For this fourth-generation rancher, the path back to her family’s Oregon cattle operation was lined with detours, uncertainty and plenty of tests.
Moving effortlessly between ranch work and office work, this multi-talented cowgirl is on a mission to promote the traditional cowboy in today’s tech-savvy world.
A Florida Cracker talks about ranching and cow hunting in her home state.
Born in 1929, Iris Wall grew up cow hunting in the Everglades of South Florida. Screw worms that struck her state during the 1940s kept her in the saddle, roping and doctoring afflicted cattle every day.
Iris married Homer Wall in 1948, and they raised three girls and built a successful lumberyard business. They nearly always owned cattle and horses, and when Homer died in 1994, Iris began running the family cattle operation, the High Horse Ranch.
Today, Iris serves on the boards of both the Florida Cracker Cattle Association and the Florida Cracker Horse Association. She was named Florida’s Woman of the Year in Agriculture in 2006.
Preserving her family’s century-old ranch requires passion, flexibility and plenty of well-worn saddles.