Cowboy Legacy & Western Ways

 “ARIZONA RANCH WOMEN” INTERVIEWS: by Diane Tribitt

A story featuring Georgie Sicking touched the heart of one of our readers, inspiring her to send a four-page letter to the Publisher.  This letter not only set off a chain of interviews of women ranchers in Arizona, but also forged an extraordinary bond between three women who traveled from three different states to do the interviewing.   Rancher, poet and Editor, Diane Tribitt, of Hillman, Minnesota teamed up with Cowgirl Hall of Famer, lifetime rancher, well-loved octogenarian and poet, Georgie Sicking, of Kaycee, WY and rancher Lola Chiantaretto of Kingman, AZ, who had sent the letter.  The three ranch women met at a gas station in Wickenburg to begin a three-day, 500+ mile trek across some of the most remote and beautiful desert mountain ranches of Arizona.  They ultimately discovered a rare and precious gift in the friendships they made, not only with the women they interviewed, but also with one another.   Miles of storytelling, laughter and ranch tales have become the basis of inspiration for all of Diane’s future writings.  She hopes you enjoy reading them as much as she did compiling them!  Her first interview, with Elladean Hays Bittner, of Peeples Valley, AZ, is a precious one.  We were saddened to hear of her passing on June 10, 2008 and hope this article will become another part of the astounding legacy that she spent a lifetime creating.