Willis Gene Jordan

Gene was born in Casper, April 8, 1949. His father had always been on horseback, and it was not long before Gene was put on a horse. His parents were living in Dubois, running an outfitting business. Gene started first grade in Dubois, but his parents separated, and before he graduated from high school in Dubois, Gene attended twenty-three schools, mainly throughout Texas, where he lived with his mother. During summers, Gene was on a small ranch at Burris with his father. By age seven, Gene was on horseback packing into Gannett Peak and other camps in the back country with his father. When he was sixteen, he started living with his father full time. Gene won enough in the bronc riding at the Meeteetse Rodeo to attend Casper College, where he was also on a rodeo scholarship. He later rodeoed for UW and graduated there in 1971. Then he moved to Riverton where he taught vocational agriculture and worked for U.S. Plywood in Dubois. Gene started as manager of the Midvale Grazing Association in October of 1982. In the thirty-two years of managing the pastures, many long days have been on horseback checking cattle, moving cattle, fixing fence, and checking water sources.