JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame (WCHF) selection of 36 inductees for the Class of 2022 included two longtime hands from Teton County.
It’s not always the case with HOF inductees, who are too often recognized after their passing, but in the case of Jackson Hole’s contribution to the Hall, both Bob Lucas, 70, and Jim Maher, 73, are alive and kicking. And they’ve been cowboying all their life.
Bob Lucas
Bob Lucas was born into a ranching family in Jackson, Wyoming in 1952. Both sets of grandparents (the Lucases and the Imesons) were among the early settlers into Jackson Hole, one family arriving in the valley in 1889 and the other in 1896.
These early settlers were the generation that grubbed sagebrush off Jackson Hole’s broad valleys and trenched irrigation ditches with shovels and horse drawn equipment, making productive hay and pastureland.
Bob’s parents (Rod Lucas and Joyce Imeson Lucas) continued the ranching tradition. Bob grew up helping his family with calving in the spring, branding, operating hay equipment as they stacked loose hay, trailing cattle to summer pasture forty miles up the Gros Ventre River, rounding them up in the fall and shipping the calves to market, feeding with a two- or four-horse team and sleigh in the winter, and starting the annual cycle again every spring.
Bob has continued the ranching tradition with his wife Kate and daughter Abby (a fifth generation Jackson Hole rancher.) Moving and sorting cattle still require many hours in the saddle, but some ranching operations have changed.
In 2006, the Lucas and Imeson families were recognized by the State of Wyoming with Centennial Ranch awards. These awards recognize families who have been actively ranching the same piece of Wyoming land for over 100 years.
Stewardship of the land has always been a part of Bob’s operation. For decades, his pastures have been dotted with fenced off water, willows and trees, fenced for their protection. Bob and Kate were recognized for permanently protecting land along the Snake River from development along with the Jackson Hole Land Trust and the Nature Conservancy in 2015.
Bob has inherited and refined an eye for quality in cattle and horses. His cow herd is known for their ease of handling and good genetics, and his calf crops are in demand. He trains his horses, whether bought or raised, to be top cow horses. He and his crew handle animals quietly. Bob has said, tongue-in-cheek, that anyone who has seen a western movie is disqualified from helping move his cattle.
Along with the demands of ranching life, Bob has served on the Wyoming Livestock Board and has been elected to several terms as a board member of Teton Conservation District. And he always has time for a friend or neighbor who needs a helping hand.
Jim Maher
Jim Maher has been a Wyoming cowboy for 49 years. His life in the saddle began at the age of 8 in Arizona. He rode with his uncle on his boy’s ranch and competed in Arizona Jr. Rodeos in team roping and calf roping events. He worked for Scottsdale Feedlot as a pen rider detecting sick cattle and doctoring them. He also worked for the V Bar V Ranch in Rimrock, AZ.
In the summer of 1972 he moved to Jackson, Wyoming. He worked for Fish Creek dude ranch for two summers as a dude wrangler. In the winter months he would return to Arizona to work for Scottsdale Feed Lot.
In 1974 he went to work for Snake River Ranch in Jackson. He fed with a team during the winter and helped with the calving that spring. That summer they trailed the cattle up the Gros Ventre to summer pasture and Jim spent a lot of the summer in cow camp.
Jim continued to work for Snake River Ranch until the fall of 1976 when he went to work for the Padlock Ranch in Dayton, WY as the feedlot foreman. After a year there Jim and his wife, Sally, moved to Pinedale, WY. Jim worked for Chapparal Cattle Company and Quarter Circle 5 Ranch. Both pastured 3,500 head of cattle, some being brahma cross. They spent the summer of 1978 in cow camp at the Rim and there were many long days riding and roping and doctoring cattle.
In 1979 they moved back to Jackson, WY and Jim went to work for Gattis Construction. He worked for them for 3 years. He missed cowboying and would spend a lot of weekends helping the ranches in the valley with whatever work needed to be done. In 1985 Jim decided it was time to do what he loved, ranch work. He went to work for Frome Cattle Company. Ted Frome had leased several ranches in Jackson to pasture 3,000 head of cattle. Jim was again roping and doctoring sick cattle, rotating pastures, and gathering cattle for shipment. He worked for Ted for 3 years.
In 1988 Jim became the state brand inspector for Teton County. It was a position he held for 30 years.
Many times he would take a horse and help gather the herd before brand inspecting the cattle for shipment. He made sure to be at the scale looking at brands and counting the cattle. The ranchers relied on him and respected his knowledge of livestock. Part of the job also entailed getting loose livestock off the highway and rescuing abandoned horses off the forest.
While Jim’s main source of income was the brand inspector job he either worked for or helped many of the ranches in Teton County. He was the “go to” person that the ranchers would call if they needed help. Sometimes they would have to be gone away from the ranch and they trusted him with their cattle and knew that he would get the job done. Sometimes he was paid but often he did it to be a good neighbor.
Ranches he helped were the U Lazy U Ranch, Melody Ranch, Brit Ross, Mike Taylor, Jackson Hole Hereford Ranch, Lockhart Cattle Company, and the Walton Ranch to name a few. He did most jobs that a ranch has including calving, branding, feeding, and gathering. It all required livestock knowledge and being horseback most of the time. During this time he also shod horses, rode colts, and freeze branded horses.
After retiring from the state in 2018 Jim continues to be horseback working for the Walton Ranch in Jackson in the spring, summer, and fall. He still helps at brandings and his job is to rope and drag to the fire or if the ranch uses a calf table he sorts in the corrals and then castrates. He spends the winter months in Arizona riding in the desert and team roping.
Jim and his wife of 46 years, Sally, have 2 children, Lacy and Richie, and 4 grandchildren. He loves being a grandpa. He enjoys taking the two older grandkids riding through the cows with him and helping them with their roping.
Jim has maintained his cowboy lifestyle in the ever-changing environment around him. He still loves to ride horseback whether it be for pleasure or work. Horses and taking care of cattle are a big part of his life.
Celebration
The WCHF State Board of Directors voted on the nominees from across the state during its annual meeting May 1.
The induction ceremony will be at the Little America in Cheyenne, September 23-24. It is open to the public. The event is part of the annual Wyoming Cowboy & Cowgirl Legacy Week, which was established by the Wyoming State Legislature in 2019.
