Norman “Buck” Holmes was born in Cheyenne in 1941 to parents Keith and Myra Holmes and had an older sister Myra Lou. He earned the nickname “Buck” as he was as large as a buck deer when he was born. His grandparents had homesteaded land north of Cheyenne in 1910 and his family raised registered Hereford cattle. The family ranch was known as Holmes Herefords and more recently the R Bar H Ranch.
Buck is a cowboy through and through. He rode horses from a youthful age and learned how to drive a team of horses. In early elementary school, he could be found in the hay fields in the summer with his team of horses and no adult in sight. They would work from sunup to sundown and became his trusted friends.
Buck used his horses to his ability and drove a horse drawn carriage starting at the age of 8 in the Cheyenne Frontier Days parades and continued that activity for many years. He was also an outrider in the parades for numerous years. He continued to volunteer for Cheyenne Frontier Days throughout the years in various ways.
He participated in the county and state fairs showing cattle, swine, and taking home numerous ribbons. He was actively involved in 4H and FFA and won several awards throughout his years of participation. He attended the University of Wyoming studying animal science, agricultural mechanics, and agricultural business. He was a delegate to Costa Rica as part of the International Farm Youth Exchange and spent six months living there and teaching the residents about ranching and farming. His knowledge served him well as partner and president of Holmes Herefords, as well as being the current owner of R Bar H Ranch.
The veterinarians in the area knew that if they were called to Holmes Herefords during calving season, it was a bad deal and they had their work cut out for them as Buck had already used all his knowledge to try and get the cow or heifer delivered safely.
Every year Holmes Herefords would hold their yearly bull sale. The high standard of registered Hereford cattle bred and raised was well known in the United States and Canada. You could find Buck riding high in the saddle year-round gathering cattle, vaccinating and branding, roping a sick animal in the pasture, as well as trailing them over 30 miles in the spring and fall back and forth to the summer pasture at Indian Hill, or pushing cows and calves in many a snowstorm to another pasture. He had an injury while riding his horse at the young age of 16 and became an amputee, but has never let that get in the way of carrying on with his life. This only made him stronger as he knew he could accomplish whatever goals he set.
With his vast knowledge of ranching, livestock, farming, land use, and Wyoming ,he made his mark in many agricultural organizations throughout the years. Buck was a member and 2nd Vice President of the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association. Organized and was the 1st President of Laramie County Stockgrowers. He helped pass a nation-wide $1 Beef Check-off in the United States and brought that back to Wyoming as a member of the Wyoming Beef Council. He was Vice Chairman of the Evaluation Committee of the Beef Board and helped combine the two Beef Associations into the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
He was chairman of the Frontier Conservation District, appointed to the Wyoming State Land Use Committee, and was a member and Chairman of the Cheyenne Laramie County Planning Commission. He most recently served for 12 years as a Laramie County Commissioner using the cowboy code of ethics to help guide his decisions for the expanding county.
Buck branched out on his own in 1998 and started R Bar H Ranch. He switched over to raising commercial cattle. He currently runs cattle owned by family members on his land. Buck still lives the cowboy way of life. He continues to show he is a cowboy through and through with his toughness and grit, always finishing what he starts, and taking pride in all his endeavors.