Directors voted on the nominees from across the state during its annual meeting on April 27. The 11th Annual induction ceremony will be at the Ramkota Hotel in Casper on Oct. 11-12. It is open to the public.  

Regional committees in ten different areas of Wyoming researched and scored over 50 nominations and sent the top picks to the WCHF State Board of Directors. The State Board also selected several nominees.  

Formed for historical, cultural, literary, and educational purposes, WCHF’s chief goal is “To preserve, promote, perpetuate, publish and document Wyoming’s working cowboy and ranching history through researching, profiling and honoring individuals who broke the first trails and introduced that culture to this state. WCHF plans to collect, display and preserve the stories, photos and artifacts of such individuals and anything else that will honor and highlight their contributions to our history.” 

The WCHF Board is comprised of one member from each of the state’s ten regions. To learn more about the WCHF visit www.wyomingcowboyhalloffame.org.

John C. Budd, Big Piney
John C. Budd was born on Jan. 10, 1878, to a pioneer family, Daniel and Josephine Budd, which was beginning a new life on the banks of North Piney Creek, near Big Piney, Wyoming.  His father, Daniel B. Budd was trailing a herd of cattle from Nevada to Point of Rocks, Wyoming and needed to stop for the winter, so he took the cattle up to the Piney Country and turned them loose. In the spring, he decided it looked like a good country, so he decided to settle there.  John and his 5 siblings grew up as many pioneer children did: doing whatever possible to help the family survive. That included becoming a Cowboy. In his own words,  “I started riding horses as soon as I was weaned and by the time I was 10 years old I was a real cowboy and one of the gang; at least I thought so.” 

After a short break, it was time to start the beef gathering. This time, crews started up near Beaver and worked south. John remembers, “…we would work out the beef, then move the rest of the cattle back into the mountains. Here began the serious business of night herding. And then it was time for the Fall Roundup to bring in all the cows and calves and then back ride to be sure no cattle were still at the heads of various creeks. John told his daughter, Helen, “The Green River Valley developed quite a reputation for its quality beef. Each cowboy took pride in that reputation. His life was a hard one for he had to be in the saddle all day, every day, from sun up until sundown, regardless of the weather. Often he had to take his turn with the night herd. Still, there was a feeling of independence and adventure about being a cowboy. For those of us who enjoyed working out in the open, riding horses and working with cattle, there just wasn’t anything equal to being a cowboy on those early roundups.”

In the early 1890s, Roundup Associations began to form in a more structured way. The ‘Equalizer Winter of 1890’ made ranchers begin to put some hay up and fence some areas for irrigating. The Big Piney Roundup Association was one of the early Associations. When John was still in his 20s he began to participate in the formation of that association, serving as President, Secretary and foreman at various times during the years. He was certainly qualified, having spent his youth cowboying in the vast area the Association covered. He liked to point out to his younger friends that when he was a young cowboy he had ridden the length of present-day Sublette County and never encountered a fence. The country covered ranged from Fontenelle and LaBarge Creek in the south to Fall River Basin near Bondurant, the Black Buttes in the upper Green and country on the west side of Fremont Lake.  It’s hard to visualize the scope of such an undertaking.  

In 1895, John filed for a patent on land in the Meadow Canyon drainage, a long valley watered by small springs. He continued to cowboy for the Association. In 1905, he married Lula McGinnis, daughter of another pioneer family living near Midway. Together they gradually added land and began to accumulate cattle of their own. He continued to be part of the Roundup Association. He was part of the notorious conflicts between the sheepmen and the cattlemen.  

He loved good horses and good cattle. He was immensely proud of the Registered Hereford business his son Joe developed. He often told anecdotes referring to the gawd awful conglomeration of the early herds. When our operation included more sorting and handling, as it especially did when we had the purebred herd, he enjoyed the opportunity to work cattle in a slower, more deliberate way.  

John C. Budd died on December 11, 1967. He and wife Lulu McGinnis had two children, Helen Budd (Frances) Tanner and Joe (Ruth Peterson) Budd.  He had six grandchildren, John (Shirl Dibler), Bob (Helen Sulenta) and Dick (Linda Garris) Tanner; Betty (Frank Fear), Mary (Stan Flitner), Nancy (Gary Espenscheid).  Great grandchildren are Lynn (Mike Rodell), Gayle (Bill Holder) Tanner; Dana (Bob Martin), Kim and Bill (Kenda White) Tanner; Kenna and Ryan (Abby Davis) Tanner; Mark (Mary Lind), Susan (Doug Nessan), John (Jody Alexander) Fear; Brian (Annie Hittle) and Chad (Gudrid Thayer) Espenscheid. John C. Budd was nominated by his granddaughter Nancy Espenscheid.