Matilda "Tillie" Mae (Bock) Sewell

It’s well-known 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 dad Julius “Jule” Bock needed cowboy help, they were the eldest children in the family and were the ones to saddle their horses and go to work.

Tillie was born Nov. 30, 1902, on the Double Spear Ranch in Weston County. This was land her father had homesteaded when he was 21 years old, the minimum age for a man to claim a homestead. He built a cabin and proved up on his land while starting his family with wife Bertha. Julius would eventually buy more homesteads and the YT Ranch, giving him property across a wide territory. Ultimately, he acquired 1,200 head of cattle and had 2,000 head of sheep. Initially Julius, with Tillie and Clara to help, managed the operation. Later, other children assisted, and he also hired help, so he eventually had a crew of 20 men. Tillie started school when she was only 4 years old. At that time, classes were held only during June, July and August, because of the winter weather being so severe. To get to the school, she and her six siblings either rode their horses or walked. Riding was second-nature for Tillie and she spent most of her childhood and adult life in the saddle. She has been inducted into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame, joining her father in the elite group of cowboys in the WCHF.

All seven Bock children were born on the ranch.

Tillie and Clara being the oldest learned at a young age to carry their share of ranch work. They spent long days in the saddle, helping gather cattle and sheep during the roundups, and helping ship them on the railroad. Weston County History reports both became “exceptionally good horsewomen at a fairly young age.” In fact, Tillie and her sister were featured at the Belle Fourche Roundup one year as “The girls from Newcastle who roped and tied steers.” Family friend Joe Fordyce once said that, “If a guy had a horse that could not be broke or if the horse had bad habits, he recommended to anyone to take the horse to the Bock Sisters.”

Cowboy Tough
Tillie married George Sewell in 1925. She continued to be actively engaged in the ranching business for many years in addition to raising her family of seven children. Tillie had a succession of favorite horses and put many miles on each of them.

After her marriage, Tillie lived at the YT Ranch. Later, she and George worked on other ranches. When George died in 1949, she was left to raise their three children that were still at home. Tillie and her children went through trying times, but they were cowboy tough. She recalled “many cold winter mornings, waking up and having to thaw the tea kettle that froze on the stove overnight.”

Tillie had learned cowboy work from her father and she instilled in her children, and grandchildren, the cowboy way. Her three sons also worked in ranching and farming.

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