County residents added to Cowboy Hall of Fame

The Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame finds and celebrates the men and women who introduced this state to its ranching heritage, honoring the cowboys and ranchers who helped to break those first trails. This year, 40 more names have been added to the prestigious list, including two who hail from Crook County.

Each region across Wyoming hosts its own local ceremony to welcome the year’s class of inductees. Region 1, which includes Crook, Campbell and Weston counties, celebrated at The Golf Club at Devils Tower on September 19.

From Crook County, the honorees for the 2020 class included Kenneth Canfield and Ed Cooper. They were honored alongside Jean Harshbarger and Francis Sedgwick of Weston County and Aldin Reynolds and Butch Reynolds of Campbell County.

The ceremony included presentation of certificates to commemorate the induction, as well as a banquet, music from Kenny Fordyce’s Real Cowboy Band, a silent auction and a raffle.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state induction ceremony has been postponed to an as-yet-decided later date. At that time, information about each of the inductees will be added to the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame website.

Ed Cooper

Born in Faith, SD in 1933, Ed Cooper landed his first job lambing for Howard Sheridan for $50 a month when he was 15 years old. He cut posts and Christmas trees to support his mother and sister.

When he reached 18 years of age, he borrowed money to buy his first homestead in the Black Hills – his mother had to sign for the loan because he was too young. He began to build a cow herd, then borrowed money for another homestead, but the banker stopped his expansion.

In 1954, Cooper began working for Driskill Cattle Company at Moskee. He worked for the company for 30 years while building his own herd.

In 1984, he moved to Sundance and ran his cows on part of the Somers Place, later leasing the entire ranch and adding 500 yearlings to its occupants alongside his herd. He also ran the hunting camp at Moskee and built many miles of fence for the Forest Service and private individuals.

In 2005, he began running a large forest permit for Hoese Cattle Company in the Black Hills.

Cooper is described as a master fenceman who has perfected the art of working with water and helping a spring flow to capacity. He also doctors cattle when needed.

Cooper also rode bareback horses and bulldogged in the rodeo arena, winning the bull dogging championship at Crook County Fair about 60 years ago. According to his Cowboy Hall of Fame biography, Cooper “has lived his whole life personifying what it means to genuine cowboy. He is truly the last of the old time cowboys.”

Kenneth Canfield

Born in 1919 on his father’s homestead on Inyan Kara Creek, Kenneth Dean Canfield grew up on the Canfield ranch/homestead and attended grade school at the “Canfield Country School”. As a youngster, he took on the challenge of training difficult horses and became skilled at making and repairing leather tack; he crafted his first pair of metal spurs when he was 12 years old.

Each fall, the cattle were trailed horseback from the ranch north of Upton to the Upton stockyards and shipped to Omaha, Nebraska. The “Railroad Reservoir” was reached around noon and the cattle were watered and rested while the men and boys ate lunch.

After the cattle were in the stockyards, the horses were brought north of town and turned loose to find their way home, as the humans returned in vehicles.

After graduation, Canfield worked on the home place. During the grasshopper infestation of the late 1930s, he was employed by the Crook County grasshopper poisoning program. He also hired on at the Bert Butterfield ranch for a while.

Canfield entered the U.S. Armed Forces in 1941 and served four years during World War II. He shipped out to the CBI Theater and served in India and China, receiving the Purple Heart for wounds and suffering for many months from malaria.

After his discharge, he returned to the home ranch and cattle ranched with his father for five years. He and wife Elizabeth then purchased and moved to the adjoining ranch, where he resided until his death.

As well as continuing to work with horses, riding and fixing fences and working with and roping cattle and calves, Canfield learned the skills to doctor any animal in need. He also continued throughout his life to use new and innovative ideas to improve his land and stock, with protecting the environment and natural habitat always part of his priorities.

In 1965, the Canfields also purchased Sundance Equipment Company and grew it into a successful John Deere business as well as Hesston, GMC and small equipment sales with a complete service center. Canfield also served as a two-term county commissioner and served on the Wyoming State Recreation board, Crook County School Board and more.

Canfield was a member of the VFW and a 4-H leader for many years, as well as a founding member of the Crook County Horsemen’s Association. He passed away in 1988.

According to his Wyoming Hall of Fame biography, Canfield “was a humble cowboy with heartfelt kindness for all animals. Kenneth was a forward thinker, astute, successful stockman, rancher, farmer and businessman. He had a lifelong love of his ranch, farming, livestock and animals and had a great appreciation and respect for the land and his environment.”