Photographer, Tristin Lain, and writer, Max Westheimer visit the public lands at Caprock State Park and witness the extraordinary efforts of conserving the native Texan Bison population. Here’s their Stetson story.

As we bumped over the cattle guard into Caprock Canyons State Park, the fog lifted, and we laid eyes on one of the five founding herds that all bison in North America stem from. Although the herd is top priority in the park presently, prior to public land and conservation initiatives, that was not the case. In the mid-19th-century hide hunters ravaged the species. Big business needed machinery, machinery needed belts to run, and bison hide just so happened to make some mighty fine belts. As the 20th century rolled around, there were only around 1,000 bison left in North America. Most ranchers saw the bison that were left as a nuisance to their cattle operations, but Mary Ann Goodnight, the wife of West Texas cattleman Charles Goodnight, saw the decline in bison numbers and asked her husband to bring her some of the orphan bison calves he ran across while working the JA Ranch.

Max taking field notes wearing the Shasta 10X.

Taking a 10,000-year step back in time, bison were a coveted species, as they are today. The Folsom people that inhabited the area had a deep-rooted relationship with these animals. Inside of the Caprock Canyons State Park boundaries we see evidence of this powerful connection at the Lake Theo Folsom Bison Kill site. In the mid 1970’s archeologists unearthed bones from 12 Bison antiquus (the ancestor of the modern-day bison), as well as tools, and believed that specific area had been used for some sort of formal ceremony. The bison had a profound impact on the Folsom people, as well as many native groups. In the 19th century, those feeling faded in lieu of the value of a hide, thus creating a profoundly negative impact on their population. Luckily, a few people across the United States and Canada began to care about the rapidly declining populations of bison across the plains. Some of those individuals included the Goodnight family who began to raise some of the calves from the mostly ruined Southern Plains herd. That was the beginning of humans and bison rekindling a once cherished bond. The herd that now traverses Caprock Canyons are direct descendants of the animals Goodnight brought to his wife so many years ago.

In 1996 the park started their herd with 32 bison, today that number has grown to around 150. Removing as many stressors as possible has been a chief principal in the growth of the herd. Combating invasive mesquite and juniper to try and restore the native grasses, placing supplemental water throughout the park, and working the bison similarly to cattle have all played a vital role in sustainability. The modern-day facilities, designed by the famed Temple Grandin, are used only once a year, which is all that is necessary for free ranging bison. Around January most of the animals are slowly gathered into a 300 acre pen, and then are sorted in smaller pens. Just as is with cattle, the bison receive vaccinations and pregnancy checks. Where the process differs is in the collection of genetic samples from each member of the herd. These samples allow the park to keep track of the lineage of every bison roaming inside of Caprock Canyons. Donald Beard, the park’s superintendent, informed us that the goal was to grow the herd to around 1,000 animals. However, the usable land inside the park can only support around 300 bison. When that bridge is ready to be crossed, they plan to seek out places to have satellite herds. Those herds will be managed on a daily basis by whomever owns the land, but overall will be managed with the original Caprock Canyons herd as a metapopulation.

Beard has been with Caprock Canyons State Park for 10 years now and exemplifies the purposeful relationship between bison and humans. Every day he drives his Texas Parks and Wildlife pickup through the gate and sees the herd, he feels connected to them. The bison have made such an impact on Donald’s life that he now raises bison on his own land, and even has a bison tattooed on his arm. We could see his admiration for the animals as he glanced at a bachelor group that had hopped a fence into the pen area for some fresh hay. We watched his moment of admiration transition into his managerial duties as he chased them back into the pasture and marked the fence to be repaired.

Bison hopping a fence.

The park has seen a massive increase in visitors due to the popularity of the bison. In 2010, 36,000 people stopped by Caprock Canyons. This number grew to a staggering 110,000 last year alone as word of the thriving native Texas bison herd spread far and wide. Yes, the canyon is breathtaking, and the bison are a conservation success story, but none of it would be possible without public land, and the dedicated employees that take care of it and implement these management and conservation strategies on a daily basis. For that, we’d like to extend our thanks!

Tristin Montana Lain is a freelance photographer based out of the Texas Panhandle. Originally his inspiration was drawn from the vibrant West Texas sunsets that painted the sky in his hometown. As the years pressed on, Tristin stumbled upon a deep love for capturing untamed images of western heritage and the outdoors. Consumed by producing media that conveys the seldom noticed backbone of a true Western lifestyle and the majesty of the natural world around us, he is always brewing up ideas for stories that deserve telling, camera in hand of course.

Hailing from South Texas, Max Westheimer is an all-around outdoorsman and published writer. What began as a love for hunting whitetail in the brush country, and fishing the Gulf Coast has now evolved to a widespread passion for all things outdoors, with his main devotions belonging to fly fishing, mountain biking, and bird hunting. His heart has long been bedded in the mountains, and his hands find work in writing about those adventures that often lurk in the shadows of the American adventure scene. Driven by a hunger to taste what’s out there, and fueled by carne guisada and black coffee, Westheimer is constantly cutting trails to find the unturned stones that hide themselves under open skies.

Shop the RealTree Collection here.

Photography by Michael Penn Jr

Nobody goes looking for home in a place like Cline’s Corners. It’s not there. People crossing paths in a place like this are coming, going or running away from something nobody’s talking about way out here on the fringe. It’s nobody’s home and they’re not hanging around long enough to watch the dust settle.

Photography and words by Heath Herring.

So what am I doing out here at the desolate, dustbowl junction of Route 66 and the road to Santa Fe? I’ve been here more times than I can remember. I’ve slept in this parking lot enough to call it a summer home. Somewhere between hobo and #VanLife, you find folks like me – the ones who roll in with the dust and roll out before it hits the ground. Some people hit the road as often as possible for the freedom and creative fuel you find in places like this. That’s us. I drive around the country doing my best to capture stories of all the interesting people and places I find along the way. As a matter of fact, this is a story about my friend Grace.

She’s a fellow traveler who frequents a favorite route through the Southwest, taking curiosity and creativity out on the road. I don’t meet a lot of people out here doing what I do. I’m sure you can imagine how excited I was to find out Grace’s summer tour overlapped with my travel plans out here in New Mexico. I was even more stoked when Grace agreed to meet up for a day of traveling around the desert, taking pictures and sharing stories. Can you guess where our paths crossed in New Mexico? You nailed it. The eternal dust haven of neon glory. 66’s electric red beacon in the night. Cline’s Corners. And as far as I’m concerned, Gateway of The West.

Grace Askew

Traveler – Songwriter – Creativity Activist

What brings you way out here?

“This is the tour route I’ve come to know like a familiar face. I-40 West, brother. Freckling my hands for the past 10 years.”

Why life on the road, and why the Southwest?

“I grew up hearing the distant humming of the highway at night – a lullaby of sorts. I’d fall asleep to dreams of all the places I’d get to travel to one day. Touring feeds this part of my soul, for sure, and New Mexico is my favorite route to take. I’m out here at least twice a year.”

I know you mostly travel solo. Don’t you get lonely out on the road?

“When I’m out there, for weeks at a time, totally alone…I’m never truly lonely because those purple mountains and that red dirt feel like home. The re-birth and renewal that comes from waking up in a new town with new faces, every single day, truly revives me as an artist and teaches me the sanctity of creativity.”

Grace wears the Catera 5X Gun Club Hat.

I dig your hat. What’s the story on that thing?

“This route we’re talking about, right on the Oklahoma-Arkansas line is actually where I found my first Stetson. I saved up all my money from a tour when I was 22. On my way home, I walked into Tip Top Western Wear in Fort Smith, AR and there it was. The Catera, Gun Club edition. I still wear it on nearly every trek out, because it reminds me of the hard work I’ve put myself through to get to where I want to be today.”

“This hat has been with me from the national spotlight of NBC’s The Voice, to the throes of a rainy truck-stop-night outside of Denver, Colorado after a late dive bar gig. It’s seen it all. My Stetson represent empowerment and independence. It represents the importance of never forgetting who I truly am.”

Grace tours across the country alone in her Ford F350 diesel truck, Wanda. Wanda is a beast.

“This has been my process for years, but in late 2017 I felt the need for change. I wanted something more – something bigger than myself. A way to take things to next level. So began the 365 Songwriting Challenge.”

What is the 365 Songwriting Challenge?

“The 365 Songwriting Challenge is a self-prescribed, self-created DAILY songwriting challenge that I began on January 1, 2018 and haven’t stopped doing since,…that includes a daily LIVE performance of the song of the day on both my Instagram and Facebook pages. Once I reached day 365, I decided to keep going and I pushed the goal to 500 songs in 500 days. As of today, I’m in year 2 of a daily song performance – day 412.”

“I feel so lucky to be an artist in this day and age with the advent of platforms like Instagram and live streaming. With the help of deeply trusted friends, family and fans, a completely unique success can be carved out on my own terms. No middle man.”

Follow Grace here.

“Gone are the days of having to be in the hubs of society like NYC, LA, Nashville, ALT in order to ‘level-up’ your life’s work. Show up consistently for your craft.”

“As a result of my creating a new song every single day, even while on tour, other artists began reaching out and wanting to tap into their creativity more. I began to realize what a deep need there is, in all walks of life, for the wisdom to know how to tap into self-expression and the courage to put it out into the world.”

“I wanted to foster a safe place, a haven for my fellow creatives to come and be heard and share what they too were working on – thusly forming the 365 Tribe, or as we put it on Instagram #365Tribe.”

What’s the 365 Tribe?

“We are a group of creatives who CHOOSE to show up for our creativity, every single day, NO MATTER WHAT. Because we love to do it. It is a safe place, a community, for creatives of ALL mediums to be heard and seen and to express their dreams, fears, and struggles with their peers.”

You’ve coined the term Creativity Activist. Could you elaborate on that?

“A creativity activist is someone who understands that in order to nourish and feed the seed of all creative endeavors, you MUST SHOW UP for it, every single day. No matter what. Art is never frivolous. Art is never a burden.”

You’re sitting on hundreds of new songs. Where do you take it from here?

“I am in the process of cutting “Volume 1” of a four-part album series. It’s all being recorded at my home studio, Tumbleweed Ranch, in Eads, TN. I’m sifting through the best songs of each of the 4 seasons of the 365 challenge and releasing each album alongside photo books of images from my travels and the lyrics that were inspired by all the miles. Next step is the Tumbleweed Retreat – a fully-immersive songwriter’s retreat at Tumbleweed Ranch. I want to help other emerging artist find their creative focus, courage, and clarity and give them tools to continue on their journey in an authentic way.”

The prairie swings long arcs across the sky. Double yellow lines divide and rejoin like a beautifully timed pirouette. In the rear view I catch a glimpse of long straight hair, carefree and wild, whipping back and forth in the wind.  It covers her eyes for a moment, and all I can see is her smile.  My willing accomplice.

Written by Benji Peck

Photography: stevenvisneauphotography

Creative Direction: Benji Peck for PDA

Models: Madi Kutz, Danielle Kress, Kendall Word, Benji Peck

My memory wanders over fire roads, through the scrub, past heifers and prairie dogs. Somewhere out there my childhood was lost, roaming in and out of the mesas and canyons. The road ahead drops off at the edge of the horizon, but my mind drives on, restlessness riding shotgun. My life lived fast, hard, a little reckless, and as wide open as the suicide doors in this drop-top Lincoln.

In an instant I’m 8 years old again, chasing the long steps of my grandad, his gait tripling mine. It was always a hustle just to keep up. The sky threatens, its towering rain clouds dwarfing the landscape—the unkept promises of a Texas sky, dry as a bone with twice the bite. Kneeling beside me my grandad takes off his hat so I can see his eyes, that hardened gaze made strong by years in the rice field, cracked like the drought-ridden ground we stand on. And though I’ve seen him remove his hat a dozen times before, this time he puts it on my head. In the next moment, he is gone forever.

There’s nothing more personal than a well-worn hat. A hat wears with you. It breaks and bends and shapes to you. I can still see the finger stains on the crown of my grandad’s hat, stains that tell a thousand stories, most of which I’ll never get to hear. The curve of the brim, that ever-so-subtle crease that shows up in only a certain light, the tilt that just feels right when you put it on.

I steal another glance in the mirror, and this time there’s a different eight year-old in the back seat. Riding high on life, the world a playground of possibility and endless roads to roam. Someday we’ll take that trip like one I took so long ago.

We’ll park the car and walk hand-in-hand across dry riverbeds a million years gone. That day another hat will get passed on. But this time I’ll take it off my own head and put it on my daughter’s—my memory, my blessing, my legacy. Remembered or forgotten, blown this way or that. I hope she takes with her the good and the bad. I hope she’ll see the creases and the stains of experience. Most of all, I hope she’ll see that open minds open roads.

God made daughters to give men perspective. My son will always have my love, but my daughter will have my heart—and my hat.

Event Information: Keep Shop Nashville x Stetson Pop Up Event

Open Minds Open Roads
March 22, 2019, 7-9pm
Featuring Live Music by Kirby Brown

RSVP@thecallaway.com

This is the story of Jessie Allen, Ranch Manager of Allen’s Diamond 4 Ranch located in the rugged Wind River Mountain Range.
Photography by Joe Haeberle.

“My family has been in this part of Wyoming for six generations. I’ve worked on my family’s wilderness guest ranch all my life and now I’m taking it over. We spend each Summer and Fall in the mountains guiding pack trips and Winter is a quiet time on the homeplace in the valley. Like most ranchers, my lifestyle changes with each season but one thing remains the same, our animals must always come first. Wyoming Winters can be harsh, demanding and strenuous yet equally peaceful and pristine. Each morning I go through the herd. Acutely tuned in, I monitor the health and behavior of each horse. This lifestyle instills a deep sense of connection working quietly and consistently for no audience other than the eyes of our animals. It’s the kind of connection built through the language of feel. No words are needed.”

Jessie wears a Shasta 10X Premier cowboy hat.

Jim Allen carried on the family tradition of hosting visitors in the spectacular Wind River Mountain Range like his grandfather did here in the 1920’s.

“Born and raised in central Florida, I made my way to Texas half a decade ago and haven’t looked back. Fueled by the pursuit of music, I finally found my inner style by way of my first Stetson after a visit to the factory. Show after show and countless tips thrown into my crown, I’ve found myself rarely without a hat while a guitar is in my hands. Hats are memory keepers and Stetson has made for some great ones for me.”

Jenna Clark is playing a sold-out show on Saturday, February 2nd at The Kessler Theater in Dallas, Texas. Not bad for a debut record! Follow her work here.

Photography by Darko Jones Media and styling by Brandy Michele Adams.