CROSS PLAINS, Texas—Sheila Payne Blackburn always believed that cowgirls were a special breed that never quit when things got tough.
Now she knows even the sturdiest of them have their limits.
When her father died of COVID-19 in early 2021, Blackburn found herself alone to continue the farm and ranch that had been in her family for 150 years.
The business she inherited was $250,000 in debt with aging machinery needing costly repairs.
Sheila Payne Blackburn sits on her front porch overlooking her 2,000-acre ranch in Cross Plains, Texas, on Aug. 9, 2022. After losing her father to COVID-19, Blackburn is now facing financial hardship due to extreme drought gripping much of the state. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)
The cowgirl in her told her to press on for her family’s sake….