The eight Peruvian immigrants who work as shepherds on the S. Martinez ranch have a colossal job: keep the 4,000 animals safe from predators so their wool can be harvested in the spring for companies like Pendleton, Woolrich, and Patagonia.

There’s a decent chance that the wool in your outdoor gear came from these animals: the sheep from S. Martinez Livestock, near Mabton, Washington. It’s the last large-scale sheep-herding operation on the state’s public forestland. The wool goes to companies like Farm to Feet, Pendleton, and Woolrich to be turned into American-made performance clothing. Here, workers load the sheep into trucks to be driven out to various public and private plots to graze...

The eight Peruvian immigrants who work as shepherds on the S. Martinez ranch have a colossal job: keep the 4,000 animals safe from predators so their wool can be harvested in the spring for companies like Pendleton, Woolrich, and Patagonia.

There’s a decent chance that the wool in your outdoor gear came from these animals: the sheep from S. Martinez Livestock, near Mabton, Washington. It’s the last large-scale sheep-herding operation on the state’s public forestland. The wool goes to companies like Farm to Feet, Pendleton, and Woolrich to be turned into American-made performance clothing. Here, workers load the sheep into trucks to be driven out to various public and private plots to graze...