 In June 1985 Chuck Brackenbury was out mending fences on the Joe Miller Ranch outside of Laramie , Wyoming , when he noticed a buffalo giving birth early in the morning . He checked back later that night and discovered the mom had died during labor , but the calf was still alive just standing there all alone . He brought the calf back to his ranch where she was bottle @-@ fed and raised with horses and a goat . Brackenbury eventually sold her to Bob Renaud , a buffalo rancher in Hudson , Colorado . In 1987 , Johnnie and Shaaron Parker bought the 2 @-@ year old buffalo from Renaud and donated her to Colorado . Parker also trained and housed her . Ralphie III was a lot bigger and faster than her two predecessors . 
