July 27, 1934 – September 27, 2024
On a sunny and breezy Saturday in October of 2024, more than 150 family and friends gathered to say good-bye to Alice Cotton. A celebration of her life was held at her home on the Cotton Ranch north of Rackett, NE. The service was in the hay meadow near the old arena looking up at the hills and blue sky, with saddled horses nearby. This was her home, her life, her beloved Sandhills.
Alice was a longtime cowgirl and ranch wife for over 70 years. As a ranch wife she would cook breakfast for a hay crew, pack dinner to the hayfield, then in the afternoon raking or sweeping hay till quitting time, fix supper for all and then head to the arena to rope steers. Just a typical summer day. She always had a big branding dinner for the crew and always had dinner for anyone working or visiting any day of the year. Living 30 miles from town she tended a big yard and garden, canning for the long winter months. She was well known for her dill pickles and biscuits and jelly. With a freezer full and a well-stocked cellar she didn’t need to go to town, she said “I can make do with about anything but…if you are coming, could you bring a can of chew?” In her early years she sewed many western snap button shirts for the rodeo cowboys. Seemed if she sewed one then someone else would sure enough want one. Remember her saying if she had to sew another striped shirt, it would drive her crazy. Later she worked in her basement leather shop that served a big Sandhills area. Here she could make a pair of chinks, repair a broken headstall or cut a pair of reins. If your leather tack needed repairing, everyone knew to take it to Alice, she would get it fixed up. She also tooled a lot of belts and billfolds. Alice always enjoyed a good card game with neighbors, friends and family. As a ranch wife and cowgirl she made her own fashion statement wearing her high topped boots and her black hat. Accessories would include her gun, pocket knife, gloves, and her dog.
As a cowgirl she loved horses, from the time she grew up riding her white phone, Beauty, to some of her favorite last horses like Bally the stud horse and Handy her big, dark buckskin. With these two horses she could rope in the arena, drag calves to the branding fire and doctor cattle out in the pasture. Sid was a roper and he taught her to rope and she even ran a few barrels over time. They roped at the Carver for many years and she won a buckle in Wray, CO. Many times she would partner with Denny at ropings and she always said it was bad when he had to rope with his mother-in-law! She helped trail cattle to and from summer pastures every spring and fall so got a lot of horseback miles. Alice would admit she had been kicked and bucked off, but always cussed a bit and got back up. One story was about the “Red” horse she rode. On the way back home after a hard day, coming through the pass he bucked her off hard and she lost her hearing aids and false teeth. Red bucked her off many times but she always got back on him. She even rode a few racehorses in her younger years, once ran over by seven horses. Not only could she ride horses but she could feed with a team of horses on a cold winter morning. She taught her kids how to harness and drive horses. Alice liked to drive her little single horse gray wagon or go to Penny’s for a sleigh ride at Christmas time. In early years she would ride a few steers, even got on a bull or two. Even in her later years she would check the cows up north putting out salt and mineral and continued dragging calves to the branding fire at 80 plus years.
Alice I. Cotton was born on July 27, 1934 to Fred and Eva (Simpson) Wills of rural Alliance, NE. One of five children, she grew up being a tomboy and riding horses, always wanting to best her older brother Bud. She attended rural District #22 school and later graduated from Alliance High School. Her first home in the Sandhills was on the Sibbitt Ranch. In 1967, she married Sid Cotton. Alice was Mom to three children Penny Mekelburg, Fritz Miller and Tuff Cotton. Alice was Grandma Cotton to seven and a great-grandma to thirteen. After Sid’s passing in 2007 she stayed on the Cotton Ranch that was homesteaded in 1928 by Sid’s parents. She loved the ranch life and the Sandhills and lived there until she was over 90 years old. Alice fought a tough battle with cancer and on September 19, 2024 she walked out of her home for the last time. On September 27, 2024 after just a week in the hospital she passed away. She is back now in her beloved Sandhills, upon the hill with Sid. She was a real cowgirl, many called her their hero, to others she was “Just Alice” but most will agree she was “one of a kind”.
“I will lift mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2
Alice Cotton was ‘one of a kind’. She was strong, tough and a little hard headed, but she had a soft heart for all God’s creatures. Alice loved the hills and lived there until she was over 90 years old, independently for the last 20 years or more. Her leatherwork and roping skills were used till she was in her late 80’s. Alice had all the makings of a true Nebraska Sandhills cowgirl and rancher.
A legend in her time, but her name is not found in the bright lights, headlines or history books. As one friend put it “I doubt she ever set out in life to become the legend that she became.” She lived the life she was given and lived it well. Alice was the cowgirl and rancher she wanted to be, and highly respected for what she did. Proof she was a legend is the fact that over 150 family, friends and neighbors, young and old, attended a service for a 90 year old cowgirl, on the ranch in the middle of the Sandhills, 30 miles from the nearest town.