As Yellowstone burned in ’88, Bill Brazelton was teaching horse and mule packing at Northwest College. Then he was introduced to an organization that changed his family’s life.

Brazelton and his wife, Mary, learned about a group working to keep public trails open in wilderness areas. Bill and Mary agreed it was a worthy cause and tried to start a local organization to work in the Shoshone National Forest. Try as they did, their first effort failed.

But Bill and Mary didn’t give up. Five years later they tried again, adding new key volunteers to the club. This time they were in business, volunteering to clear trails on contract with the Forest Service, ensuring those who came after them would have a wonderful day in the backcountry.

One of their first decisions; none of the revenue paid by the Forest Service would go into the pockets of the volunteers.

“Everybody pays their own expenses. Everything that we do, and what we've made, all goes back to the club,” said Bob Bessler, who has been with the club from day one.

Thirty years later the Shoshone Back Country Horsemen are celebrating the all-volunteer club’s green anniversary. The amount of work that’s been accomplished in those three decades is staggering — especially considering most of the work has been done with crosscut and hand saws (due to regulations forbidding motorized tools in areas designated as wilderness) and in concert with eight separate government agencies.

Since 1993, the group has cleared more than 4,500 miles of trails through area forests. Without the group, many of those trails would have been lost to hikers and riding enthusiasts, said Cathy Ringler, longtime member of the club along with husband Von. And since 2005, the club has cleared miles equating to an in-kind contribution in excess of $1.3 million to the Forest Service, she said in opening remarks Aug. 12 during a ceremony in the forest.

The club also constructed and maintains 16 sets of corrals, more than 20 feed bunks, hitching rails, stanchions, parking delineators and fire pits at 26 trailheads in the Shoshone and Bighorn national forests. In 2023 alone, the group has cleared 22 trails, including Russell Creek, East Painter, Windy Mountain, Reef Creek, Lodgepole/Trail Creek, Elk Creek and Elkhorn Trails in the Sunlight/Crandall area; Highline and Deep Lake Trail in the Beartooth Range; West Blackwater, Clocktower, Crow Creek and Mormon trails in the North Fork; and Deer Creek, Dick Creek Lakes, East and West Timber, and Francs Fork above Wagonbox Park. 

Without the club and their hardworking volunteers, trails would deteriorate due to downed trees, erosion and other issues. Getting youth involved is important to keep the organization growing. Outside their trail work, the club sponsors several educational opportunities, including first aid courses for riders and their animals, trail safety and etiquette, special equipment training, horse and mule safety clinics, youth horsemanship and packing seminars. They also financially support Dano youth camps, which teaches outdoor skills and stewardship to area youth.

Honoring the founders

The Brazeltons, as well as other founding members, were honored at the 30th anniversary potluck picnic at the Eagle Creek Trailhead corrals.

“I’m quite sure this club really exceeded the expectations of Mr. Bill Brazelton. He was the guy that originally came up with starting this club when he asked a few of us to give him a hand,” said Bob Bessler, who has been with the club from day one.

He claimed the secret to the club’s success was making the work fun.

“Any job can be work, but you can make it fun if you put your mind to it,” Bessler said.

The club wouldn’t have survived without hard-working, dedicated volunteers. But what happened next was a surprise. Through all the hard work, the volunteers developed a strong bond, Bessler said.

“You can't take a group of people who don't believe in what they're doing and keep them together,” he said, adding, “They’re like a family.”

At 84 years old, Brazelton is still unwilling to take credit for his part in organizing the club. He said the success of the club is due to club volunteers willing to give back to the forest.

“These guys, when they get to the job, they don't sit down, they just go find something else to do when they finish their task. And that's why we accomplished so much,” he said.

The club started with just six or seven members, he said. Now it has 79 members on the roster; many have been with the team for years.

Brazelton and his wife have enjoyed the many miles of trails through the wilderness of the Absaroka and Bighorn mountains and didn’t take the privilege for granted. They want to give back.

“We’ve taken from the forest service for years and have been able to use all the beauty that's here. And so that's the reason we wanted to give back.”

But it wasn’t simply a chore volunteers endured, he said. There’s joy in clearing trails.

“There's a lot of gratification in cleaning and making the trails safe for people and their horses,” Brazelton said.

Bob and his wife, Linda, were also honored. Both were among the first volunteers for the group. Between the two couples, the club got a start that is still going strong decades later. While Brazelton wasn’t the first club president, when he was elected, Bessler would be his vice president.

“These guys are so selfless and so service minded. And it's for the greater good. They don't call attention to themselves, it has always been for the benefit of everybody else,” said Kathi Gimmeson, publicist for the club.

Also honored as founding members were Tom and Rhonda Faulkner, Bruce and Bonnie Fauskee and Joe and Judy Childers.

“We're all volunteers at heart,” said Deb Black in introducing honorees.

Yet she lamented finding volunteers willing to take the club into the next generation is tough. Those willing to commit to a service club “seem to be a dying breed,” she said. “I wish I knew how to spread [commitment to public service] further.”

The club meets each month on the third Thursday and hopes to find new volunteers willing to help keep the trails open and join in the fun.

“We don't have a whole lot of younger volunteers, but we need them,” Brazelton said prior to being honored and always looking for a chance to recruit new members.