Changes

==Background==

==Background==

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Bradley was born in Hinton in Caddo County in western [[Oklahoma]], to Ralph Thomas Ottinger (1904–1970), who was employed in road construction, and the former Zulema Young (1903–1987), a teacher.  Bradley had three siblings: Helen, born March 20, 1930, Ted Calvin, born August 27, 1938, and Linda Sue born November 24, 1943.  Bradley later lived on a [[wheat]] farm near Hydro on the line between Caddo and Blaine counties. Even as a nine-year-old, Bradley participated in the [[4-H]] Club, having shown lambs and pigs. At the time, girls were not permitted in the Future Farmers of America, but, spurred by her uncle, Ted Ottinger, she became focused with a career in livestock and ranching,  She graduated with honors from Hydro High School, where she was a member of the state championship girls’ [[basketball]] team in 1948.<ref name=cowboy>[http://cowboyjournal.okstate.edu/cjfall04/firsts.htm]; no longer on-line.</ref>

Bradley was born in Hinton in Caddo County in western [[Oklahoma]], to Ralph Thomas Ottinger (1904–1970), who was employed in road construction, and the former Zulema Young (1903–1987), a teacher.  Bradley had three siblings: Helen, born March 20, 1930, Ted Calvin, born August 27, 1938, and Linda Sue born November 24, 1943.  Bradley later lived on a [[wheat]] farm near Hydro on the line between Caddo and Blaine counties. Even as a nine-year-old, Bradley participated in the [[4-H]] Club, having shown lambs and pigs. At the time, girls were not permitted in the Future Farmers of America, but, spurred by her uncle, Ted Ottinger, she became focused with a career in livestock and ranching,  She graduated with honors from Hydro High School, where she was a member of the state championship girls’ [[basketball]] team in 1948.<ref name=cowboy>{{cite web|url=[http://cowboyjournal.okstate.edu/cjfall04/firsts.htm]; no longer on-line.</ref>

From 1949 to 1953, Bradley attended [[Oklahoma State University]] in Stillwater, where she was the first female student to major in [[animal husbandry]] and where she met her future husband, Billy Jack Bradley (also born 1931). The couple married in 1955 and had two children, Monte Jack Bradley (1958–1984), who died in an [[automobile]] accident, and Mary Lou Bradley-Henderson, an accountant] who came to work with her mother at the ranch on her brother’s death. Billy Jack Bradley left the ranch in the middle 1990s for personal reasons and resides in Vernon in Wilbarger County,  northwest of Fort Worth.<ref name=cowboy/>

From 1949 to 1953, Bradley attended [[Oklahoma State University]] in Stillwater, where she was the first female student to major in [[animal husbandry]] and where she met her future husband, Billy Jack Bradley (also born 1931). The couple married in 1955 and had two children, Monte Jack Bradley (1958–1984), who died in an [[automobile]] accident, and Mary Lou Bradley-Henderson, an accountant] who came to work with her mother at the ranch on her brother’s death. Billy Jack Bradley left the ranch in the middle 1990s for personal reasons and resides in Vernon in Wilbarger County,  northwest of Fort Worth.<ref name=cowboy/>

The Bradley 3 Ranch began in 1955 during a time of [[drought]] with three thousand acres purchased by Minnie and Billy Bradley, and his parents, Raymond Jack “Rusty” Bradley and the former Lois Chaney, originally from Electra in Wichita County. The family maintains that Rusty Bradley’s father, Rufus Jack Bradley, had in the 1870s been a wagon boss on the famed XIT Ranch west of [[Amarillo]]. although that ranch did not actually exist until 1885. The Bradley 3 (originally three ranches) began raising Angus cattle some two years after its founding.  The ranch uses Angus bulls to increase the production of Hereford cattle.<ref name=bradley3>[http://www.bradley3ranch.com/history.html|title=Bradley 3 Ranch, Ltd.], no longer on-line.</ref>

The Bradley 3 Ranch began in 1955 during a time of [[drought]] with three thousand acres purchased by Minnie and Billy Bradley, and his parents, Raymond Jack “Rusty” Bradley and the former Lois Chaney, originally from Electra in Wichita County. The family maintains that Rusty Bradley’s father, Rufus Jack Bradley, had in the 1870s been a wagon boss on the famed XIT Ranch west of [[Amarillo]] although that ranch did not actually exist until 1885. The Bradley 3 (originally three ranches) began raising Angus cattle some two years after its founding.  The ranch uses Angus bulls to increase the production of Hereford cattle.<ref name=bradley3>[http://www.bradley3ranch.com/history.html|title=Bradley 3 Ranch, Ltd.], no longer on-line.</ref>

In the center of the ranch is a slightly elevated area on which one can see the lights of Childress, eleven miles to the south and Memphis,  some nineteen miles  to the west. On that same spot during the day, one sees only endless ranchland covered in short grass, mesquite, juniper, and black Angus. Not even a water tower dots the horizon from the Bradley 3. The Panhandle has been described as one place on earth where one can see the fartherest and still see the least.<ref name=texas>[http://www.texas-ec.org/texascooppower/issues_archive/2007/May/tcp0507.pdf]; no longer on-line}}</ref>​

In the center of the ranch is a slightly elevated area on which one can see the lights of Childress, eleven miles to the south and Memphis,  some nineteen miles  to the west. On that same spot during the day, one sees only endless ranchland covered in short grass, mesquite, juniper, and black Angus. Not even a water tower dots the horizon from the Bradley 3. The Panhandle has been described as one place on earth where one can see the fartherest and still see the least.<ref name=texas>[http://www.texas-ec.org/texascooppower/issues_archive/2007/May/tcp0507.pdf]; no longer on-line}}</ref>​