A Day on Treasure Hammock Ranch

Five-year-old Emmy Tate Sexton can’t get the car door open fast enough. The ponytailed charmer, sporting purple boots, hits the ground running as she, younger brother Mac, and little sister Rymer hurry to check out what’s happening at Treasure Hammock Ranch and “help” their father, Mike, just as he did for his father, Sean, and grandfather Ralph.

As the pioneer family’s fifth generation, the three youngsters are next in line to oversee the historic 600-acre cattle ranch their great-great-grandfather Waldo Sexton established over 80 years ago. It’s a way of life only a few aspire to.

“They have to want to do it, they have to appreciate it. I did, still do,” says Mike, who, after graduating from the University of Florida College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, headed west to work at a ranch in Wyoming. He was in his element, doing what he loved; all was well.

Then came the day his grandfather called with an offer he didn’t see coming, but one he couldn’t refuse. “Ralph said he wanted a Sexton to run the ranch, and that if I’d come back, he’d give me land to build my house on. He also promised I’d get a steady paycheck. It wasn’t as much as I had been making, but it was enough, and it was home,” says Mike.

“I loved my grandfather; he was my best friend and mentor. My father is a real cowman who understands cattle and what they need. He’s been really good about giving me the reins, trusting me. I can’t envision being anywhere else, doing what I’m doing.”

It’s a demanding 24-7 job, as his wife, Chandler MacWilliam-Sexton, well knows. She also knows how much Mike loves what he does, and as someone whose family founded one of the first real estate companies in Vero Beach, she understands the importance of honoring the legacy of those who have gone before.

“We’re very lucky to have what we have: both [sets] of the kids’ grandparents are here, so they know both sides of the family and the history, which will mean a lot more to them as they grow older,” Chandler says.

“Our kids love spending time at the ranch. They feed the three puppies and three dogs, and do other chores—not always willingly, but they’re getting better about it, and they’re learning what ranch life is all about. It’s a very cool lifestyle, but it’s also a very hard one. There’s a lot involved, as Mike will tell you.”

“I’m not only a rancher, I’m a plumber, a carpenter … if something needs to be taken care of, I can’t wait around for someone to come out and fix it,” explains Mike. “Right now I’m dealing with a torn meniscus, and I haven’t had time to do anything about it, so in the morning I put on a brace and head out. You do whatever it takes to get the job done—you don’t have any choice, but I do know my limits.”

Those limits were tested last summer when Chandler, a blogger with social media skills who focused on fashion retailing at the University of Alabama, came up with the idea of having a ranch market day.

For three hours on a Saturday morning last August, the couple had an open-air market where they sold prepackaged cuts of beef as well as T-shirts, caps, and tote bags, all sporting the circular logo Chandler designed featuring the silhouette of a steer and the words “Treasure Hammock Ranch Beef, Est. 1943, Locally Raised by Fifth-Generation Ranchers.”

A coffee vendor kept everyone supplied with cold and hot brews, lattes, and cappuccinos, while homemade cookies and jars of locally sourced honey flew off the shelves. Nearby, Sean displayed his artwork and poetry as sounds of a guitar and violin filled the air. People milled about, stopping to chat and catch up on the latest news.

“It was like a little farmer’s market,” says Chandler. “We figured maybe 50 people would show up, but we counted almost 200. It was huge! We sold out of beef in an hour.”

“The market was really her idea, her baby. She pushed me to do it, so we ran with it,” says Mike, grinning at his wife, who adds, “We’d like to have another one in a few months. Our future goal is to have our beef more accessible on a regional basis, and maybe having a small shop here on-site where people can come one or two days a week and purchase meat and ‘ranch-type things.’”

The Sextons believe in sharing their heritage with the community, opening the ranch to school-age children and others eager to learn about a way of life they only read about in books or see in movies. Members of the Pelican Island Audubon Society, Indian River Land Trust, and Native Plant Society visit often, as do plein air artists who delight in capturing scenes of cows grazing peacefully in sunlit pastures.

There’s more to see and explore at the ranch, where a number of historic structures tell of how things were done back in the day. There’s a barn, swivel swinging gates introduced by Waldo, a wooden bridge still in use today, a dipping vat, certified mechanical cattle scales in use for over 70 years, a butchering pen, and a wooden squeeze chute used to restrain cattle during branding and veterinary procedures.

“A big accomplishment for me was saving up enough to get a hydraulic chute. It makes such a difference,” says Mike, who, while modernizing certain ways of doing things, prefers to use dogs when it’s time to move cattle. “It takes more time, but it’s better. It’s traditional.”

And that’s one of the things Emmy Tate, Mac, and Rymer are learning as they feed and care for the puppies that will soon be big enough to join the older dogs as their father herds cattle from one pasture to another.

While Mike’s days may be long, he is quick to give his wife credit for all she does. “As a full-time mama, Chandler’s job is very demanding. She’s up at 5 a.m., making coffee before getting the kids up. Besides taking care of them and their busy schedules, she brings us lunch; whatever we need, she’s there.

“I love my children and my wife. I love the lifestyle; I adore every minute of it. When Chandler gets mad at me, she’ll say, ‘You’re just out running around cowboying all day,’” Mike laughs as Chandler smiles and leans into him.

“Sometimes it’s hard to believe we have three children 5 and under—we’re outnumbered, and it’s just us,” she says. “We’re on the go from early morning to late at night. We don’t stop. And the next day we get up and do it all over again.”

They wouldn’t have it any other way.