Gene and Dianna Buffington live on a 530-acre ranch in Watts, Okla., on land that once belonged to Gene’s parents. They also have 30 acres in Siloam Springs, Ark., that is Dianna’s.
Gene said that his parents bought the land in 1958. In later years his mother said, “You could buy land for little or nothing, but back then little or nothing was a lot of money.” The family had chickens and cattle though his mom had to run the chicken operation because his father didn’t believe in chickens. His father, known as “Hungry” from being so tall and skinny when he was young, was a real cowboy: 6’5”, strong and deeply attached to the cattle industry. Gene said, “You have to realize that the range here was closed off only 80 years ago, and it took cowboys to work the cattle.”
For Gene it still does. He has a combination of pastureland and woods and uses horses to round his cattle up. Gene said, “There’s a lot of hills and hollers and you got to have good horses to get them out.” As a result, Gene has seven “grass burners” as he calls them, especially for the spring roundup. That is when everyone from the area gets together to help each other round up the cattle, and is the same time as Stilwell’s Strawberry Festival, the second weekend in May. One of the roundup highlights is the branding and vaccinating of the calves with kids being able to actively participate instead of just watching. Gene said, “We have done this often enough that it’s becoming a tradition.”
Gene believes he is typical of many cattle and chicken farmers in that he and his wife both work off the farm to support the farming and ranching lifestyle. After college he started working for Hudson Farms, which was bought out by Tyson. He stayed with the new company and is a breeds service technician, which according to Gene, is a fancy way of saying field man. He said, “I love working with farmers. They are good people.” Dianna’s job off the farm is with Farm Bureau Insurance. She serves as a notary, secretary, policy manager or whatever capacity is needed at the time for the agency.
The Buffington cattle operation has 100 momma cows and six bulls that range the land together. The heifers are mostly black baldies with the bulls being Horned Herefords and Black Angus. The cattle are rounded up in the fall when they are sold in either Benton County or Stilwell, Okla. Dianna worked in a vet’s office and helps with medical information as well as hands-on treatment including all vaccinations.
Both of the Buffingtons are part Indian. Gene is half Cherokee and Dianna is one-fourth Comanche. Gene explained that when his mother was young, and even more so when her father was young, being Indian was a little more difficult. “Nowadays most people want a spoonful of Indian blood and most everybody around here has it,” he said.
The Buffington plans for the future are simple. They want to live out their lives on the land and pass it on.
