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Tragic

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webfoot

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 8, 2008
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1,701
Location
NE Oregon
I called neighbor this morning to discuss water in the ditch. He told me that he got called out on a search and rescue yesterday that didn't turn out good. A mid 30's ranch lady from up at Hereford who I had met a time or two at brandings but was a good friend of his, had gone to take salt out to the cows. Apparently there was a tree across the two track road. So she rode her quad up the hill around it. Rolled the quad over killing her. Levi said that could happen to any of us. He repeated that several times. I got to thinking. How many salt blocks did she have. Pretty easy to make the quad top heavy. I have been to too many funerals this year. A healthy, happy young lady gone way too some. Stay safe out there everyone.
 
One of our mineral customers in SE Mt is an elderly rancher and his wife. They were moving cows and
she was in a side x side. She went over the road and down in the borrow pit on the other side. It was steep and she tipped the SidexSide over. She was trapped underneath it. They got her out and life flighted her to Billings. She lived through it but had some other complications and passed away later.
It was during covid in 2020 and no family was allowed to see her. She went through all of it alone. Sad, sad deal. I don't think her husband is over it yet.
 
Reading a little between the lines of what the neighbor told me and what I knew. She just got married last September. The husband is not a rancher. A couple of the guys were giving him a hard time at a branding this spring. She was roping and he wasn't. I think that he got home from his day job which would be a long commute to that ranch. She was gone out doing ranch chores. When she didn't come in he looked for her but didn't find her before dark or in the dark. Search and rescue was called in the next morning. I wonder how much salt she was carrying. All 130 pounds of her. Three blocks of salt doubles the weight. Six blocks triple the weight. Big difference in how stable the quad would be with the added weight
 
webfoot said:
Reading a little between the lines of what the neighbor told me and what I knew. She just got married last September. The husband is not a rancher. A couple of the guys were giving him a hard time at a branding this spring. She was roping and he wasn't. I think that he got home from his day job which would be a long commute to that ranch. She was gone out doing ranch chores. When she didn't come in he looked for her but didn't find her before dark or in the dark. Search and rescue was called in the next morning. I wonder how much salt she was carrying. All 130 pounds of her. Three blocks of salt doubles the weight. Six blocks triple the weight. Big difference in how stable the quad would be with the added weight
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Just heartbreaking.
 
Ranching is dangerous! When I was young, my best friend was drug to death by a runaway horse. When we did most of our cattle work horseback, occasionally, we had to make a quick trip to the ER. My wife ranched and taught school in a nearby community. Her next door neighbor, a father of one of the kid's and a student of her's were all killed in four wheeler accidents in a relatively short period of time. A neighbor of mine was killed when he backed over a creek bank while out spraying weeds. All it takes is a moment of inattention or an unseen obstacle! I've had some close calls myself, but it seems God was watching over me!
 
Webfoot - Are you thinking of Kathy Sullivan, age 66, that died near the Dooley Mountain summit on the 16th? Dooley has always been the Sullivan family allotment. I can't find any details of why she died. Since the 16th was Saturday, this has to be Kathy. I haven't seen or talked to her in 30 years, but from what I remember of her she was tough as they come and really alert safety-wise. Not only an expert horse and cattle woman, but an amazing equipment operator. It is hard for me to grasp that she would do anything careless.

I didn't know her twin sister Teresa other than meeting her once. I think Teresa married a logger, one of the Wise boys. Kathy must have stayed single until recently. I met her brother Boon (Dan) a couple of times and her cousin Pat once. I didn't care for either. I knew her dad and remember him being always drunk and once dropping off salt blocks on the road. I remember riding around with Kathy and picking them up and relocating them on their allotment nearer the creek after the FS received complaints and made the request.

From what I can find out, she was living in the old home house that sits just off the highway. I am surprised she married a non-rancher, but maybe they needed an outside income. It sure doesn't hurt these days. Anyway, this news has me crying. She was a beautiful, strong, and very smart lady. A rancher through and through.
 
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Mountain Cowgirl said:
Webfoot - Are you thinking of Kathy Sullivan, age 66, that died near the Dooley Mountain summit on the 16th? Dooley has always been the Sullivan family allotment. I can't find any details of why she died. Since the 16th was Saturday, this has to be Kathy. I haven't seen or talked to her in 30 years, but from what I remember of her she was tough as they come and really alert safety-wise. Not only an expert horse and cattle woman, but an amazing equipment operator. It is hard for me to grasp that she would do anything careless.

I didn't know her twin sister Teresa other than meeting her once. I think Teresa married a logger, one of the Wise boys. Kathy must have stayed single until recently. I met her brother Boon (Dan) a couple of times and her cousin Pat once. I didn't care for either. I knew her dad and remember him being always drunk and once dropping off salt blocks on the road. I remember riding around with Kathy and picking them up and relocating them on their allotment nearer the creek after the FS received complaints and made the request.

From what I can find out, she was living in the old home house that sits just off the highway. I am surprised she married a non-rancher, but maybe they needed an outside income. It sure doesn't hurt these days. Anyway, this news has me crying. She was a beautiful, strong, and very smart lady. A rancher through and through.
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Well I may be mistaken. I heard Cassie not Kathy. Sounds close enough for my bad hearing. Where did you hear Kathy? I don't know Kathy but I have met Cassie. The newly wed and mid 30's all apply to Cassie. I didn't inquire for details as Levi is a fairly close friend to Cassie so I was respecting his lose.
 
Levi told me that taking salt out and the tree across the road and rolling the quad over. He is on search and rescue and was there.
 
It is probably just a coincidence then that two women of the Hereford area died the same day. All I could find out through Gray's West site was that she died near the summit of Dooley. I thought probably an automobile accident, but your post got me thinking. How old is Levi?
 
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Mountain Cowgirl said:
It is probably just a coincidence then that two women of the Hereford area died the same day. All I could find out through Burns Mortuary site was that she died near the summit of Dooley. I thought probably an automobile accident, but your post got me thinking. How old is Levi?
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Levi is 35 or 36. Two women from Hereford with the same last name dying on the same day. I think it was my poor hearing. My mind probably put Cassie in there instead of Kathy because I have met Cassie but not Kathy. The only thing I could find was about Kathy. I had searched for Cassie and never found anything. Still tragic.
 
If the last name was Sullivan, then it was Kathy. When you mentioned Hereford something strange came over me so I checked the Baker City obituaries thinking maybe I might have known the young ladies' folks. I was in shock when I saw the name Kathleen and she was 66 which would be the Kathy I knew. Heartbreaking to say the least.
 
I was looking for some heifers a few ago that had managed to get out of the section they were on. Of course the bull was still where he should of been which isn't to handy when you'd like bred heifers the next spring. Well anyway I found the little bad words while I was on my wheeler. Started them up the canyon and figured I'd be a hero when I stuffed them through the gate back where they belonged. I was side hilling above them some to be where I could see them in the tall brush. Riding slow standing up with most of my attention on them and hit a rock. Next thing I knew I was on the third roll down the hill. Happened so fast. And I promise I was maybe going 5 miles an hour. Felt like I fell down six flights of stairs. Was damn lucky I didn't get smashed bad or worse. Two years ago a tie rod came apart when I was cruising up to scout for deer. Front tires suddenly went north and south at the same time. I went over the dash at a rapid clip and landed like fat kid falling in the swimming pool. Except no water to land in. Dislocated my right shoulder and broke my collar bone. Got to wire the tie rod up and ride home one handed. I reckon the moral of this deal is, slow down and be careful. It can surely go south quick.
 
There is a 34-year-old Cassie (Cassandra) Sullivan that was married last year. The best I can find Cassie is Dan's (Boone's) daughter. Maybe Levi was talking about his friend, Cassie's, aunt Kathy.

Also found out that her mother Eleanore died last year at 89. The sister married to Wise was Mary Ann whom I never met or knew. Teresa was her twin.
 
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Mountain Cowgirl said:
There is a 34-year-old Cassie (Cassandra) Sullivan that was married last year. The best I can find Cassie is Dan's (Boone's) daughter. Maybe Levi was talking about his friend, Cassie's, aunt Kathy.

Also found out that her mother Eleanore died last year at 89. The sister married to Wise was Mary Ann whom I never met or knew. Teresa was her twin.
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I was talking to Levi on the phone. The Sullivan came through loud and clear so did the fact that he had gone up to Hereford. So I must have inserted Cassie. As she is the only Sullivan I know from Hereford. The rest of the story about taking out salt and going around a downed tree was his story from the scene of the accident.
 
It did happen in the area I suspected west of 245 below Bald Mountain. I still have a clear visual of that area. I spent many years working in that area. The Sullivan Z Ranch has had those allotments forever. It surprises me that Kathy would be going up there in her four-wheeler with just her dog at age 66, but it sounds like she was still living as she did at 33. That is a long way from the main barns where they keep salt blocks, so I wonder if she trailered the 4-wheeler up to the summit and then used it to distribute the blocks in areas of the best grass and water which are inaccessible by a pickup. That would make sense as I cannot imagine she could carry enough salt blocks in the 4-wheeler to justify making a trip up steep asphalt paved 245 with the dog running along or using the fine powdered dusty backroads and winding around for miles. I know the old man used to distribute a dozen blocks several times a year. At 34 lbs each, that is some serious weight.

I woke up several times last night in disbelief that this would happen to Kathy. I hope it was instant as it troubles me to think she suffered for a long time with her faithful dog watching. They believe she died Thursday. The best I can find out is she lived in the main house just off 245 and was alone there after her mother died last year. Cassandra lives in the house just below there that once belonged to Patrick and would have been the most likely to realize she didn't come home.

She was supposed to meet others in the family on Friday evening in Baker to watch the bronc riding. I am surprised no one missed her on Friday morning. She was so independent that I guess if they did they thought nothing of it. She was never married to my knowledge.
 
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Here are some photos of the area.

In 1 & 2 you can the winding steep grade highway 245 that leads to the summit.
Photo 3 you can see the road turning west at the summit where their allotment is.
It was somewhere on one of the lower roads that she overturned. You can see getting
off the road it is very steep.
Photo 4 is Bald Mountain lookout where the summit road west ends. It was reported
that she was 2 miles below here when the accident occurred. Kathy had driven and rode
all this area her entire life.

Photo 5 is one of the less steep areas that offered grazing near where she overturned.

Collage Maker-20-Jul-2022-07.05-AM.jpg
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