This site and brand was inspired by this story. This guy knew what he wanted, and made it his life's mission to achieve it. Successful by any man's measure, he's the definition of hard work and perseverance. The following was taken from The Steamboat Pilot published on July 31, 1952.
Norton Jacobs has set his sights on becoming a rancher – and he’s doing it the hard way.
Young Jacobs’ home is in Steamboat, but the 15-year-old lad spends every weekend during the school year and every summer with his grandfather, Val R. More, at his Pleasant Valley ranch.
Jacobs will be a sophomore in the Steamboat High school this fall and will enroll then in his second year as an active member of the local chapter of the Future Farmers of America.
The young commuter-rancher made the nine-mile shuttle to his grandfather’s ranch every weekend the weather permitted during the past school year to care for his Hereford FFA project.
At the beginning of the school year last fall, Jacobs bought two Hereford heifers from his grandfather, one a two-year-old, and one a tiny calf. He selected the baby calf as his FFA project, and eagerly began study in his ag class on the care, feeding, and equipment required to make a prize winner out of the calf.
The valuable information Jacobs gleaned from his studies has netted him some fine results, for his baby calf is now 11 months old and tips the scales at between 950 and 1000.
Jacobs became interested also in the correct procedures in showing and in judging of Hereford stock. He currently has his project heifer well halter-broke and is grooming her for competition which always exists in the Routt County Fair.
In addition to his project, Jacobs made quite a name for himself as a member of the FFA judging team.
As only a freshman in high school, he went to the regional judging contests in Grand Junction as a member of the local team. Jacobs finished among the top five cut of 60 in the competition. He was also a delegate to the state contest held in Fort Collins, but since he was only a freshman, did not compete.
Jacobs has wanted to become a rancher since he was about five or six years old, and he has been spending all the time he can on his grandfather’s fine ranch since then.
Mr. More is a well-known rancher, and the know-how required to operate his 800-acre ranch in Pleasant Valley provides an invaluable background of ranching experience to help young Jacobs on his way.
In addition to hay and grain, More runs around 250 head of grade Hereford stock on his ranch.
Next year, Jacobs plans to continue to build his Hereford herd toward what he hopes will be a sizeable herd by the time he completes his training in school.
As a second project for next year, he plans to re-seed some sagebrush land on his grandfather’s ranch, thus encompassing another important phase of modern-day ranching.
In addition to the two FFA projects next year, Jacobs plans to go out for the football team at the high school, and to continue his work and study in the art of stock judging.
Superintendent George P. Sauer and Ag Instructor Mack Jones have both expressed hearty commendations for the interest Jacobs has shown in realizing his ambition.
A commuting rancher is an oddity these days. It is not an ordinary thing either to see a lad of only 15 so carefully and intently planning his future. Putting his vocational agriculture studies to a practical use each weekend keeps Jacobs’ interest in his chosen vocation ever increasing. This, coupled with the perseverance exhibited by the young man, should surely bring him to the realization of his dream – the hard way.