Jeff and Cindy Siddoway are part of a multi-generation Idaho sheep ranch. Their children — Billie, Jodie and J.C. — are the fifth generation, and their grandchildren are the sixth generation.

Jeff’s great grandfather, James William Siddoway, and his brother came to the upper Snake River valley in 1886 and began a lumber mill east of Teton City. After 2 years of living in a tent, they moved to Teton City, built log homes, brought their wives, and began to farm and ranch. They started a small flock of sheep and registered their sheep brand in 1898. As Jeff tells it, “As their family grew, my grandfather increased the sheep numbers to about 4,000 head. That was about the same time the USFS was established. The Siddoways had already been taking sheep into the mountain ranges over along the Idaho/Wyoming border before the USFS was formed.”

James and Ruth’s oldest son, James Clarence — known as J.C. — established a crop rotation system and built heated lambing sheds. One of his sons, Bill, had an early interest in sheep and horses. When he was 10, his parents let him go with one of the herders to take sheep across the summer range, and it began his lifelong relationship with the culture of sheep raising and tending the land. Bill and his brothers bought into the family sheep business and continued to expand.

Bill and his wife, Jeanne, had several children — Jeff being their oldest son. He and his wife, Cindy, met in high school in Saint Anthony and attended the University of Idaho. Jeff and his two brothers were eventually able to buy out their uncles to keep the business in one family. It had grown into a large sheep and farming operation. Eventually, they too split the business, with Jeff and Cindy keeping the sheep. By 1998, they had more than 11,000 head of sheep.

Over the years, they’ve carefully acquired private lands and combined USFS and BLM allotments, which has allowed them to reduce impacts on all their lands. They like what they see in that it is beneficial not just to the sheep with higher lamb weaning weights, but in wildlife populations on their allotments. They see a more diverse use on the land today, with an increase in tourist and hunting activities.

Jeff and Cindy’s son, J.C., is currently managing the Siddoway Sheep Company. He has developed value-added markets, selling meat raised on the ranch as Grand Teton Lamb. Additionally, he is developing dog treats, hand creams, and lamb hides for wholesale and retail markets.

Theirs is a rich heritage, and they are extremely proud of both the opportunities and the struggles of working the land. They currently operate the ranch much the same as their forefathers. The sheep continue to winter on the big desert and migrate to high summer pastures from near Jackson, Wyoming south to Swan Valley, Idaho. The horses still pasture north of the Saint Anthony sand dunes. They use the same or similar equipment: sheep camps, lambing sheds, and even the old granny wagon. They ship lambs right out of the mountains, and the ewes trail home as they have done for over 100 years. They graze them on the hayfields, put the bucks in again, and start the cycle all over again.

Their experience on the land has led to some changes in management style, as they have learned valuable lessons about managing to survive what nature brings, sometimes drought and sometimes severe winters, in ways that benefit rangeland health, water and wildlife. Jeff, Cindy and all three children are involved in their sheep business today.