By Lena Anthony
What does it take to run a 20,000-acre cattle ranch? If you’re picturing dozens of strapping cowboys, think again. At Banner Ranch outside of Casper, Wyo., it’s a close-knit family operation co-managed by Kristen Trumbull Moldaschel.
A fifth-generation rancher, Mrs. Moldaschel runs the entire operation with her mother and uncle. “I consider them my bosses,” she said. Other family members—including her husband, Justin, and her father and two brothers—contribute when they can.
In wintertime, her job entails feeding the herd and breaking the ice on water troughs to ensure the cattle have plenty to drink. Spring brings Mrs. Moldaschel’s favorite work on the ranch—calving. For six to eight weeks every spring, the cows need around-the-clock attention to ensure the birthing process goes smoothly.
“We work all through the day and night, grabbing sleep when we can,” said Mrs. Moldaschel, Corresponding Secretary for Fort Caspar DAR Chapter, Casper, Wyo.
With more than 300 cows currently roaming the ranch, she expects about that same number of calves to be born. “Twins aren’t unheard of, but it’s not that common,” she said.
Once calving season is over, it’s on to branding and preparing to move the cattle from winter to summer pastures. Baling hay, irrigating meadows and repairing fences also take up a lot of her time in the spring.
The year-round work culminates on Labor Day weekend, when Banner Ranch ships off its yearlings to a nearby livestock market. “The income for our entire year comes from that one sale,” she said. “Needless to say, it’s an important weekend.”
After the sale, work continues back at the ranch, moving the herds from the summer pasture in the high country—some 9,000 feet above sea level—back down to the winter meadow.
Having grown up on the ranch, Mrs. Moldaschel always dreamed of working in the family business. Banner Ranch was started in 1882 by her great-great-grandfather, Bryant Brooks, who later went on to become Wyoming’s seventh governor, serving from 1905 until 1911.
“I come from a long line of cowboys, and that includes all the women in my family, too,” she said. “Even though I was raised in a primarily male-dominated lifestyle, I never grew up with rigid gender roles. I was expected to do the job at hand, whatever it may be. ‘Though she be but little she is fierce’ definitely applied.”
Her career plans were firm—graduate from college and then join the family business—but the financial realities of ranching always left her with some doubt. “It was never a matter of whether I wanted to run the ranch, but whether I could,” she said. “Ranching is not super-profitable. It’s a way of life, but not necessarily a way to make a living.”
Ranching isn’t the only legacy in Mrs. Moldaschel’s family. Her great-great-grandmother Mary Brooks—former First Lady of Wyoming—co-founded Fort Caspar Chapter.
“DAR has been in my family for a while, but I stumbled into it in college, while researching a paper,” she said. “It has grown to be very important to me and morphed into a solid pastime.”
In other words, if she’s not ranching, chances are good she’s busy with DAR work.
“I love the variety and that there’s something for everyone,” she said of the organization. “It keeps me busy and active in my community as well as my state society. I’ve also met so many wonderful people from all around the country. Rhode Island Honorary State Regent Jacqueline Smith even came out for a visit during calving season last year. She was a trouper.”
