A lifetime rancher in the Jensen area, Floyd still runs the family ranch with his wife of 61 years, Geneva. Floyd started out working and ranching. It's what he's done all his life and it's what he loves. Born in 1923 in Dry Fork (then called Mountain Dell) as the eighth of eleven kids, Floyd was thrown up on a horse when he was just a baby and began doing chores not long after. His father was a government trapper and was often gone in the mountains on trapping jags. The Massey kids were left with the farm and ranch work, and each kid learned the value of good, hard work, and gained a strong work ethic. During The Great Depression the Massey family ran a dairy. There were no electric milkers back then, so the milking duties fell to the Massey kids and they worked hard all day long.
When he was 16 years old, Floyd ventured to Steamboat, Colorado to work on a ranch, putting up hay for the summer. He returned and headed towards Ogden, working in the Hill Air Force Base area until he was old enough to enlist. He served in the US Coast Guard during WWII for four years, then came back home to the Basin and began working, farming and ranching.
Floyd wasn't in town long before a pretty girl caught his eye. It was at a basketball game, "Probably Uintah vs. Union." says Geneva, when Floyd saw the girl he instantly knew he was going to marry. It was the girl in the red dress with great hair who tickled his fancy, and that night, after Floyd was introduced to Geneva by mutual friends, he said to himself "I'm gonna marry that gal.". "He says he just liked the way my hair looked." Geneva teases, but it didn't take her long to fall for the cowboy who was also a good dancer. She nearly missed the bus home that night, but it wasn't long before they were an item and were married a year later. Floyd and Geneva raised one cowboy, Hal, and one little cowboy-girl, Linda. They've ranched and farmed with their children by their side ever since.
Floyd had always dreamed of having a cow ranch of his own, so soon after they were married, Floyd and Geneva started their herd with 15 Hereford cows. After a few years they went into the business of raising registered Herefords and sold bulls. When the market changed, so did the Massey herd, Floyd began cross-breeding Salers, French cattle, with their Herefords and kept selling bulls. When red was out and black was in, the Massey herd mixed in black Salers and bred on into Angus, the popular breed in the cattle market today. In addition to acreage in Jensen, the Masseys have a ranch up on Diamond Mountain, a little slice of heaven measuring 1540 acres on Pot Creek.
Through the years Floyd has done all manner of farm and ranch work and sometimes side jobs as well. In the 1950's he was one of the first to own a hay baler so he began doing custom hay work. Floyd took a job in the oilfield a time or two, but Geneva ultimately decided it would be easier for her to work while he ranched, so she took a job with the Park Service and even worked at a saddle shop before settling in with the Uintah School District as a Special Ed assistant for 20 years.
A true cowboy in every sense of the word, Floyd even broke his own horses. He's stayed in the saddle ever since, but in the last year has decided it might be time to let his horse have a break while he rides something with four wheels instead of legs. It's not slowing him down a bit; it's just different, and a little fun. Massey is honored to be the Legendary Cowboy for the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo this year, especially because in all the 61 years they've been married, Floyd and Geneva have never missed a single Dinosaur Roundup. Hal used to say that going to the rodeo was the Massey family vacation. When the time came, they'd just shut everything down and go roedoing. They'd go to all the little local rodeos as well. Floyd and Geneva have also delighted in watching their grandchildren, Brett, Corey and Lance Stubbs, rodeo and wrestle for Uintah High. Geneva said when Corey graduated in 1992 she was a little sad and kinda missed going to all those rodeos. But, not one to sit idle, Floyd soon found some fun action in team penning. Floyd, Linda, Brett and Corey were some of the first team penners to get involved when Vernal started up a club. "Rodeo is a way of life for us around here." Geneva says. "Riding horses and working with the cattle have just always been Floyd's life. It's what he's always done, and I can't imagine him doing anything else."
The Edge Magazine salutes Floyd Massey- 2010 Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo Legendary Cowboy.
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