Last Roundup

“You could milk a cow and drink it, slaughter a cow and eat it.”

Brian Wangler, Abbot at Assumption Abbey

USDA Photo by: Larry Rana

A proud ranching tradition in an untraditional ranch setting is coming to an end. The Assumption Abbey in Richardton, North Dakota (population 577) is gathering its herd for one last roundup and selling off its 260 head of cattle.

Assumption Abbey has been in the ranching business since 1893. Ranching, along with raising pigs and chickens, has allowed the monks to remain self-sufficient for more than a century. The pigs and chickens are long gone, and now the cattle are going, too. The abbey has had to face a double dose of reality: both cowboys and monks are a vanishing breed. Among the monks at Assumption Abbey, only one is an experienced cowboy and one is a greenhorn, and it’s up to the two of them to run the entire cattle operation. Brother Placid Gross, 74 years old and with more than 50 years of ranch experience under his belt, says he’ll miss the cows, but not the hard work.

The monks say they’ve stayed in the ranching business 30 years longer than most abbeys. And that’s a tradition to be proud of.