What better compliment could there be than praise from one’s peers? And a western horseman could receive no higher praise than to be told that his horses are the using kind. South Dakota’s Crago family has been credited for producing Quarter Horses that excel on the ranch and in the arena, but for Vince Crago the greatest compliment came when he and his family were nominated for the American Quarter Horse Best Ranch Remuda Award.

“It makes us pretty happy when someone calls and says how much they like a horse they got from us,” says Vince. “Or if they tell us how they are winning on one they bought from us, it gives you a feeling that’s hard to beat. But being nominated for Best Remuda comes pretty close.”

 

Ultimately, the Oklahoma-based Stewart Ranch won the coveted award but just being among the 1995 nominees put the Crago family in mighty good company. And rightly so, since the Cragos produce horses that can stand up to scrutiny under halter and still put a cowboy horseback. Mounting cowboys has long been a primary objective.

Western South Dakota is cowboy country where the Crago clan collectively runs 1,300 mother cows and a comparable number of yearlings on more than 60,000 acres. With deeded and leased ranches sprawling into three counties, there’s plenty of ground to cover while calving, branding, rotating pastures, checking stock and doctoring. Cragos accomplish those tasks while taking in the view from between the ears of a horse.

Ranching is a tradition that dates back more than a century but it wasn’t the cattle and horse business that lured the first Crago to South Dakota . Vince’s grandfather, Peter Crago, was an English coal miner who emigrated to the Black Hills in search of gold. He found enough to establish a small ranch in 1887. Settling in the shadow of the Black Hills , the Crago patriarch homesteaded in Spearfish Valley .

“Most of the early ranches near Spearfish were small,” tells Vince. “Like most of his neighbors, my granddad farmed a little, milked some cows and ran beef cattle. But my father Charles, preferred the cattle business and concentrated on that.”

Close proximity to Belle Fourche was an asset as the area’s cattle industry blossomed. Located at the end of the railroad line, Belle Fourche was a major shipping point for cattle raised in the Dakotas , Wyoming and Montana . Young Charles Crago witnessed those glory days when many thousands of cattle came together in the pens of the Belle Fourche .

As Charles eased into management of the ranch, he longed to expand his cattle interests. However, Spearfish Valley was fairly well populated and little range land was available for expansion. Ultimately, summer range was acquired in the wide open country north of Belle Fourche . Differing from the Valley’s sandy loam soil, the northern range featured gumbo that dried rock-hard in dry weather. Virtually treeless, its rolling topography was dressed in sagebrush, greasewood and short but nutritious grass.

In this big country, good horses proved valuable. Charles’ three sons were kept busy tending stock and breaking horses, both work teams and riding mounts. “Selling horses supplemented the cattle business,” adds Vince. “But it seemed like my brothers and I were always working with young stuff. Just as soon as we’d get them going good, Dad would sell’em.”

For a little extra money, Vince and his brother broke horses for the neighbors. They were paid five dollars a head to ride for a month or two - just long enough so that the owners could handle them.

All of that experience afforded Vince an appreciation for horses with cow sense and a preference for the Quarter type. During the late fifties, he bought his first registered horses including a mare and foal costing $60, plus a yearling filly costing $40. His first stud of consequence was Wrangler Red, a grandson of King.

As a young man, Vince entered into ranching partnership with his father and his brothers. Today, he and his wife, Margaret, headquarter near where his grandfather first homesteaded and provide guidance to Crago Cattle Company. The family partnership now includes sons Bruce and Ralph, Their wives, Kim and Becky, and their families. Ralph and Becky live nearest to headquarters, while Bruce and Kim live north of Belle Fourche .

At the heart of Crago Cattle Company is a herd of 1,000 cows which winter near Spearfish where hay is grown. A flock of sheep are lambed at Ralph’s place, under Becky’s supervision. Sheep, cattle and more than 40 broodmares graze the prairie north of Belle Fourche during the summer. Living close by, Bruce’s family usually looks after the mares and foals, and Kim handles the paperwork for Crago Cattle Company horses.

Also located north of “Belle” is a third son, Chuck, his wife, Mary, and their family. Chuck and Mary run some 300 cows of their own and about 40 mares. Describing their relationship with the rest of the family, Chuck says they operate “separate but together,” maintaining separate ownership of stock but sharing much of the work and cooperating in the merchandising of what they have to sell. Chuck and Mary shoulder much of the responsibility for managing an annual auction that showcases Crago horses.

When it comes to breeding horses, Crago family members share similar goals. “We believe,” says Chuck, “that the best the breed has to offer still comes through foundation bloodlines.” The blood of legendary Quarter Horse sires runs deep in the Crago program, including King, Leo, Sugar Bars, Joe Hancock, Driftwood, Old Sorrel and Poco Bueno.

A sire that contributed much of the Crago program was Beckwith Dun. Raised by Margaret Crago’s father, Ralph Beckwith, the red dun horse was out of a daughter of Wrangler Red, sired by a grandson of Sugar Bars, and also offered the influence of Leo. Purchased as a three-year-old in 1976 and used on Crago mares, Beckwith Dun proved to be a great sire of working horses, with conformation and color to boot. At state and regional shows, his get have topped halter classes and gone on to perform and win under saddle.

Geldings by Beckwith Dun have frequently carried the Crago Brothers to the pay window in team roping, team penning and working cowhorse contests. Not to be outdone, Kim, Mary and Ralph’s daughter Kristy also rope, pen and offer stiff competition in barrel racing and pole bending. In fact, the Crago clan includes more than a few youngsters interested in ranching, rodeo and the horse business.

Ralph and Becky have Angel, her husband Jason, their son Trenton, Kristy, Ryan, and Megan, while Bruce and Kim have three boys, Barry, Colby and Justin. From the household of Chuck and Mary, come Billy, Troy , Courtney and Jade. When they hit the 4-H, high school and Little Britches rodeos, these kids come well mounted.

“Our kids have done well and they attract a lot of interest in our horses,” says Mary. “And the high schoolers are involved in cutting too, so that adds another dimension.”

Crago success in the arena has been good advertisement and perhaps the most valuable notoriety came through team penning competition. Chuck, Bruce and Ralph rode a trio for Beckwith Dun geldings to the 1991 American Quarter Horse Association World Show, claiming fourth place in open team penning. In ‘92, Bruce, Chuck and Mary went back to the World Show to claim the Reserve Championship in the Amateur division. This time, Chuck was mounted on a mare sired by another Crago stud named Docs Decatholon.

“Doing well at the World Show attracted attention from all across the nation. It prompted a lot of calls for broke horses and especially geldings,” says Chuck. “So we tried hard to offer some really good ones through our sales. We still do, but demand for weanlings has improved steadily for several years now.”

Consequently, the annual Crago sale will catalog about 80 head including 50 to 60 weanlings. The 1995 auction saw the fillies out-sell the horse colts, with a $2,517 average, compared to $2,272.

The Cragos lost Beckwith Dun in 1995, but his influence lives on through daughters now in production. The old sire’s son, Beckwith Playboy, has been added to the Crago Cattle Company stud lineup, joining two prominent sires. Nestea is a red roan son of Paprika Pine and a Leo 3 daughter. The other is Cragos Doctor Nick, a buckskin sired by Docs Decatholon, carrying the blood of Doc Bar, Poco Bueno and Bill Cody.

In addition to the “Nick” stud, Docs Decatholon (owned by Chuck and Mary) sired many colts that went on to excel as performance horses. Doc’s foals were always among the sought-after weanlings sold during the last several years. Sadly, the handful of Doc’s colts that will be offered in the 1996 sale will be the last. Due to injury, Docs Decatholon was recently put down.

Chuck and Mary see plenty of promise, however, in the newest addition to their stud battery. PC Bronsin, a buckskin by Sun Frost, features the influence of Red Man (by John Hancock) and Lonsum Polecat (by Leo). Other studs in their string include Son of Hickory (by Docs Hickory ), Taylor Jess Tivio (by a Poco Bueno grandson) and Double Driftwood (by a grandson of Driftwood Ike).

By concentrating on sires steeped in old-time Quarter Horse blood, Cragos are striving for horses that cinch up big, but are not too tall.

With family members nodding in agreement, Bruce says 15 hands to 15.2 is tall enough. “But we want them deep through the girth and with plenty of bone and muscle. A deep-bodied horse with a good sloping shoulder and long hip is a big horse even if it isn’t tall,” he adds.

Part of the attraction to Crago horses is their color. Duns, buckskins, roans and grays are plentiful, but Chuck says color is never a priority. He agrees with Bruce’s statement, adding that a good mind and gentle disposition are essential if a horse is going to be versatile.

“I think good minds and athletic ability come hand-in-hand through the old bloodlines,” adds Chuck. “That’s why we concentrate on stacking bloodlines that feature the legends of the breed. Conformation is there too, so you don’t have to be ashamed of the way these horses look. And we’ve been able to get some color, too, but that’s just a bonus. What’s most important in ranch work or in the arena is that you be mounted on a horse that is the using kind.