A local cowboy was inducted into the Kansas Cowboy Hall of Fame as the Working Cowboy Inductee during the special induction ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
Orban Leon Stephens, joined by more than 50 friends and family members, traveled to Dodge City for the ceremony.
Stephens was a ranch hand his entire childhood. The son of Paul Leon and Irene Uhls Stephens. He grew up in the saddle. As a family they moved from ranch to ranch. Over the years, Orban attended 10 different schools before the family settled in Rosalia. He graduated with the Rosalia High School class of 1971.
He went on to attend Butler County Community College and Ranch Management School in Coffeyville.
His wild day ranch hand stories come from the Vestring Ranch headquartered in Cassoday, in the heart of the Flint Hills. He worked for several years alongside his father and again after attending college, where the real stories happened with D.J. Matile. On April 23, 1977 he married his wife, Sharon Ann (Roths) Stephens and in January of 1979 began working for the Spring Creek division of the Matador Cattle Company Ranch in Reece. While on the Matador they welcomed daughters Kacy Jo and Kelly Ann to complete their family. In 1989, Orban went to Matador, Texas on a trial to work on the main ranch. While doctoring some cattle in the pasture there, his horse slipped on some loose hay, fell, and consequently broke Orban’s neck. However, in true cowboy form, he gathered his horse and rode back to the ranch, blind without his glasses, trusting his horse to take him there. After he recovered, life led him to the Diamond R Ranch outside of Fall River. He worked at this ranch from 1989-1998. Both the Matador and the Diamond R were cow/calf operations that operated roughly 15,000 acres each.
A complete article can be found in the Nov. 8, 2023 issue of The Eureka Herald, which is available for purchase at The Eureka Herald.
