WLM | people
WE AIN’T
By June Johnston
Images provided by TKO Artist Management
Got It All
“Well we ain’t got much of nothin’, and some folks might call
us poor. But we’ve got meat in the freezer, and credit at the store.
And there’s cows out on the prairie, wife and children down
the hall. Now you can’t tell me we ain’t got it all.”
P
ull a log up by the campfire, grab your guitar
and sing along with Ned LeDoux, son of the late
Chris LeDoux.
It takes courageous parents to gift a five year old with a
drum set. These parents, however, were Chris and Peggy
LeDoux, and they felt sure their son had talent and
would learn the drums quickly. They were right. Ned
loved them, took drum lessons and had his first band by
the time he was 14 or 15, called Cowtown Band.
I asked Ned what some of his favorite memories were
of growing up in Kaycee, Wyoming with a famous
father. He said he loved the tight-knit, small town
atmosphere. He graduated with eleven kids but,
chuckling, he added, “I was third in my class!” He
loved waking up each morning in the shadow of the Big
Horn Mountains. “Being a kid you don’t always realize
how precious that is.”
Even though they grew up on a ranch and didn’t have
much need to ‘go camping,’ he said they often would
winter camp – throw up a tent, build a campfire and
just have fun. Ned and his three siblings frequently
went fishing up in the Big Horns with their dad.
On one of these outings, he and his siblings were
discussing what they would like to be if they could
6
Wyoming Lifestyle Magazine | Spring & Early Summer 2017