In August of 1918, Isaac Bonnie traveled by train to Sandpoint, Idaho from Burlington, Colorado to find and purchase land on which his family could start a new life. Isaac would soon bring his whole family to begin the work of building their homestead in the Gold Creek drainage, later known as Bonnie Hole. In February of 1940, Riley Wood and his family arrived at their new home on Upper Gold Creek Road. In 1948, Riley’s youngest son, Jim, and Isaac’s granddaughter, Virginia, were married. As the years moved on, and the Wood family grew, so did their cattle ranch. In the 1970’s, the cattle operation outgrew the Gold Creek ranch location. So, when property in the Selle Valley became available, Jim and Virginia moved the Wood V-X cattle to the lower ranch. There they continued to grow into what is now a cattle ranch spanning 5 generations. Western Pleasure Guest Ranch is owned and operated on the Gold Creek or Upper Ranch location by Jim and Virginia’s daughter, Janice, and her husband, Roley.
On the lower ranch, Jim and Virginia’s oldest son, Steve, and their youngest son, Leonard, and their children continue to grow and expand the cattle ranch. Leonard and his wife Naomi, and their son, Ben, have chosen to specialize in Registered Red Angus Cattle. Every year in the Spring, they hold their annual Bull Sale where they offer select yearling and two-year-old bulls for sale.
Yesterday, I had the great pleasure of attending the bull sale with my camera in tow. Aside from being a top-notch presentation of Red Angus cattle and a prime example of what a family working together can accomplish, this is the ranchers’ premier social gathering event of the year. With lunch prepared by my aunt Naomi and her daughters complete with fresh-baked desserts and a “social hour” spent looking over the bulls, this is an event no cattle rancher or interested bystander should miss.
I was doing research and found on your page that Steve Wood was helping in the delevoping the cattle segment. I would like to know if Steve gradutated from Sandpoint High School in 1969. I am a student of the class of 1969. Pat Shobe. I married Robert (B0b) Berger from the same class of 1696.