Karina Jones is a real-life ranch wife in the Nebraska Sandhills and one of the most highly sought-after speakers in the cattle industry nationwide!
Thanks for starting your week with me right here on Ranch Raised.
I have always been fascinated by history, especially American history and how it shaped our western way life. October 24th celebrates a monumental day that effects every one of us and changed the trajectory of early American life on the plains.
On October 24th, 1861 the Pony Express parked their ponies and hung up their saddle bags. They had been out sourced by the completion of the Transcontinental Telegraph system that would transmit messages from coast to coast using a series of dots and dashes that you and I more commonly refer to as “The Morse Code.” Infact, the entire telegraph system was invented by Samuel F.B. Morse.
We all have become comfortable with our modern conveniences, but today I think it would humble us all to recognize the extreme hardships that were overcome in order to make the granddaddy of modern communication a reality!
The obstacles to building the line over the sparsely populated and isolated western plains and mountains were huge. Wire and glass insulators had to be shipped by sea to San Francisco and carried eastward by horse-drawn wagons over the Sierra Nevada. Supplying the thousands of telegraph poles needed was an equally daunting challenge in the largely treeless Plains country, and these too had to be shipped from the western mountains.
When you pick up that phone today to talk or text, let’s all remember and give thanks to those who had a vision and a dream over 160 years ago and to those who labored in harsh conditions to change the communication system of America and the world!
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Karina ranches with her husband, Marty, and 3 daughters near Broken Bow, NE. She grew up in western NE, with roots also in southwest SD. The cattle industry and raising kids is her passion.
Watching the cattle industry go the path that it has gone, she could no longer sit quietly at home checking cows, fixing fence, and doing all the everyday tasks wondering when some else was going to make it all better. As she became more active and outspoken on industry issues, she was asked to join the R-CALF USA staff in September 2020 as the Checkoff Petition Campaign manager. That position transcended into her current role as full time Field Director for R-CALF USA.
You can hear her almost every Friday on Your Ag Network’s Hot Barn Report that is broadcast on 60 radio stations with coverage in 9 states, where she deep dives into cattle industry issues and highlights R-CALF’s work on industry reforms. Listen to Ranch Raised on a Your Ag Network hometown station or www.youragnetwork.com where she talks about her daily life on the ranch.
Cattle producers are her people. She will meet you at the county fair, at the sale barn, or anywhere the dusty trail leads.
karina@youragnetwork.com or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
