Andrew William Gifford, known to everyone as “Andy,” was born into the lifestyle of being a cowboy. When he was four, his parents bought their ranch on Crystal Creek, southeast of Lovell.
Andy attended country school until the 8th grade, at which time he left home to work on his grandfather’s cattle ranches in the Four Corners area adjoining the Navajo Indian Reservation. In 1943 at 22 years of age, Andy married Lillian Jolley and moved back to work on the ranch on Crystal Creek where he raised his three boys and two girls. Andy had two brands, the L open A D and the V + plus. Andy raised a Quarter Horse cross on the ranch for his ranch horses. After a while, he also raised bucking horses and some bucking bulls. One of his most well-known bucking horses was Come Apart, a horse that was at nine National Final Rodeos winning the award of being the ‘Best Bareback Bronc’ in 1959 and again in 1961. Come Apart was the first bareback horse to be inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1979. The bucking horse South Forty was a wild horse from the Pryor Mountains who was honored Saddle Bronc Champion of the year by the Montana Rodeo Association in 1975.