An attorney, cattle runner,
and former state senator from Ruston, Louisiana, Bill Jones comes from a long
line of Louisiana cowboys. He learned to “cowboy” at an early age by catching
wild cows from the woods of Bienville Parish. He spent his college summers in
Ohio and Montana raising yearlings, branding cattle, and breaking colts. A love
of these experiences led Jones to work cattle in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, New
Mexico, Texas, and back home in Louisiana. “Where most folks take up golf,
tennis, or skiing,” he explains, “I just kept riding after cows.” Jones has
always had a passion for writing and a fascination with the history and personal
accounts of “cowboying” in Louisiana.
William Jones, Jr. was born
in Ruston in 1947 and attended Louisiana Tech University on a football
scholarship, graduating with a bachelor's degree in animal science. He worked in
the cattle industry for two years and then attended law school at Louisiana
State University. After practicing law in Houston for five years, he returned
home to start a lumber business with his brother. Jones spent five months during
1999 completing research and interviewing cowboys at the Gray Ranch in Ged,
Louisiana. He later served as a Louisiana state senator, representing Jackson,
Lincoln, and Ouachita Parishes from 2000 to 2004.
Jones practices law and runs
cattle in Ruston, Louisiana, where he is a member of the Louisiana Cattlemen's
Association, the Louisiana Bar Association, the Lincoln Parish Chamber of
Commerce, and a lifelong member of Trinity United Methodist Church.
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