A Lasting Legacy: Bugas brothers continue to uphold family legacy on century-old ranch
At the far reaches of Fort Bridger sits a picturesque plateau where the sky meets the earth and every direction offers a breathtaking view of a different local landmark.
Situated between Bridger Butte to the north, Haystack Peak and Sugar Loaf to the west and the high peaks of the Uinta Mountain Range to the south, the wide-open flat is fondly referred to by those who live there as “Nebraska Flats,” “Frostbite Flats,” “The Big Windy” and “Beyond the Wall.”
Here, encircled by a wreath of century-old trees standing guard against the brutal elements of southwest Wyoming’s high elevation, is the Bugas Ranch.
The ranch is operated by brothers Larry and George Bugas, who work to continue a family legacy created by their grandfather George John Bugas who homesteaded the ranch circa 1916.
Homesteading the family farm
After immigrating from an area in Austria now recognized as present-day Slovakia at the age of 16, George John found himself working in a coal mine in Rock Springs for some time.
However, mine wages weren’t sufficient enough to feed his growing family, so he decided to turn to farming with the confidence of knowing he would always be able to keep food on the table for his wife and kids.
Around 1916, George John and his family homesteaded high up on a big, windy, promising flat known as Nebraska Flats – as many around the area had come from Nebraska – with several nearby springs and plenty of room to grow.
He raised milk cows, pigs, sheep, chickens and bees and grew numerous acres of wheat, cabbage, potatoes and various other vegetables.
“I don’t remember all of the specifics of the story. Grandpa was supposed to be drafted into the Army but because he raised so many acres of wheat and the Army needed the wheat more than they needed his service, he didn’t end up having to go,” shares George.
George and Larry’s father, Lawrence, took over operations. But with a desire to be a cowboy who punched cattle on the open range, Lawrence started transitioning operations away from farming and began raising some commercial cows in addition to the sheep.
George notes Lawrence used to take care of neighboring ranches in exchange for dogie calves and unwanted heifers, which is how he started building up his herd.
Lawrence then married Aileen Micheli, who grew up raising registered Hereford cattle on her family’s ranch in Fort Bridger, and the two started running their own Hereford cows and purebred seedstock.
Around this time, Lawrence and Aileen also started raising Suffolk bucks.
According to George, at one point in time, Lawrence was the oldest Suffolk breeder to offer rams at the Wyoming State Ram Sale in Douglas.
Expanding operations
Lawrence and Aileen were blessed with six children and their two boys, Larry and George, inherited the ranch.
Under their care, the ranch shifted to raising black-hided cattle and white-faced sheep.
“We had a couple of bad springs in a row where a combination of snowfall and sunlight left us with a mess of sunburnt teats and hungry calves,” says George. “We figured it wasn’t worth it and decided to go with black cattle.”
George explains, although they liked certain characteristics of the Angus breed, they weren’t particularly happy running straight Angus cattle, so they turned to crossbreds for some hybrid vigor.
“We tried some Salers cattle from a Hereford breeder we trusted who was also raising Salers, and we just really started liking the cattle,” George says. “They are hardy, tough, good mothers and they make a good cross on the Angus. We also found we could run more cows with less work if they weren’t white-eyed and/or white-bagged.”
George notes they were also drawn to the breed for their pelvic size.
“When I got out of college most breeds had a lot of calving difficulty and big birth weights,” he says. “I did some research on Salers. They were more maternal with bigger pelvis size and longer, leaner built calves. Now this doesn’t seem to be an issue because all breeds have lowered their birth weights.”
Around the time George returned home from college, he started artificially inseminating (AI) heifers – an uncommon venture at the time – which he believes really pushed the ranch’s genetics forward.
“Then we started to synchronize AI in 1989,” he states. “But, I had a lot of people tell me it was stupid to AI heifers.”
Today, the Bugas brothers run around 1,000 head of mother cows on tens of thousands of acres of deeded and leased ground scattered throughout the Bridger Valley. They also retain ownership of their yearlings, which are fed out at various locations throughout the state and sold in the fall.
Although the sheep operation has dwindled over the years, George and Larry still run 400 head of commercial Targhee ewes on pastures close to the homeplace.
Larry notes they stopped running Suffolks after a bad year of coyote kills that nearly wiped out their lambs.
“They weren’t bothering the white sheep quite so bad,” he remarks. “We kept the white sheep to try to control spurge and keep some diversity on the ranch.”
Larry further explains the ranch started transitioning from Rambouillet and Columbia genetics to Targhee because they were smaller than the Columbias and better mothers than the Rambouillets.
Additionally, the brothers put up their own grass hay on flood irrigated meadows around the ranch.
Upholding family traditions
In addition to the deep love of the land they live on and the animals they raise, George notes his mother instilled an importance of education in her children.
“My mom didn’t believe education ended after high school,” he says. “It was a requirement to go to college, and it had to be the University of Wyoming (UW).”
The Bugas family of today boasts three generations of UW graduates, with all six of Lawrence and Aileen’s children obtaining degrees from the university, as well as many of their grandchildren. This was something Lawrence, who passed at the age of 96 in March of 2023, was incredibly proud of.
The brothers are also longtime participants in the Steer-A-Year program, in which they have donated a steer for UW’s athletics programs since two years after the Steer-A-Year inception in 1995. Larry notes they are currently one of the oldest donors in the program.
Lawrence and Aileen also believed in strong community involvement, and their boys have upheld this tradition as active members of multiple organizations.
The family has had a strong presence in 4-H, FFA and on the Uinta County Fair Board and Sales Committee.
Both Larry and George grew up showing cattle, raising their children in the show barn as well. Two years ago, George’s youngest daughters aged out, marking 54 consecutive years the Bugas family has shown cattle at the Uinta County Fair.
The Bugases have also been highly active in local water organizations, with Lawrence serving on the Bridger Valley Water Conservancy District for 25 years and George for 15.
In addition, the brothers help run the Pine Grove Canal Company and the Robertson Scale Association.
Larry followed in his father’s footsteps as part of the Mountain View Lions Club, where Lawrence received the Melvin Jones Fellowship in 2017 in honor of his decades of service to the organization. At this time, he had served for 63 of the 66 years the Mountain View Lions Club had been in existence and was the oldest Lion in Wyoming, as well as the 10th longest-serving lion in the state.
Overcoming obstacles
Like many producers in the industry, especially those running in Uinta County’s high elevation, the Bugas brothers have had to battle unfavorable weather conditions during Wyoming’s harsh winters and brutal springs.
“Because we run in the high country, we have to feed a lot of hay to get us through the winter which is a big expense – and we have a short growing season,” George says. “We have harsh winters and spring calving can be pretty rough.”
“We’ve tried calving a little earlier and it didn’t work. We’ve thought about calving later, but we don’t want to drive tiny baby calves to summer range so we have a tight window that is hard to move around,” he adds.
George and Larry also admit they have faced challenges in the form of finances, volatile markets, personality conflicts surrounding operational decisions and dealing with other sectors of the industry when it comes to negotiating deals.
“One of the biggest learning curves I can think of is learning how to take care of the resources we have to make them viable down the line,” Larry states.
Unlike some parts of the state however, the two believe Uinta County and the Bugas Ranch are pretty blessed when it comes to water.
“Our situation with water is probably better than a lot of people in the state,” says Larry. “I think we get more precipitation than a lot of places in Wyoming because we don’t seem to be as droughty. We also have good opportunity for irrigation.”
Despite the hurdles, George and Larry can’t think of anywhere else they would rather be.
“It’s all worth it to be around the horses and cattle and have a nice place to run quality sheep and cattle and raise a beautiful family,” says George. “On top of this, we are working to feed a hungry nation.”
Larry agrees, stating, “I think our biggest accomplishment is keeping the ranch in operation for over 100 years. I got to raise my family here and be around family, which is not something very many people get to do. And, I think over the years, we have made the ranch even better.”
Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
