Merle promised, “If you don’t like it, I’ll go back to town.” 50 years later, at 89 years old, Rose Marie Aus still lives on the ranch, five miles up the county road between Lindsay and Bloomfield in Dawson County. “I thought it was way too far for me to drive into town, but I let him win.” Of course these days, the road is gravel and often plowed, a far cry from the dirt track that led her and her husband Merle to the ranch. Rose Marie says of the ranch, “This is a beautiful, beautiful place. It’s rough, rugged, and craggy. Merle and I are going to have our ashes scattered on the hill behind the house. The hill is high and it sees everything.”
Rose Marie was born in Bismarck, North Dakota in 1934 and grew up in Harvey. Her father died when she was young so her mother had to bring up four daughters on her own, of which Rose Marie was the youngest. Rose Marie recalls, “My mother tried to make sure that we could take care of ourselves. You can’t sit around with four girls and say ‘you must look pretty to find a man.’ My mother never said ‘when you get married…’ My mother always said ‘when you go to college.’” When I ask Rose Marie where her activist streak and care for the community comes from, she credits her mother as well: “My mother was interested in everything. She kept the house full of books and the news. During WWII, her study was all maps. She had 12 nephews serving in the military. We raised victory gardens. She was active in the church, and she was active in the hospital.”
After graduating from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Rose Marie began teaching in Minnesota. One summer, she worked at the “Old Four Eyes” show in Medora, ND and met Merle. She flatly tells me that she would have married him on the spot if she did not have a teaching contract in Minnesota to go back to. Soon after, Rose Marie and Merle moved to Montana, first to Glendive, then to the Gallatin Valley, and then back to Glendive. Merle ranched, made saddles and sold real estate, while Rose Marie taught English and founded the rodeo team at the college. When I asked her what drew her back to eastern Montana, she quickly replied, “Wherever I’ve been, I have had wonderful, wonderful friends, but the people here are special. I just think it’s the best place to live.”
Talking with Rose Marie, it is clear how much she loves the ranch and the land. Kristin, Merle and Rose Marie’s daughter, often tells me that her dad bought the ranch because so much of it was only accessible on horseback. Rose Marie agrees, “Merle bought me an Appaloosa gelding. Ugly, ugly thing. Head like a washtub. But surefooted. I used to ride around the ranch. That horse got me through everything.” Of course, the ranch was also a wonderful place to raise a daughter. “Merle had Kristen driving the pickup during feeding when she was three. When she was five, Merle taught her how to detect which cows were in heat.”
Growing up on the ranch had a profound impact on shaping who Kristin is today. “The ranch is such a fundamental part of who I am, I can’t even tell me and the ranch apart much.” Kristin remembers a pretty idyllic childhood, “I rode in diapers, long before I could walk. Dad had me sit in the saddle in front of him and off we went. I just remember being outside every minute I could.” From her father, she inherited a love for the land and an “addiction” to horses which has led to a successful quarter horse breeding program. From her mother, she learned “that it is your responsibility to not just do your job, but to do good things for your community. I think that is something that she has spread to everyone she has ever met.”
After leaving Glendive for college, Kristin’s path back to the ranch had some stops along the way. A stint working as a hand in Colorado reminded her of the importance of small family farms and ranches. “Decades ago I worked in Colorado for a great big ranch that was owned by an absentee real-estate developer from California. I quickly learned it was very difficult to convey all of the elements that are needed to take good care of the land and animals to someone who flies out to go skiing at Christmas. Growing up here with parents that cared about the land and cared about the animals, I never realized how much there was to explain to someone who did not have that ethic.”
Managing the ranch today, Kristin has decades of experience, but she reminds me that she is still always learning. “When you depend on Mother Nature and you have plants, weather, and animals, everything is a balancing act.” And Rose Marie still plays a key role in running the ranch. Kristin says, “It is amazing how involved she still is in management decisions at her age.” Walking through the house, I spy a fitting sign that reads “Team effort… is a lot of people doing what I say!”
Rose Marie and Kristin’s passion for eastern Montana’s land and communities is humbling. Kristin tells me “Because I don’t have kids, Northern Plains fills my need to do the best I can for this ranch and Montana’s future generations.” Kristin and Rose Marie fulfill this vision everyday whether it is Kristin’s involvement in the Soil Task Force, Rose Marie’s constant presence at every Dawson Resource Council meeting, or even their willingness to entertain endless questions about their lives from a fresh-faced, young organizer. When I ask Rose Marie if she has any parting advice for me, she nods sagely and replies “Spend a lot of time together. You just don’t know what might happen.”
The Plains Truth Spring 2024 Page 4&5
