Every good ranch has to have a name. At least, that’s what my husband and I decided when we finally figured out we wanted to be bison ranchers.

We polled the family and ended up with several possibilities:

Bison in the names makes sense, but what’s with rocks and stones? Well, it turns out that this area is rife with rocks above and under the soil. We found that out to our disappointment when we began installing fence posts. But we really should have known when we first looked at the place, given the rock wall that surrounded a low area at the front of the property. All those rocks had to come from somewhere.

The rock did provide inspiration for naming the property, though. Rocky Ridge fit pretty well because the property slopes east and west from a high point. But children’s author Laura Ingalls Wilder used that name for her and her husband’s Ozarks property. We settled on Stonehaven Bison Ranch because we find rocks everywhere–without even trying. And we had to fit bison in the name somewhere because, well, that’s what we’re raising.

So: Welcome to Stonehaven Bison Ranch!