Hello!  Thanks for stoppin' by to visit our website.  We're Jack and Katherine Dawson but we'd be happy for you to call us Gus and Sarge like our good friends do.

Our ranch is located in the "heart of the Heartland", five miles west and five miles south of Hwy 81 and Hwy 152 in Minco, Oklahoma.   To see us at the Rockin' D Ranch you'd think we'd grown up riding the range, but the truth is we didn't.  Even though we didn't have rural addresses we were both "country kids" at heart. We were involved with horses, and spent after school hours and weekends in the country. We dreamed of living out in the country where we could see for miles across our beloved Oklahoma.  We dreamed of having lots of dogs and cats to love, horses to ride, cattle to raise, and clear, blue ponds for fishin'…  Gus, more so on the cattle raisin', Sarge, more on the fishin'!    Those dreams stayed with us into adulthood but it wasn't until we were deep into our careers and the youngest of five sons was finishing high school that we finally decided we were ready to follow our hearts to the country.  

In 1996 we left the city life and moved to a small acreage southwest of Yukon, Okla.    In no time at all we had LOTS of dogs and cats (and other four legged critters!) to love and several quarter horses to ride and spoil.   We even purchased a registered Doc O'Lena bred quarter horse stallion and a half-dozen well bred AQHA mares and started raising colts.  We were very "happy campers!"   But, there was still that longing in our hearts for cattle…and fishin'!  We'd come this far and now there was no stopping our dreams of living in the country from taking full flight.  

In 1998 we purchased the Minco property we affectionately call, "THE VALLEY".   Hundreds of acres of rolling hills covered with beautiful, green grass and spring-fed ponds full of fish.   All we needed after that was the cattle! As we began to research cattle breeds, we thought more and more about the cattle used in a new rodeo event we'd participated in, called "team penning."   Team penning was rapidly gaining popularity but there weren't many places for families and novice riders to participate in this fun sport.  That gave us an idea!  Why not start a herd of cattle and host these events ourselves?  

When we looked at cattle options for team penning and other rodeo events, one breed of cattle stood heads above all others .  It was the scrappy CORRIENTE.   Corriente cows are respected by cowboys and cowgirls for their speed, athleticism, and stamina.   They're known among cattle producers as "easy keepers" because they're very lean and they thrive in climates where traditional English-bred cattle can't even survive.    As start-up cattle ranchers, we found the surprisingly low birth weights of Corriente calves to be an especially attractive attribute of the breed.   Unlike most English bred cows, Corriente mamas rarely need human assistance in birthing.   After considerable due diligence and extensive breed research, we decided Corriente cattle was the right choice to compliment the working cow horse breeding program we'd started at the Rockin' D Ranch. 

In 1999 we purchased a herd of Oklahoma raised Corrientes and began hosting team penning events catering to family entertainment.   We gave our young steers and heifers special care and attention to be sure they were never over worked or overly stressed at our pennings.   We rotated them often and gave them plenty of fresh water and lots of time to rest between sets.   All of our Corrientes were grass fed and never loaded up with corn or other grains that God hadn't designed them to eat which contributed to their good health.  

After a few years of wandering the countryside and eating grass to their heart's content, the Rockin' D Corrientes were still going strong and enjoying the weekend fun, but the Rockin' D humans  were getting tired.  Wandering the countryside on horseback, fishing the ponds, and relaxing with family and friends at the cabin was starting to seem like a dream again.   At the same time, significant numbers of articles were starting to surface exposing health hazards associated with the American diet.  A startling amount of research was exposing grain fed beef as a chief contributor to America's alarming rise in cancers, heart disease, obesity rates, and other serious health issues.   

After reading well researched articles like the one on our "Grass fed is best!" page we began to see a new family oriented direction for the lean, grass fed Corriente cattle raised at the Rockin' D Ranch. We found several resources on the internet that showed Corriente beef produced a highly flavorful, yet very lean, low calorie, low cholesterol meat. The combination of naturally lean cattle raised on an all-natural grass fed diet was a double win! 

We had never used antibiotics, steroids, or growth hormones of any kind with our grassfed cattle, so we took two of our two-year-olds to the processor as a test.  The finished product was stunning, extremely lean, deep red meat.  The minimal fat was a pale yellow, the natural color of beef fat that hasn't been treated with chemicals to make the fat white.  The flavor was an earthy, meaty taste; much more flavorful than grocery store beef but not gamey tasting like deer meat.  The texture was chewy, but fork tender.

The decision was made.  We discontinued our team penning events, and began focusing our full attention to the task of raising all-natural, grass fed, low stress beef to sell to Oklahoma families concerned about their health and the health of their children.  It is still a lot of work but it is a labor of love! We believe all Oklahomans deserve top quality meat for their families. High grade, all-natural beef shouldn't mean high price.  By doing all the work ourselves we keep our overhead down.  We proudly deliver "high grade beef at a surprisingly low price".  Please see our "Tell me more…" page for pricing and other information.   Oh, and while you're here, take a look at some photos of our little slice of heaven on earth and some shots of us living our dreams. Thanks for visiting.  Please come back soon and send your friends by, too!