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Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame: Matilda ‘Tillie’…

Vaseline July 20, 2024

It is common knowledge in Wyoming ranch country that gender is irrelevant. Anyone who can do the job is a cowboy.

In the case of Matilda “Tillie” Mae Bock and her sister Clara, when their father Julius “Jule” Bock needed help from a cowboy, they were the oldest children in the family and were the ones who saddled their horses and went to work.

Tillie was born on November 30, 1902, on the Double Spear Ranch in Weston County, land her father had settled when he was 21, the minimum age for a man to claim a homestead.

He built a hut and proved his skills in the fields while raising a family with his wife Bertha.

Julius would eventually purchase more ranches and the YT Ranch, giving him ownership over a large area. He eventually acquired 1,200 head of cattle and had 2,000 head of sheep.

At first Julius, with Tillie and Clara as help, ran the operation. Later other children helped and he hired help, so that he eventually had a crew of 20 men.

Tillie went to school when she was only 4 years old. At that time, classes were only held in June, July and August because the winter weather was so harsh. To get to school, she and her six siblings rode horses or walked.

She grew up in the saddle

For Tillie, riding was second nature and she spent most of her childhood and adult life in the saddle.

This October, she will be inducted into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame, joining her father in the WCHF’s elite group of cowboys, who was inducted last year.

All seven Bock children were born on the ranch.

Tillie and Clara, the oldest, learned to do their share of ranch work at an early age, spending long days in the saddle, helping to gather cattle and sheep at roundups, and helping to transport them on the railroad.

According to the Weston County history, both “became exceptionally good horsewomen at a fairly young age.” Tillie and her sister were even once mentioned in the Belle Fourche Roundup as “The Newcastle girls who tied and roped bulls.”

Family friend Joe Fordyce once said, “If anyone had a horse that couldn’t be trained or had bad habits, he would advise everyone to take the horse to the Bock Sisters.”

Matilda “Tillie” Bock Sewell built a reputation as a tough cowboy and a true Wyoming cowboy in Weston County. (Courtesy of Candy Moulton)
Matilda “Tillie” Bock Sewell gained a reputation as a tough cowboy and a true Wyoming cowboy in Weston County. She was often with her sister Clara. (Courtesy of Candy Moulton)

Cowboy Tough

Tillie married George Sewell in 1925. She continued to work in the cattle business for many years, while also raising her family of seven children.

Tillie had a number of favorite horses and rode many miles with each of them.

After her marriage, Tillie lived on the YT Ranch. Later, she and George worked on other ranches. When George died in 1949, she had to care for their three children who still lived at home.

Tillie and her children had lived through hard times, but they were tough cowboys. She remembers “many cold winter mornings, waking up and having to thaw the teapot that had been frozen on the stove all night.”

Tillie learned cowboying from her father and she passed cowboying on to her children and grandchildren. Her three sons also worked in ranching and farming.