Lehigh returns (briefly) to the days of the cattle drive

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN
If you happened to drive into Lehigh around 10:30 on Monday morning, you might have encountered unusually heavy traffic through the downtown area. A team of area herders, organized by Van Peters and son Ryan Peters of rural Lehigh, drove about 100 head of Peters-owned cattle through this small community in western Marion County. The team was moving the herd about five miles from a field of harvested milo and corn near the Marion-McPherson county line to another field on the southeast edge of the community. The drive took about two hours. Ryan Peters said they decided to move the herd by foot rather than load them into trailers because it would be easier on the animals, many of which are expecting calves in a few months. Joining Van and Ryan Peters on horseback were Vernon Bartel, Jerel Pankratz, Jon Christiansen and Jackie Wolf. Ryan’s wife, Jaime, and young son Charlie rode in the lead truck, which was pulling a large round bale behind it to entice the cattle onward. Family patriarch Jim Peters helped patrol the herd in a second pickup truck. “There were four generations of Peters out there moving those cows,” Ryan said. “That doesn’t happen every day. It was such a good feeling when we got done. It was just a beautiful day and everything went well.”

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