Description

Flower Day
Columbine and Bison Ranch, Cora, WY
Bloomed 8-24-23
Oil on Canvas 40 in. x 40 in., 2026
13,500

“The land has been made to blossom as the rose; like an oasis in the desert . . . nodding plumes of beauty fill the air with sweet perfume,” wrote the editor of the Pinedale Roundup in 1912. He was reporting on the very first Clark’s Flower Day, a celebration of springtime hosted by Bert and Anna May Clark. The Clarks established a Ranch on Duck Creek in Cora, Wyoming in 1902, later to be known as the CL Bar Ranch.

For nineteen years, the Clarks would invite the community to come spend the day on their ranch among the expansive gardens. Guests would enjoy picnicking, picking pails of strawberries, and eating ice cream. Menfolk looked at the tractors, canoes, and sailboats.

Historian Judi Myers writes, “The entrance to the ranch house was marked with rustic gates of curious design and craftsmanship. The pole fence was entwined with elk antlers. A large lawn with pebble lined paths, abundant foliage and a sundial greeted visitors to the annual Flower Days. In 1914 eighty people attended. By 1920 over 200 people came from as far away as Rock Springs, Lander and Kemmerer.”

Gone are the extensive gardens, but the wild things still grow on this land. Bison have replaced sheep, but the skies and hospitality of this land remains.