Ed Cooper

Ed Cooper “Coop” was born in Faith, South Dakota, to Marie and Arthur Cooper on May 18, 1933. The family moved to Buckhorn, Wyoming in 1941. Ed attended school in Buckhorn and Newcastle. He landed his first job lambing for Howard Sheridan for $50 a month when he was 15 years old. When Ed was 18 years old he borrowed money and bought the first homestead in the Black Hills. At this time, in 1953, he started to build a cow herd, borrowed money, and bought another homestead. However, the banker stopped his expansion. Ed then went to work for Driskill Cattle Company in the fall of 1954 at Moskee. He worked for the cattle company for 30 years while also keeping and building a cowherd of his own. In 1984, he moved to Sundance and ran his cows on part of the Sommers place. He leased the entire ranch in 1998 and ran 800 yearlings in addition to his cow herd through 2005. Ed also ran the hunting camp at Moskee and built many miles of fence for the U.S. Forest Service. Ed rode bareback horses, saddle broncs, and bulldogged in the rodeo arena.