Tribal member follows dream of owning and operating cattle ranch

Choctaw tribal member Angela Theobald and her family run a working cattle ranch in Peeltown, Texas, outside of Dallas, that Theobald started from scratch.

By day, Theobald works as a nurse and is working toward her nurse practitioner license (AGPCNP) by night.

“A quick shout-out to the Choctaw Nation as the program for Adult Higher Education assisted me several years ago with getting my Bachelor of Science in Nursing and I’ve applied for assistance with my masters,” said Angela. “I went from an EMT-B to RN, BSN working during COVID in ICU/COVID ICU and now a Primary Health Care Clinic treating lower socioeconomic adults in South Dallas. I hope to open a Primary Health Care Clinic here in my rural community when I get my NP.”

With her husband, a fireman and paramedic, and her adult children, Angela started the ranch two years ago and now currently has 19 head of cattle, with over half of them being born on the Theobald’s land.

“We just processed our first beef steer for our extended family,” said Angela.

However, the ranch isn’t just home to cattle. The Theobalds have an assortment of animals – chickens, donkeys, pigs, dogs and cats.

“It’s not much, but it’s not easy in this day and time to build a cattle ranch from the ground up without any assistance,” explained Angela. “We are even doing the entire home renovations ourselves as it was a shell of a house that had to be gutted to the framework, reinsulated, rewired for electricity, plumbing lines reworked. Now that the drywall is up, we are doing the tape, bed, texture and paint ourselves.”

“I can’t help but to think that my ancestors would be proud, as my family and I work to care for the land and animals under our care,” Angela said. “We honor them by naming many of our livestock Choctaw names. We have a baby bull this past year whose name is Chito Homma. And we have some other calves named Ninak and Nushoka. Two of our dogs are named Ahni and Nashoba. And our ranch with associated grass airfield is named Tali Homma, which is also our brand.”

If you are inspired by the Theobald’s ranch, check out the Choctaw Land Management program who provides technical assistance and creates partnerships with USDA programs to develop conservation practices that protect and enhance our natural resources on tribal (trust and fee) and individual restricted lands, as well as provides workshops for landowners that identify financial assistance, cost-share programs and education.