P a g e 6 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r them to the freight cars. They picked apples in Washington and cooked for ranches. Work was available and work they did. Shortly after their high school graduations, the Brander Sisters were bit by the “rodeo bug” when performing bronc rides at the Deer Lodge Rodeo. At a rodeo in Polson they met Paddy Ryan who asked Vi to ride double on a steer with him. Vi agreed and reported, “It was easy!” Afterward, the girls began riding Brahmas double. Their motto was “Anything a cowboy can do we can do better.” Vi began roping and trick roping; Marg began bulldogging. They won the Wild Cow Milking over a field of male entries. The Brander sisters competed in rodeos all over Montana as well as Lethbridge and Yorktown, Canada; at Fruita and Grand Junction, Colorado; Price, Utah and finally at the Second Annual World’s Rodeo in Chicago. While pursuing their colorful careers, Vi wrote several articles for Western magazines. Her stories described the reality of rodeo as one of the most dangerous, nerve wracking games there is, though those bit by the “rodeo bug” wouldn’t trade a second of their arena life for anything. During the Depression, Vi and Marg began plans for their dream ranch by leasing 640 acres four miles east of Avon. They called their spread the Circle Star, the same name as their registered brand. In 1931, they hosted their first Circle Star rodeo. An article in the Silver State Post, in Deer Lodge, published in 1935 stated, “Attendance at the Brander Girls' Annual Circle Star Ranch Rodeo on July 4 was greater than anticipated.” During the era of the Circle Star Rodeos, the younger Brander sisters Alice, Kay, June, and Florence were an active part of the ranch. In 1933, Vi married cowboy Oscar “Pal” Beebe, and in September 1937, she gave birth to Marlin Dale. Her second son, Leland Wayne, was born in November 1938. When the lease expired in 1938, the Brander Sisters were outbid for renewal of the lease. They lost everything they had put into the buildings and arena. Bitter and discouraged over the loss of the ranch, the Brander Sisters went their separate ways. Marg went to work at the General Store in Avon, keeping records. In 1940, Vi and Pal divorced. For a time, Vi and Marg reunited and lived in two old railroad section houses. Marg drove school bus and Vi worked at various jobs until she packed her belongings and took her boys to Hanford, Washington, where she ran a riding academy. When the academy folded, she returned to Montana and worked at any odd job available, as Marg continued to do as well. They cooked at mines, in cafés, and worked on ranches. In 1946, Vi married Vernon “Red” Gilman, a miner at Garrison, who adopted her two sons and became the father they had never known. Vi brought to the marriage a small herd of cattle and horses and the couple soon went to work on a ranch at Georgetown Lake. In that same year, Marg met and married Steve Dorn. For a short time, they lived at the mine where he worked, then always restless and both lovers of travel, the Dorn’s moved from place to place enjoying a variety of jobs and life with each other. Marg retired in 1968 and Steve died in 1969. Marg continued to travel for the remainder of her life. Vi and Red bought two ranches near Garrison and settled down to raising horses, cattle and their sons. In 1973 they retired from ranching. Vi was crippled by arthritis and underwent surgery for a disintegrated disk, possibly the result of her rodeo days. Her active life became a small circle including her sons, now six grandchildren,
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