The location of a proposed personal and RV storage project off Airport Road, the third storage project heard by the Planning Commission in as many months.
It’s hard to know what term best described me after my husband Fred died. I was probably some of everything in the title. I’ve sure made plenty of mistakes in the past five and a half years; but hopefully, I’ve gotten a few more things right. Our ranching footprint is smaller since we sold off our federal permits, but so is our debt. Our herd is smaller; but, tighter, younger and more manageable. Our waterways are cleared of choking willows, and our meadows are replanted and healthy with new grass and crops poking through our steady old sod.
Patrice and I are getting along. We hire or trade help when we need it and we’ll continue with repairs, maintenance and improvements as we can. What we aren’t doing, is going anyplace. We’re staying.
Why is that important to say? I guess because there are still those who don’t think two women on their own belong out here, or that we can make it. They are wrong, about a lot of things. The first being the notion that we are alone. Patrice and I have wonderful family, friends and neighbors who truly look out for us and have our backs. Both of us feel very cared for and supported. We are also supported by our faith and by memories and everything Fred, Les and Marie taught us.
Kris and Patrice Stewart
Both of us do what we have to each day. Sometimes that’s easy, but most days it’s hard. That’s ranching. I sure didn’t marry and build a life with my husband to get rich. I did it out of pure love. That love is still with me everyday. I see her Dad and Granddad’s love for this place and our way of life in my daughter; in her passion for her horses and in how hard she tries to do a good job and learn about every aspect of the ranch. I see it in her steadfast determination to stay and make the ranch her life and career.
I’m not sure what tomorrow or next year might hold; but, it’ll be enough to just do the work with my girl and hopefully make enough dough and stay healthy enough to turn around do it all again next year. See, that’s ranching too. For all the trials, all the setbacks, all the stress, it’s something that gets into your blood and you know that you would be miserable doing anything else. And so, the old Ninety-Six carries on…with a couple of girls in charge, 161 years behind us and no end in sight.
I think that’s what I would call just being home.
Kris Stewart is a rancher in Paradise Valley, Nevada. She operates the historic Ninety-Six Ranch with her daughter ( and the ranch’s fifth generation) Patrice.