Remembering John Peavey

Remembering a devoted advocate for ranching and conservation

The American sheep industry and the Wood River Valley lost a great champion this summer, with the passing of the Trailing of the Sheep Festival’s co-founder, visionary leader and friend, John Peavey. Peavey’s was a long and award-winning life of service to the twin causes of conservation and agriculture.

Born on September 1, 1933, and raised in Twin Falls, Idaho, Peavey lost his father in a hunting accident when he was just eight years old. However, he followed in the political footsteps of his grandfather, John William Thomas, who served as a U.S. senator from Idaho, and his mother, Mary Brooks, who was the assistant chairman of the National Republican Party and served as director of the U.S. Mint under Presidents Nixon and Ford.

After graduating from Northwestern University in Illinois, and then serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, Peavey returned in 1960 to Idaho to begin working on the family ranch. He became alarmed by the lack of statewide voice for agriculture and the environment, deciding to run for the Idaho State Senate in 1970. He served for 21 years, much of that time in leadership positions.

As a legislator, he was responsible for the passage of the Sunshine Initiative Act in 1974, a measure that for the first time demanded public disclosure of campaign finance and lobbying activities. He also provided leadership for legislation to stop the widespread depletion of Idaho’s rivers and aquifers and the diversion of their water for new development. The measure passed by one vote —enough to change the course of Idaho’s history, saving its water for the future.

John Peavey married Diane Josephy in 1982. Beyond their passion for the sheep and the western landscape they called home, the couple enjoyed traveling to all corners of the world including camping in Mexico, cruising in Antarctica to see the sheep producers in their small but productive villages, and traveling as a delegate with Idaho’s governor to China.

Then, in the early 1990s, when there were disgruntled users of the new recreational bike path in the Valley who didn’t like finding sheep droppings in their wheels, the Peaveys invited people to meet for coffee at a local café and help walk with the sheep to learn about this historic tradition of trailing the sheep in an effort to minimize conflicts between users of the bike path and the sheep. Along the way, they shared stories of the rich history, heritage and cultures of the Wood River Valley. It was small, informal and educational. People loved it. So, in 1996, Diane and John officially co-founded the Trailing of the Sheep Festival—still held now 28 years later in the Wood River Valley of Idaho each October.

Peavey received numerous awards and honors including The Idaho Stateman’s “Distinguished Citizen Award,” and, in 2021, he and Diane were chosen as Grand Marshals for the City of Ketchum’s Wagon Days Parade. His legacy is permanently enshrined in the valley: his vision for a Good Shepherd Monument, a set of 11 life-size bronze sculptures depicting a sheep herder with his horse, dog and sheep, was installed in downtown Hailey in 2021. Yet, even among all these accolades and accomplishments, his proudest achievement was placing the family’s entire Flat Top Sheep Ranch in conservation easements, protecting acres of land into perpetuity just as it is today, in all its productive yet wildlife-filled glory.

Peavey’s children and his grandchildren remember him most for teaching them a love for the outdoors and the land, with his eldest grandson Cory Peavey saying after his passing, “I will listen for you in the rustle of aspen leaves.”

A celebration of John Peavey’s life took place during this October’s Trailing of the Sheep Festival.