Epic Trails Cattle Drives

19/08/2022

Remembering Connie Cox
Connie spent his whole life as a cattle rancher. In 1968 he purchased the ZN Ranch at Whitewater, MT. In addition to cattle, Connie raised bucking horses and was a champion rodeo competitor. For 20 years, Connie did it all in the rodeo arena and did it well. He competed in ba****ck riding, saddle bronc, bulldogging, and calf roping. Specializing in ba****ck and saddle bronc, he led the State for many years in addition to winning all-around titles. In 1959 Connie won the saddle bronc at what is now known as Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Throughout two decades of the rodeo competition in the United States and Canada, Connie acquired a long list of great friends. He always liked to bring people together and for 20 years he held an annual Team Roping clinic at his ranch on Frenchman Creek north of Whitewater near the Canadian border. The past 17 years, he hosted a Cowboy Reunion in Havre for his friends in the Bear Paws and from around the State and Canada. Everyone who attended looked forward to an enjoyable evening of food, drinks, stories, and dancing which Connie loved to see.

23/05/2021

Working bison (bulls, cows, maybe calves?) in the chute for vet care - Industrial strength setup. Insane.

09/11/2020

We have lost the consummate cowboy and cattle rancher.

Penny asked me to send word to you all that very early Sunday morning, November 8, 2020, around 1am, Connie Cox passed away gently and quietly in his sleep at home with his dear wife by his side. He had very recently had phone calls from his immediate family and was at peace.

A memorial will be held sometime in the spring, probably around branding time. Information will be posted here when we have it.

Contact me directly via messenger if you would like to send the family condolences.

Photo by David Horsey

23/03/2020

This ‘pep talk’ to the ladies about the impending calving season is funny! Instructions for the cows, to the heifers who will get to ‘go to the prom’ this spring. Watch for the llama (looks like to me) in the background in the heifers’ field.

Sometimes you have to let your cows know who's boss. That's why I laughed really hard when a rancher shared a video of a pre-calving meeting he had with his cows.

01/12/2019

Photo posted by French cowboy Maxime Vacher after another year on the ZN. View of Frenchmen’s Creek looking generally east.

18/09/2018

Hello all. Connie Cox would greatly appreciate positive and supportive letters and cards from us all. He’s been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and is in Great Falls at a rehab cenyer recovering from pneumonia. He’s improving and hopes to be able to get back to Havre and then home soon. He can no longer speak and is now getting nutrition from a feeding tune. But he’s in fighting spirit and still laughs and gives directions. Linda Cox is simply amazing in her strength and care of Connie. Of course, her family and Connie’s children and families are all helping Connie and Linda in a multitude of ways. Send cards and letters to Connie’s home address and Linda will get them when she stops at home. Connie will greatly enjoy hearing from everyone.

Cindy

10/04/2018

10/04/2018

01/01/2018

a fun article to whet your appetite for another trip working cattle. Thankfully the horses Connie has for us to ride are a lot better trained than the horse the writer was given to ride.

On the Central Idaho range, a rancher looks to ancient herding traditions to help coexist with wolves, sage grouse and native fish. But challenges abound.

14/12/2017

Scenes from May 2017 at the ZN ranch

04/12/2017

Watch the video in this article - will make you miss Montana and Epic Trails Cattle Drives trips! New dates for 2018 should be posted soon!

Did you know about this?

03/06/2017

03/06/2017

from one of the riders, a farrier, from 2012 trip to the ZN

When some friends of ours told us about the ZN Ranch cattle roundup in northern Montana, events were set in motion for my wife, Betsy, and I, as well as friends Tacie and Peter, to go on an adventure.

19/04/2017

Pretty darn funny!

06/04/2017

I hope this link works. Something to brighten your day.

23/02/2017

Another great movie to look forward to!

Western Horseman Magazine - World's leading horse magazine since 1936

02/01/2017

The dates for 2017 cattle ranch trips have been set!
May 21 - 27: ZN Ranch outside Whitewater, MT
May 28 - June 3: Bears Paw Mountains, Havre, MT
Aug 27 - Sept 2: Bears Paw Mountains, Havre, MT
Sep 3 - 9: Bears Paw Mountains, Havre, MT

Now accepting deposits for all weeks.

More information at http://www.epictrailscattledrives.com/

22/12/2016

Fun article but much more extreme than anything we do!

Travis Ericsson’s eyes bug out when he sees about 20 black cows trotting down a ridgeline in the distance. He quickly slides out of his saddle, turns to us and whispers as loud as he dares, “Down! Get down!”

15/10/2016

15/10/2016

A few photos from my Sept trip to Montana. We had a great time with great people.

15/10/2016

08/10/2016

I'll post these in reverse order so they will be in chronological order on this page. These are great columns written by (now) Los Angeles Time political cartoonist and journalist David Horsey, a frequent guest with Epic Trials.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/davidhorsey/2008/05/20/dispatch-1-on-the-road-again/

Is there anything more all-American than a road trip?

08/10/2016

http://blog.seattlepi.com/davidhorsey/2008/05/21/dispatch-2-hitting-the-trail-with-a-hybrid/

On day one of this journey, I took the back way into Ellensburg and stopped at Rossow’s U-Tote-Em for lunch. The young woman at the counter couldn’t take her eyes off the car I was driv…

08/10/2016

http://blog.seattlepi.com/davidhorsey/2008/05/21/dispatch-3-driving-without-shame/

I’m feeling no guilt driving a hybrid SUV, but I’m not the type to feel guilt anyway.

08/10/2016

http://blog.seattlepi.com/davidhorsey/2008/05/21/dispatch-4-tonto-just-might-freeze/

I’m afraid to tell Tonto it’s been snowing.

08/10/2016

http://blog.seattlepi.com/davidhorsey/2008/05/25/dispatch-5-off-to-the-roundup/

Last night, Tonto and I danced with the gals at the VFW hall in Malta, Montana.

08/10/2016

I'll post these in reverse order so they will be in chronological order on this page. These are great columns written by guest and (now) Los Angeles Time political cartoonist and journalist David Horsey, a frequent guest with Epic Trials.

This is Dispatch 6

http://blog.seattlepi.com/davidhorsey/2008/06/07/dispatch-6-an-elegy-to-a-unique-american-world/

08/10/2016

You can order this on Amazon OR you can get a signed copy from Connie himself when you come to an Epic Trails ride

"Connie: Lessons from a Life in the Saddle" is Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist David Horsey's tribute to Connie Cox -- Montana rancher, rodeo cowboy, raconteur, rascal and prairie philosopher. In an evocative biographical essay, collected passages of wit and wisdom and 100 photographs, Horsey s...

08/10/2016

A wonderful blog post from our May 2010 trip to the ZN by Steve Dennis.

http://stevestraveljournals.blogspot.com/2010/06/montana-cattle-drive.html

13/09/2016

a little rest and a drink

13/09/2016

Good times!

12/09/2016

My Montana horse, Bear. Note my muddy boots, rolled up pant legs, rain slicker on saddle. I've also got 2 layers on legs and about 5 layers on upper body - it was cold!

11/09/2016

There are 4 different locations where we might work near Havre. We camp at Beaver Creek Park and trailer our horses each morning to our working location for the day. We will bring cow/calf pairs to new pastures and possibly bring them in to the corrals to run the calves through the chute for pre-conditioning for Fall shipping.

11/09/2016

Watch Connie Cox sort cows on his cow horse, JJ. Connie always says, "going slow is the fastest way to get it done".