CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Anna Mayberry may be a Missourian, but Cheyenne will always feel like home to her.
Since 2004, the owner of the Willow Springs–based H&M Ranch Store has been setting up a booth bearing her handmade hair-on-hide products at Old Frontier Town Building #4. The makeshift town is known by Cheyenne Frontier Days attendees to be a “blast from the past,” where people can meet merchants, craftspeople and artisans who specialize in making Western-style products.
“It’s like family, seriously,” Mayberry said, standing in her homey blue-colored booth with a metal sign that reads “Welcome to the Ranch.” “We have so many repeat customers; they come back to our booth every year and they’ve just become friends. They shop with us online throughout the year, they call us and say, ‘Hey, we saw this at Frontier Days, can you ship it?'”
Inside the booth, people can purchase homemade handbags, pillows and accessories made from a combination of leather and various hides, including buffalo, cow, axel deer hair and Tibetan lamb. Mayberry’s favorite product is a small brown cowhide sling bag decorated with the iconic Wyoming bronco, a testament to the Cowboy state.
“No bag is going to be identical,” she said. “Even though it may use the same leather, each bag is unique.”
Jennifer Casebeer, Mayberry’s friend and a Texas-based artist who sells her work inside the H&M booth, said she can vouch for the bag’s durability.
“I’ve had mine since 2011 now,” Casebeer said, standing next to rows of homemade bags. “[Mayberry’s] mad at me because it’s sad.”
“She’s ready for a new one,” Mayberry said, laughing.
Out of all the places Mayberry travels to to sell her products, the capital city holds a special place in her heart. Her adult children spent their childhood summers at CFD, and now her grandchildren are doing the same. The Mayberry clan loves the event so much, they cried when the COVID-19 pandemic canceled it in 2020, the first time in its 125-year history. Mayberry and her husband have even thought about moving to Wyoming, she said, but they just can’t handle the cold winters. For now, they’ll settle for the annual road trip.
“Driving down Dell Range the first time when we got in, it’s like we never left,” she said. “Cheyenne’s our favorite place to be.”
