Longtime Kings River Valley ranchers Daniel and Sammye Ugalde were honored March 1 as the 2014 recipients of the "Ranch Hand of the Year" award.
The award is sponsored by the Agricultural District No. 3 as a way to recognize those men and women who make their living as ranch hands, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Past recipients include Frank Loveland, Loui Cerri, Harold Chapin, John and Tim DeLong, Buster Dufurrena, Jane Angus, Larry Hill and Louie and Frank Bidart.
"We wish to recognize the outstanding ranch hands who have contributed so much, not only to the ranching community, but to cowboy heritage itself," said Kim Petersen, Director of the Agricultural District No. 3.
Humboldt County Commissioner and longtime Ag 3 member Garley Amos presented Sammye Ugalde with a plaque Saturday before the kickoff the 25th annual Ranch Hand Rodeo in the Winnemucca Event Center. Sammye also accepted the honor on behalf of her late husband, Dan, who passed away October 7, 2013.
Reading a short history of the Ugalde's life compiled by their daughter, Eddyann Filippini, Amos honored the couple for their "lifelong dedication to the legacy and lifestyle of the working cowboy."
Daniel and Sammye Ugalde were both born and raised in Humboldt County. Dan was born September 3, 1927 at Nine Mile Ranch, in his beloved Kings River Valley, to Basque immigrant parents, Juan Antonio Ugalde and Paula Maria Erquiaga Ugalde.
Dan's mother and father purchased the ranch in 1915 from Paula's brother. He was the seventh child among four brothers and three sisters. Upon completing an eighth-grade education at the Nine Mile Ranch, he served in the United States Army between 1945 and 1947. During this time, he was stationed in Korea for several months. After leaving the Army, he returned home to work on ranches and various jobs.
Sammye Johnstone Ugalde was born September 29, 1933 in Winnemucca, Nevada. She was the firstborn child of Samuel Keith Johnstone and Mary Louise Peraldo Johnstone. Sammye's father was born in Cedarville, California. His father, Walter Johnstone, purchased the Puite Meadow Ranch from Miller and Lux in 1925.
Sammye's father was 17 years old with an eighth-grade education when he moved to Puite and helped work and manage the ranching business. Sammye lived at the ranch with her parents, two brothers and sister. She spent most of her time with her father and uncle Bill Hudspeth, riding and running the forge. She could be found doing whatever they were doing. Her childhood at the ranch was full of freedom and adventure.
The Johnstones moved to Winnemucca when the ranch sold in 1945. Sammye was 12 years old and spent her summers at the Leonard Creek Ranch until she was a senior in high school. She graduated from Humboldt County High School in 1951.
Daniel and Sammye were married on September 13, 1952, in Winnemucca. Dan had a variety of jobs, including ranch work, working at the Getchell Mine and working for John Tallman at Tallman Lumber Company. Sammye worked at the bank for a while.
Their first child, Eddyann, was born in 1955; a son, John, was born in 1957.
The couple moved their family back to Nine Mile in 1957 to help Dan's mother, Paula, and brother, Emilio.
There, they were blessed with two more children, Frank and Robert.
Everyone helped work the ranch and there always seemed to be plenty to be done. In 1976, they purchased Nine Mile from Paula. Son John and his wife, Renae Ugalde, bought the ranch from Dan and Sammye in 1991.
Sammye has made a hundred or more pair of chaps in her lifetime.
Everyone around has "Sammye" chaps including neighbors, her children, grandchildren and a great granddaughter. She was a three-term Humboldt County Commissioner and is very proud of the commission's accomplishments during that time.
She tended bar at the Gem Bar, and was the butcher, in McDermitt, for Dora and Doris Lasa, working while her kids went to high school. To help get the kids down the high school rodeo trail, Sammye took rodeo pictures.
She is an accomplished photographer. Among her favorite subjects is Disaster Peak.
Dan did contract hay hauling (harobed) during the summer in addition to running his own operation.
He loved to hunt and fish. Dan had an eye for arrowheads. He could be trotting his horse, cowboying, look down and find a perfect one.
Dan and Sammye refurnished furniture for a period of time. Their work together was beautiful. Dan was the "put it back together and fix-it guy" and Sammye did the upholstery work.
Every parent's worst nightmare occurred on July 29, 2011, with the death of Dan and Sammye's son, Robert, from cancer. On October 7, 2013,
Daniel passed away in Reno from complications of brain tumor surgery.
Dan and Sammye celebrated 61 years of marriage September 13, 2013. They have left a huge mark in the lives of the people around them.
Their children include Eddyann and husband Dan Filippini, John and wife Renae Ugalde , and Frank Ugalde. Their grandchildren include Max Filippini, Mary Filippini, Victor Ugalde, Hank Filippini and Sam Ugalde. They have one great granddaughter, Brooke Ro Filippini.
"They have had quite a ride together," says daughter Eddyann. "There is no place like Nine Mile Ranch or Kings River Valley!"[[In-content Ad]]
