Raising buffalo and children at The Bison Ranch We have been raising bison on the North Dakota prairie for the past 15 years, and children for the past 30! Our oldest son Jerrad is a graduate of the Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering before going on to pilot training in Pensacola, Fla. and Enid, Okla.. From 2001 to 2006, he flew the KC-135 from Spokane, Washington's Fairchild AFB and from Mildenhall AFB in Cambridgeshire, England. In the fall of 2006, Jerrad took a buyout from the Air Force, and last December joined the National Air Guard. He became a fulltime pilot with the Happy Hooligan unit based out of Fargo and we are ecstatic that he is now based fulltime closer to his roots--and that his children (our grandchildren) are now living 24/7 only 2 hours away from their grandparents! Jerrad's wife, Nicole, is a native of Jamestown, ND. She is an elementary teacher who is a stay-at-home mom now that they have three adorable little boys, Tyler, 8, Isaac, 4 and Nolan, born July 2007.  In the summer of 2005, Kelsey interned with Sen. Byron Dorgan of the US Senate in Bismarck and then that fall, he moved to Sen. Dorgan's Washington, D.C. office, where he spent a semester as a Senate intern. We thought he'd become the ultimate politician after that, as he loved the life and went on to earn his degree at the University of North Dakota (Amber's rival school) in political science and criminal justice. But before he ever even graduated, he was offered a job as a marketing specialist at a telecommunications firm in Jamestown, and he took it. He is now developing the content and marketing component of a local video TV channel, and truly loves his job! He also stars himself on this new channel--as he is the star of a local Fantasy Football and movie review show. No question, he is truly having fun with his job!

Our family gathered for the wedding of Jerrad to Nicole. Pictured from left is Nicole, Jerrad, Tyler, Kelsey, Connie, Oren and Amber.  Oren is a rancher at heart who loves the land and his bison. He is happiest when showing people around on our acreage, which is set against the Coteau Ridge in the midst of the prairie pothole region of North Dakota. Oren is also a township director, chairman of the board of directors of the Pingree Community Cafe, on the board of the community center, and is a Pingree volunteer fireman. We attend Pingree Congregational Church. Connie is director of Marketing and Member Services for Northern Plains Electric Cooperative and Dakota Valley Electric Cooperative, which are electric utilities in central North Dakota. She is past chair of the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce, a board director of Jamestown Hospital and Carrington Development Corporation, and has actively been involved in many other civic and community organizations in Jamestown and Carrington and Pingree. Amber is a 2004 sports medicine graduate of North Dakota State University in Fargo (go Bison!) and 2006 graduate of Concordia College of Moorhead, Minn., where she earned a RN degree. She and husband, Travis Strobel, moved to Rochester, Minn., in January 2007 when Amber was offered a job at Mayo Clinic on the neurosurgical floor. Her husband, Travis, works for Allied Medical Services, based out of Mayo Clinic. Amber and Travis are expecting their first baby in April 2008! The entire family is so excited!                 Amber married Travis Strobel in June of 2005.

Copyright The Bison Ranch at Coteau Ridge; Coteau Ridge, LLP, 2008
Thank you for visiting us at 
The Bison Ranch at Couteau Ridge! 
                                                           -- Oren and Connie