We started with $500, a little barn in Sparta, North Carolina, and absolutely no idea what we were doing. Eight years later, the best part of the Southeast Highland Cattle Show & Sale has very little to do with the cattle and everything to do with the people who helped build it.

Mountain land has always been valuable to somebody. After watching how quickly Western North Carolina has changed, I’ve started thinking differently about what it means to own a piece of it, what we trade away for money, and what we have a responsibility to leave behind.

When I was about 12, someone gave my dad a herd of bison. We had no proper fencing, no handling facilities, and very little idea what we were doing, but that didn’t stop us from trying. Years later, seeing bison in Custer brought back one of the wildest memories from my childhood.

The story behind HHH Gold Kanyon, the bull I never meant to breed, and how an unexpected pregnancy in one of my cows changed my life and breeding program forever.