One of the dividends of producing a program like “Beef State” is amassing an archive of oral history that both complements the main story and represents a moment in time. Program producer Olive Bucklin and editor Brian Seifferlein selected 11 "short stories" that offer unique and surprising perspectives on raising cattle and working in the beef industry. "Voices of the West" portray this personal point of view.

Voices of the West:

• Basil's Last Stand -- Jack and John Maddux, a father-and-son team who own the Maddux Cattle Company, tell the story of their failed initial attempt to buy land from an 87-year-old neighbor who was not quite ready to sell when the Madduxes were ready to buy.
  
  
• Feeding Steers -- John Maddux tells the story of his grandfather's deathbed admonitions to his dad .
  
  
• Blackhearted -- John Maddux says he's from a "mixed" family: his grandmother was an FDR Democratic and his grandfather was a hardcore Republican. One day his grandmother was driving when ...
  
  
• The Day JFK was Killed -- John Sibbitt had more than 3,500 cattle for sale the day President Kennedy was killed. The sale went on, but when it came time to bid, nobody moved a muscle .
  
  
• The Wet Neckerchief -- Melvin Nation and his daughters drove a lot of cattle in good weather and bad. But one day they set off in a cold drizzle that they’ll never forget …
  
  
• We Became Friends -- Melvin Nation was 21 when he went to work for Bill Coffee at the Coffee Ranch. Both men had their ups and downs with one another. Sometimes more downs than ups. After a few prickly years working for Coffee, Nation quit and went off on his own. But a chance meeting with his former boss led him back to the Coffee Ranch as the foreman, where he stayed for 50 years.
  
  
• Hold on Buddy -- Melvin Nation remembers riding a runaway horse bareback at the age of four .
  
  
• I Needed Space -- Melvin Nation describes what horses represent for him: Therapy. Says Nation, "The greatest feeling on earth to me, even yet, is ride out on top of that high hill when the sun is just coming up over the horizon -- that's one of the greatest sights I've ever seen."
  
  
• Your Word is Your Bond -- John Sibbitt says he's always done business with a handshake. Melvin Nation and Jack Maddux agree that your word is your bond.
  
  
• Summer Haying -- Keith County, the Haythorn Ranch ...
  
  
• Branding -- Scenes from the Sibbitt, Monahan and Haythorn Ranches as they go about the annual branding ritual.
  
  
• Watch Show -- The entire Beef State documentary directly via a web stream.