Diane Prather Recalls 1960s 4-H Livestock Show Days in Craig

Steamboat Springs —The air in the Moffat County livestock barn still holds the ghost of damp hay and animal musk, a scent that clings to wool coats long after the last gate has been locked for the night. Outside, the high desert wind sweeps across the fairgrounds, carrying the dry chill of late August that used to bite at ankles before school even started.

Diane Prather remembers it vividly.

It’s been well over fifty years since she stood in those stalls, a young 4-H exhibitor from the Osborn family, but the memories remain sharp enough to cut. She was the first in her family to exhibit livestock at the fair, a distinction that came with early mornings, frost-covered ground, and the heavy responsibility of caring for animals that were, essentially, her responsibility and her livelihood.

Her sister, Charlotte (Allum), soon joined her. Together, they navigated the chaos of the Junior Livestock Show, a bittersweet arena where attachment to the animal met the cold calculus of the market.

"I was the first kid from my Osborn family to exhibit livestock at the fair," Prather wrote in a recent reflection for the Craig Daily Press. "Then my sister Charlotte (Allum) joined me."

The routine was rigid and unforgiving. Before the sun fully crested the jagged peaks of the West Elk Mountains, their father was already driving them to the fairgrounds. They had settled the animals in their stalls the night before, but the work wasn’t done. The ground was covered with frost, a stark reminder that summer was slipping away. Inside the house, their mother had likely already picked all the green tomatoes, pulling them inside to ripen against the coming chill.

At the fairgrounds, the wash rack was always a busy place on show days. It wasn’t just about getting the animals sudsy; it was a social hub where kids couldn’t resist the temptation to soap up one another or chase each other with hoses. Prather remembers using a bluing product — used to whiten sheets during laundry — to whiten the stained white part of the animal’s tail. It was a small, specific detail that anchors the memory in a time before modern grooming sprays and synthetic aids.

They brushed and combed the animals, fluffing up their tails. During the hot summer days, they kept the cattle in the barn, wetting them down and leaving a fan on to encourage hair growth. The goal was simple: beautiful steers for show day.

The first year Prather was in 4-H, her project was a young bull named Sharkey. After that, she fed steers, sometimes more than one. Charlotte showed a steer, and they both had registered heifers named Pudgey and Brownie. They were Herefords, high-spirited and beautiful when groomed. Charlotte also showed sheep, adding another layer of complexity to their mornings.

"During the summer we practiced leading our animals and teaching them how to put their feet just so using a show stick," Prather noted.

But practice didn’t always translate to calmness. The animals were nervous during the show. Prather remembers the challenge of keeping them calm, fixing their feet, keeping an eye on the judge, and quickly combing down the spot the judge had touched, all jobs of a showman.

The Junior Livestock Show was bittersweet. Prather got attached to her animals. The prices paid for the steers weren’t as high as today’s prices, but there was enough income to pay for the steer and feed. They sold their steers but took their heifers home, where the animals immediately rubbed their beautiful white faces in the first dirt pile they could find.

That was at least fifty years ago, but Prather remembers it well.

The fair has changed. The schedule shifted from late August to earlier in the summer to accommodate the State Fair and school calendars. There might have been a year or so when they had to miss classes to attend, showing how central this event was to community life. But the core of it - the dirt, the animals, the early mornings; remains.

Stand there long enough and you can almost hear the hoses spraying, the bleating of sheep, the lowing of Herefords. You can feel the frost on your ankles. It’s a memory that doesn’t fade, just like the scent of the barn.

The sun is setting over the fairgrounds now, casting long shadows across the empty stalls. The gates are closed. The animals are gone. But the memory of Sharkey, Pudgey, and Brownie lingers in the quiet.