Born in 1971, Governor Kristi Noem was brought up by her parents, Ron and Corrine Arnold, on a farm and ranch in South Dakota’s Hamlin County. Raised by a rancher father, Noem regularly rode horses and chased cattle. A sister to three other siblings, she also hunted with her family, which she has continued, having shared the tradition with her children.
During a National Rifle Association meeting in April 2023, the governor spoke of her often firm and no-nonsense father. At 10 years old, Ron left his daughter alone to hunt in Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains. “As strange noises came and darkness fell, I had to rely on my instincts and my horse to find my way back to our tent,” she shared. Despite fears of being alone in the woods, she understood what her father was trying to do as she got older, stating, “Those hunting trips gave me a lot of confidence.” Noem later learned that her father was always behind her, even making bear noises to scare her.
In 2022, Noem published her memoir, “Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland.” In it, the governor recounted her early years of ranching and the tough life lessons her father taught her. “Growing up with a father like mine was challenging, exciting, exasperating, and inspiring,” she wrote (via Fox News).
