Sharon Salisbury O'Toole

Sharon Salisbury O’Toole is a rancher, writer and poet. Her family has stewarded the same landscape in the Little Snake River Valley, along the Wyoming-Colorado border since 1881. She and her husband, Patrick; daughter, Meghan; and son, Eamon operate the Ladder Ranch. They raise cattle, sheep, horses, dogs and children. Their urban daughter, Bridget, is also a writer.

Sharon is an award-winning poet. She has performed at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, the Trailing of the Sheep Festival in Ketchum, Idaho, and other events, especially those at the Little Snake River Museum in Savery, Wyoming. She writes a blog about life on their ranch at www.ladderranch.com “Ranch News.” Sharon’s poetry collection, Earthbound, was published in 2019 by Red Dashboard Press.

Sharon has a degree in Technical Journalism from Colorado State University. She is a journalist who writes mainly about the West, natural resources, and the issues which affect agriculture and food production. She writes a monthly column for The Shepherd magazine, and has had essays and editorials published in newspapers and magazines nationwide. Two children’s books about ranch life were published by Scholastic.