Cut beef shank into small cubes. Place everything in crock pot, except the barley. Cover cooker. Set dial at cooking position desired. Cook 7 hours or longer on “high”, 12 hours or longer on “low”. About half way through the cook period add the barley. Before serving, remove the chicken bones. Return any meat remaining on the bones to the soup. Remove the allspice. Makes 10 cups. A soup bone works equally well; at the end remove meat from the bone. This is a really good soup. If the listed vegetables are not available, use whatever you have.

Background: My great grandfather, W.R. Williams, came from Nova Scotia and homesteaded this area in 1868. In addition to ranching, he freighted from Cheyenne to Deadwood and later to Montana. By 1879 he had one of the largest freight outfits in the country with some 400 head of oxen. In 1883 or 1884, he brought the first black Angus into southern Wyoming. My grandfather, Art Williams, homesteaded our present ranch in 1909 and established the AX brand. He built our present house, where my family lives, from logs he cut and split himself. After his death, my father and mother, Richard and Gussie Williams, took over the AX. Today the ranch is a family corporation. I am now vice-president of Wyoming Cow-Belles and our daughter Amber Jean, is the 4th generation to be raised in the ranching industry in this area.