Frank Jay Rhodes was born August 8, 1941, in Cody. His family resided on Meeteetse Creek outside of Meeteetse. Frankie’s earliest memory of working horseback was in 1948 when he was seven years old. The last day of school in 2nd grade, he rode the bus home and his parents, Frank and Betty Rhodes, then took him back into town to buy him a new pair of boots for the summer. The very next morning, Frankie, along with his dad and two uncles, saddled up, loaded the packhorse, and started the herd of about 80 pairs over the mountains to the Putney Homestead on Cottonwood Creek. Frankie led the packhorse that carried all the supplies for food and camping for the four-day trip.
The family moved to the Putney Place on upper Cottonwood Creek, Hot Springs County, that summer to ranch. Frankie was homeschooled for three years while he helped the family build their ranch, growing the cowherd, and the quality Quarter Horse herd they were raising.
When Frankie was about 10 years old, he and Gene McGee helped Dub McQueen and his wife move their herd of about 200 pairs from Hamilton Dome to South Fork Basin. That trip took 3-4 days horseback. They slept in tents and it rained the whole time so everyone and everything was soaked. Frankie once said that was the wettest he had ever been.
After graduation from high school in Thermopolis, he married Colleen Dockery. They lived and worked on the family ranches in the Thermopolis area running about 800 cow calf pairs and about 50 mares. Frankie was the main caretaker of the cattle and horses but it took the whole family, including the wives to ride and help with all of it. Frankie and Colleen then adopted two kids, BJ in 1967 and Lori in 1970. He also worked for Worland Livestock Auction in Worland for about 30 years. He now lives in Cody.