Bert Lamb was born March 16,1927, to George Dewey Lamb and Josephine Isabelle Meyer Lamb in Rock Springs. He was the sixth of eight children. Bert’s parents owned a small ranch on Henrys Fork in Washam, Wyoming. Bert’s dad was away from home a lot working to support the family. Leaving the ranch work to his wife and children.
They had an old bull that they hooked to a small wagon with a water barrel in it. They would go down to the creek to a spring to get water for the house and corral. When the creek would dry up, Bert and the other children would ride the bull down and back. While growing up on Henrys Fork, Bert and his brother Keith, would go out on the Buttes and chase wild horses. They would spend days at a time chasing wild horses. They built several corrals around the country from the Buttes to Fire Hole. They would trap or rope them and sell them to help support the family.
Bert attended school in the little red schoolhouse in Washam. It was about three miles from the ranch, so the children would ride their horses to school. He attended school through the eighth grade in Washam.
When he was going into the ninth grade Bert, moved to Rock Springs. After a few months, he could no longer stand the big city life. He quit school and headed back to Henrys Fork. The family had sold the ranch, so Bert hired on with different ranches around the area from Linwood to Lone Tree. At a young age he was recognized as a top hand. He could rope and ride with the best.
They always had a rodeo in Manila and McKinnon every summer. Bert would participate in the cow riding, bareback and saddle bronc riding and won several years. During that time bareback riders used a rope around the belly like a bull. One day Bert saw an advertisement in a catalog for a leather bareback rigging. He sent for it and was the first to use the rigging in Manila, then all the cowboys took turns using it.
In 1951, Bert was drafted into the Army. After basic training, he was shipped to Alaska where he served with honor. When he was discharged, he returned to Manila, where his mother had purchased a home. He took whatever jobs he could find, from ranch work to cutting and hauling timber on the mountain. During these years Bert met a young red headed girl by the name of Yvonne Cook, whose family had just moved to Manila from Price, Utah.
Bert and Yvonne were married April 11,1953. After getting married, Bert went to work for Bosler on the Current Creek Ranch southeast of Rock Springs. He worked as a ranch hand breaking horses and tending cattle. When Bosler, sold out to Wilson, Bert was hired to be the foreman of the Current Creek Ranch. Yvonne was hired as the cook for the hired hands. Mr. Wilson also owned a ranch in Jackson. Wilson started a dude outfit at both ranches. Current Creek was a working ranch with 800 angus cows and 300 horses. The cows were open grazed on Little Mountain down to the Green River.
In the Spring, they gathered the horses from the range to the ranch. They would cut out 150 – 200 head that they would put shoes on and drive them to Jackson to be used for the dudes there. Then in the fall they would drive them back to Current Creek for the winter.
Current Creek also had dudes, about 30 girls 14 – 18 years of age for five weeks, then 30 boys for five weeks. Bert would teach these kids to rope, ride, and live the western lifestyle. They would go horseback out on the open range and surround bunches of cows, rope and brand the calves, and then move on to the next bunch.
In the Fall, they would gather the cows off the range and on to the ranch. They would cut off the calves and turn the cows back out on the range. They would keep the calves on the ranch and feed them until the next fall. They would then drive them to Green River and load them on the railroad to go to Omaha or Chicago.
Bert left Current Creek in the fall of 1961 and leased a ranch on Cedar Mountain. In the spring of 1962, Bert started building up his own cow herd and breaking horses to ride.
Bert was known as being a good hand with horses. He always had a horse that someone couldn’t ride, that they would bring to him to work with. Bert said the secret to a good horse was to feed him several wet saddle blankets. (in other words, ride him many, many miles) Bert always had a good horse and he saw to it that his wife and children did, too.
In 1968, Bert finally purchased his own place. Three hundred and twenty acres of sage brush and grease wood in McKinnon. Bert and his family cleared brush, plowed, and planted oats and alfalfa hay. Bert was building up his cow herd. He had a little band of sheep and a good horse. Bert taught his children that the success in life was the reward of hard work.
In 1981, Bert sold the ranch in McKinnon and moved to Robertson. Where he leased 1,200 acres with an open range permit. It was here that he lived out his dreams. He had a good cow herd, several good horses, and his sheep. Bert started raising miniature mules. He broke them to work and pack. He would feed with them in the winter because Robertson could get a lot of snow. He had very few problems with the mules if he was alone, but let a stranger show up and they were guaranteed to runway. Those little mules would take off at a dead run. Bert would brace his feet and away they would go scattering hay, dogs, or anything else all over the field. He would take them for a couple of big circles in the field laughing and hollering. He would finally get them under control and come back and tell you to climb on and let’s go pick things up. Bert broke several mules to pack. He would take them to parades all around the area.
Bert’s greatest joy in life was working with his family. Bert and Yvonne had five children, three boys and two girls. Their second son was born with health issues and passed away at two years of age.
Bert worked hard, but he played just as hard. He enjoyed having kids around him teaching them to rope, ride or whatever he was doing at the time. Bert’s neighbors always knew if their kids came up missing, they were more than likely at Bert’s. He always had something fun going on.
In 1984, Bert had a massive heart attack and had to have eight bypasses. He tried to go on living the cowboy life, but his health wouldn’t let him. In 1989, Bert and Yvonne bought three acres and moved to Mountain View, WY. This is where Bert lived out his last few years. He died June 25, 1994 at age 67.