From East Coast Grace to Western Grit

When Povy LaFarge Bigbee ’51 left Chatham Hall, few could have predicted that her life’s story would one day unfold under the vast skies of New Mexico. Yet her journey, from East Coast classrooms to high desert corrals, became the foundation of a sweeping memoir that captures both the spirit of adventure and the enduring search for meaning.

In her newly published book, Aristotle in the Branding Corral: Foundational Messaging, Povy weaves together a love story, a family legacy, and a philosophical reflection on happiness, purpose, and the power of place.

At its heart, the memoir tells the story of an unlikely pairing: a socialite-scholar from the East and a cowboy rooted in the rugged terrain of the West. Together, Povy and her husband, John Bigbee, built a life that balanced cattle, community, and contemplation. Through their story, Povy explores how Aristotle’s timeless ideas about virtue and fulfillment find expression not in lecture halls, but at the branding fire and among the sagebrush plains of New Mexico.

Her writing evokes the scent of mesquite smoke and the clang of branding irons, painting a vivid portrait of a vanishing way of life, one marked by resilience, self-reliance, and humor. But it’s also a deeply philosophical work, inviting readers to consider how happiness takes root when we live with intention and connection - to each other and to the land itself.

Povy’s reflections are grounded not only in her lived experience but in a remarkable personal history. A trailblazer in her own right, she was among the first women to earn a dual degree in Agriculture and Philosophy from Colorado State University. Her career bridged education, leadership, and public service; she served as Chair of the New Mexico Livestock Board, was appointed to New Mexico’s first Commission on the Status of Women, and even received a Presidential appointment to the Agricultural Policy Commission.

Her legacy is as rich as her lineage. Povy is the daughter of Oliver LaFarge, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Laughing Boy (1929); her mother, Wanden Kane, founded the organization that evolved into today’s Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Creativity and conviction ran deep in the family; her brother Pete LaFarge was an acclaimed folk musician known for “The Ballad of Ira Hayes,” and her great-grandfather John LaFarge was a pioneering artist and designer whose stained glass graces Trinity Church in Boston.

Aristotle in the Branding Corral captures all of these intersecting legacies, the artistic, the agricultural, and the intellectual, with a voice that is both tender and unflinching. It reminds us that the pursuit of happiness, as Aristotle taught, is not a feeling but a practice but a way of living well, wherever life takes us.

We are so excited to celebrate Povy’s memoir, as she not only preserves her family’s story but the spirit of an era: one in which the open range and open mind met in a uniquely American harmony. Not only is Povy a proud Chatham Hall alumna, but she also served on the Chatham Hall Board of Trustees, including serving as board chair from 1996 to 2000. Povy holds an honorary status as a Trustee Emeritus. She received the Chatham Hall Distinguished Alumna Award in 2014. Povy is also the proud grandmother of several Chatham Hall alumnae.

Join us in celebrating the launch of Aristotle in the Branding Corral—a family memoir of resilience, philosophy, and life on the land.

Order your copy!