08/29/2023
Luther Cook: Luther came to the Prairie with his parents Clyde and Priscilla in 1954. He worked his parents ranch from the time when he was a young boy until his death in August 2023. Luther was an extremely hard working man whose sly grin could easy set people off balance that only saw his rugged appearance. I've known Luther for about 60 years and to sum him up, keeping his alfalfa baler working was more important than fixing his toilet.
Luther's life on the Prairie could be written into a book, but my favorite story would have to be in chapter 11. That chapter would have to be about the young men that would work and spend time on the ranch in the summers. My contribution to that chapter would have to be the story of the 3 days that my nephew and his best friend worked harder than they ever had in their lives, filling the barn with large alfalfa bales and an entire day of hard horseback riding to round up a bull that was wandering around in the mountains and just doing what Luther did everyday. At the end of the 3 days, they could barely walk, but they were so excited that they were going to get paid. Luther then preceded to calculate their wages with a pencil and paper and when he was done, he reached up and took down a large glass jar that was full of coins. He counted out the quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies and then divided $11.36 cents between them. The look of disbelief on their faces can't be described and then he explained how much they'd earned and what he'd deducted for 3 days of horseback riding, 300 rounds of large caliber ammunition and 12 meals. The life lesson was fabulous to observe!
Luther passed away on August 27th, 2023 at the age of 70 and he'll be truly missed.
