Fred Edington: Cattle Rancher / Realest Cowboy You Ever Met / OG Animal Lover

The scene:
We are near Willcox, Arizona at “Happy Camp” on BLM land where I dry camp and Fred leases from the US Govt. to roam his current 130 head of cattle.  I have appointed Fred the mayor of Happy Camp because he makes it his business to know who’s coming and going and why.  We met the last time I was out here.  Fred and I couldn’t appear more different but we seem to be cut from the same cloth.  Hank and I take a ride up into the hills in his side-by-side to check on the water pumps for his cattle.  Join us at camp for an honest tale told through the eyes of the last great generation of ranchers.

Highlights:
+ Ranched the Mexico border for 24 years during the late 80s and early 90s
+ 200 head allotment, 29 sections, 640 acres/section, 19,000 acres
+ Third generation - passed down from both Mom’s and Dad’s side of the family
+ Sells calves through the local auction at 6-8 months old
+ Ranchers get paid $1 - $1.20 per pound…grocery stores sell it for $10-25/lb
+ Can’t afford to hire help
+ There are 4-5 “middle men” (butchers, packers, etc.) getting paid between the rancher and the grocery store
+ Ranchers don’t fully understand why they get paid so little
+ “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer”
+ You’ve got to really like animals and ranching to be in it
+ Fred gets attached to his animals (why he doesn’t slaughter his own chicken)
+ His horses are like family members to him
+ Rain is scarce - when there’s not enough, they haul water up the mountain
+ Runs three solar-powered water pumps
+ “Just get up and go every day”
+ “Don’t blame nobody for all your mistakes” - if you screw up, admit it and go on (learned from dad)
+ Go to college, see how other people do things in the world, then come back to ranch
+ Most of the people who own ranches are the money people, not families any more
+ A good saddle horse costs $8-10K
+ Poachers thieve calves from the land
+ Ranchers and farmers are his community because they understand him (not town people)
+ Most people don’t understand where food comes from (not the grocery store)
+ Credit cards are a dirty trick - Fred is cash or check only
+ The countryside is his church and his freedom (no bosses)
+ Mom loaned him 30K for his first bunch of cows in ’91
+ Ranchers don’t die…the cattle won’t let them
+ Fighting leukemia since 2007
+ Look forward and have a sense of humor - feeling sorry for yourself is the worst thing you can do
+ Didn’t get an allowance and also didn’t want for nothin’

A taste:
“Just put one foot forward and keep goin’. Just do your best if you can. Take life as it comes because that’s the only choice you’ve got.  Be happy...most of the time try to be happy, and do right. […] You make your own mistakes your own way, you learn by your mistakes.  And take responsibility, even if you screw up, "so I screwed up", go on with it.”

Favorite saying:
“You can’t be right all the time.”