NEWCASTLE — Chris Russell “Russ” Christensen, a resident of the homestead he was born on in 1930, was inducted into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2021.
Except for the years he served as a medic in the army during the Korean War, he has lived his entire life on the homestead his father acquired in 1910.
“The house I was born in is still there, about 150 feet from where I live now,” Christensen said. “In fact, the iron bedstead I was born in is still in that house.”
Growing up as far out of town as he did, along the Cheyenne River, he rode his horse to school. Christensen said that the schoolhouse changed locations often, sometimes every year. Some years he rode three or four miles to get there. But then, the following year, it might be within walking distance.
“I remember walking through snow, sometimes, along tracks in snow piled up higher than I was,” he remembered. “It seems odd to know that kids today will ride the bus just a few blocks to school now.”
Christensen met his wife, Ruth, while serving in the U.S. Army. A native of New Jersey, she came out west, where she and Russ raised three sons, Mike, Tom, and Bill. Christensen raised cattle, sheep and Appaloosa horses for years. He still runs a cow-calf operation, according to wyomingcowboyhalloffame.org.
“Since we lived so far out of town,” he said, “You had to learn how to make do with what you had. You couldn’t just go to town and fix something.”
His son, Bill, said that this was something his father passed on. Often with seven children in tow in a stock truck or on horseback, he taught his kids, nephews, and nieces the value of hard work and ingenuity. But he passed on much more.
“Dad has probably forgotten more about cows, sheep and horses than most people will ever know,” Bill said.
Bill says this “make do with what you got” attitude has helped his father stay on the farmstead for his 93 years. But he also stated that there is more to this cowboy than that.
“Keep your nose clean,” Bill said of other values taught by the elder Christensen. “Keep your word and don’t lie. Those are the matters he passes on to anyone he is around. He also (is) a very loyal man.”
Rhonda Sedgwick Stearns, whose family has been friends with the Christensens for three generations, corroborates that information.
“Integrity has always been the way of life for the Christensen family,” Stearns said, “When Russ looks you in the eye, you know you have his word. And his word would always be kept.
“Instead of all these papers, you must sign in quadruplicate,” she said somewhat sarcastically. “Russ would give you a handshake, and you knew it was a done deal.”
The Christensen family helped the Sedgwick family move into the area in the early 1900s.
Stearns’ dad, who was a little boy at the time, told her that it was 30 below zero when the Christensens picked up her family in Edgemont, South Dakota. They brought them out to just north of Mule Creek Junction by wagon.
“That’s how the whole family was,” Stearns said, “You know they would always help you out when they could. And if they said they would do something, it got done.”
She said Christensen was no different. To this day, his word is his bond.
