diff options
Diffstat (limited to '12797-h/12797-h.htm')
| -rw-r--r-- | 12797-h/12797-h.htm | 9163 |
1 files changed, 9163 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/12797-h/12797-h.htm b/12797-h/12797-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..44f84d0 --- /dev/null +++ b/12797-h/12797-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9163 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title> + The log of a cowboy | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> /* <![CDATA[ */ + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em; + text-indent: 1em; +} + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} +.p0 {text-indent: 0em;} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} +@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } + +hr.r5 {width: 5%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 47.5%; margin-right: 47.5%;} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} +table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; width: 60%;} +table.autotable td, +table.autotable th { padding: 4px; } +.x-ebookmaker table {width: 95%;} + +.tdr {text-align: right; vertical-align: top;} + +.center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +/* Images */ + +img { + max-width: 100%; + height: auto; +} +img.w75 {width: 75%;} +.x-ebookmaker .w75 {width: 95%;} +.w50 {width: 50%;} +.x-ebookmaker .w50 {width: 75%;} +.w10 {width: 10%;} +.x-ebookmaker .w10 {width: 13%;} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + +/* Poetry */ + +.poetry { + display: block; + text-align: left; + margin-left: 5% + } +/* uncomment the next line for centered poetry in browsers */ +/* .poetry {display: inline-block;} */ +/* large inline blocks don't split well on paged devices */ +@media print { .poetry {display: block;} } + +.x-ebookmaker .poetry { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 5% + } +.poetry-container { + margin: 1.5em auto; + text-align: center; + font-size: 98%; + display: flex; + justify-content: center + } +.poetry .stanza { + padding: 0.5em 0; + page-break-inside: avoid + } +.poetry .verse { + text-indent: -3em; + padding-left: 3em + } + +.xbig {font-size: 2em;} +.small {font-size: 0.8em;} + +abbr[title] { + text-decoration: none; +} + +/* Poetry indents */ +.poetry .indent1 {text-indent: -2.5em;} + +.ml {margin-left: 20%;} + /* ]]> */ </style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12797 ***</div> + + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img001"> +<img src="images/001.jpg" class="w50" alt="THE STAMPEDE"> +</span></p> +<p class="center caption">THE STAMPEDE<br></p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + + +<h1>THE LOG OF A COWBOY</h1> +<p class="center p2">A Narrative of the Old Trail Days</p> +<p class="center p2">BY ANDY ADAMS</p> +<p class="center p2"><i>ILLUSTRATED BY E. BOYD SMITH</i></p> + +<p class="poetry p2 ml"><span style="margin-left: 20%">“Our cattle also shall go with us.”</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 25%">—<i>Exodus</i> iv. 26.</span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img002"> +<img src="images/002.jpg" class="w10" alt="The Riverside Press"> +</span></p> +<p class="center p2"> +BOSTON AND NEW YORK: HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY,<br> +The Riverside Press, Cambridge<br><i>1903</i>.</p> + + +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p class="center p2">TO THE COWMEN AND BOYS OF THE OLD WESTERN TRAIL<br> +THESE PAGES ARE GRATEFULLY DEDICATED</p> + + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><th class="tdr">CHAP.</th><th></th></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">I.</a></td><td>UP THE TRAIL</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">II.</a></td><td>RECEIVING</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">III.</a></td><td>THE START</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV.</a></td><td>THE ATASCOSA</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">V.</a></td><td>A DRY DRIVE</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI.</a></td><td>A REMINISCENT NIGHT</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII.</a></td><td>THE COLORADO</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII.</a></td><td>ON THE BRAZOS AND WICHITA</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX.</a></td><td>DOAN’S CROSSING</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">X.</a></td><td>NO MAN’S LAND</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI.</a></td><td>A BOGGY FORD</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII.</a></td><td>THE NORTH FORK</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII.</a></td><td>DODGE</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">XIV.</a></td><td>SLAUGHTER’S BRIDGE</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV.</a></td><td>THE BEAVER</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">XVI.</a></td><td>THE REPUBLICAN</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">XVII.</a></td><td>OGALALLA</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">XVIII.</a></td><td>THE NORTH PLATTE</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">XIX.</a></td><td>FORTY ISLANDS FORD</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">XX.</a></td><td>A MOONLIGHT DRIVE</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">XXI.</a></td><td>THE YELLOWSTONE</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">XXII.</a></td><td>OUR LAST CAMP-FIRE</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">XXIII.</a></td><td>DELIVERY</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">XXIV.</a></td><td>BACK TO TEXAS</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="center p2 caption"> +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS +</p> +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><td> +<a href="#img001">THE STAMPEDE</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>MAP SHOWING THE TRAIL</td></tr> +<tr><td> +<a href="#img004">HEAT AND THIRST</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> +<a href="#img003">MEETING WITH INDIANS</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> +<a href="#img005">CELEBRATING IN DODGE</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> +<a href="#img006">STORY-TELLING</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> +<a href="#img007">SWIMMING THE PLATTE</a></td></tr> +</table></div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p class="center xbig">THE LOG OF A COWBOY</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I<br><span class="small">UP THE TRAIL</span></h2></div> + +<p>Just why my father moved, at the close of the civil war, from Georgia +to Texas, is to this good hour a mystery to me. While we did not +exactly belong to the poor whites, we classed with them in poverty, +being renters; but I am inclined to think my parents were +intellectually superior to that common type of the South. Both were +foreign born, my mother being Scotch and my father a north of Ireland +man,—as I remember him, now, impulsive, hasty in action, and slow to +confess a fault. It was his impulsiveness that led him to volunteer +and serve four years in the Confederate army,—trying years to my +mother, with a brood of seven children to feed, garb, and house. The +war brought me my initiation as a cowboy, of which I have now, after +the long lapse of years, the greater portion of which were spent with +cattle, a distinct recollection. Sherman’s army, in its march to the +sea, passed through our county, devastating that section for miles in +its passing.</p> + +<p>Foraging parties scoured the country on either side of its path. My +mother had warning in time and set her house in order. Our work stock +consisted of two yoke of oxen, while our cattle numbered three cows, +and for saving them from the foragers credit must be given to my +mother’s generalship. There was a wild canebrake, in which the cattle +fed, several hundred acres in extent, about a mile from our little +farm, and it was necessary to bell them in order to locate them when +wanted. But the cows were in the habit of coming up to be milked, and +a soldier can hear a bell as well as any one. I was a lad of eight at +the time, and while my two older brothers worked our few fields, I was +sent into the canebrake to herd the cattle. We had removed the bells +from the oxen and cows, but one ox was belled after darkness each +evening, to be unbelled again at daybreak. I always carried the bell +with me, stuffed with grass, in order to have it at hand when wanted.</p> + +<p>During the first few days of the raid, a number of mounted foraging +parties passed our house, but its poverty was all too apparent, and +nothing was molested. Several of these parties were driving herds of +cattle and work stock of every description, while by day and by night +gins and plantation houses were being given to the flames. Our +one-roomed log cabin was spared, due to the ingenious tale told by my +mother as to the whereabouts of my father; and yet she taught her +children to fear God and tell the truth. My vigil was trying to one of +my years, for the days seemed like weeks, but the importance of hiding +our cattle was thoroughly impressed upon my mind. Food was secretly +brought to me, and under cover of darkness, my mother and eldest +brother would come and milk the cows, when we would all return home +together. Then, before daybreak, we would be in the cane listening for +the first tinkle, to find the cattle and remove the bell. And my day’s +work commenced anew.</p> + +<p>Only once did I come near betraying my trust. About the middle of the +third day I grew very hungry, and as the cattle were lying down, I +crept to the edge of the canebrake to see if my dinner was not +forthcoming. Soldiers were in sight, which explained everything. +Concealed in the rank cane I stood and watched them. Suddenly a squad +of five or six turned a point of the brake and rode within fifty feet +of me. I stood like a stone statue, my concealment being perfect. +After they had passed, I took a step forward, the better to watch them +as they rode away, when the grass dropped out of the bell and it +clattered. A red-whiskered soldier heard the tinkle, and wheeling his +horse, rode back. I grasped the clapper and lay flat on the ground, my +heart beating like a trip-hammer. He rode within twenty feet of me, +peering into the thicket of cane, and not seeing anything unusual, +turned and galloped away after his companions. Then the lesson, taught +me by my mother, of being “faithful over a few things,” flashed +through my mind, and though our cattle were spared to us, I felt very +guilty.</p> + +<p>Another vivid recollection of those boyhood days in Georgia was the +return of my father from the army. The news of Lee’s surrender had +reached us, and all of us watched for his coming. Though he was long +delayed, when at last he did come riding home on a swallow-marked +brown mule, he was a conquering hero to us children. We had never +owned a horse, and he assured us that the animal was his own, and by +turns set us on the tired mule’s back. He explained to mother and us +children how, though he was an infantryman, he came into possession of +the animal. Now, however, with my mature years and knowledge of +brands, I regret to state that the mule had not been condemned and was +in the “U.S.” brand. A story which Priest, “The Rebel,” once told me +throws some light on the matter; he asserted that all good soldiers +would steal. “Can you take the city of St. Louis?” was asked of +General Price. “I don’t know as I can take it,” replied the general to +his consulting superiors, “but if you will give me Louisiana troops, +I’ll agree to steal it.”</p> + +<p>Though my father had lost nothing by the war, he was impatient to go +to a new country. Many of his former comrades were going to Texas, +and, as our worldly possessions were movable, to Texas we started. Our +four oxen were yoked to the wagon, in which our few household effects +were loaded and in which mother and the smaller children rode, and +with the cows, dogs, and elder boys bringing up the rear, our caravan +started, my father riding the mule and driving the oxen. It was an +entire summer’s trip, full of incident, privation, and hardship. The +stock fared well, but several times we were compelled to halt and +secure work in order to supply our limited larder. Through certain +sections, however, fish and game were abundant. I remember the +enthusiasm we all felt when we reached the Sabine River, and for the +first time viewed the promised land. It was at a ferry, and the +sluggish river was deep. When my father informed the ferryman that he +had no money with which to pay the ferriage, the latter turned on him +remarking, sarcastically: “What, no money? My dear sir, it certainly +can’t make much difference to a man which side of the river he’s on, +when he has no money.”</p> + +<p>Nothing daunted by this rebuff, my father argued the point at some +length, when the ferryman relented so far as to inform him that ten +miles higher up, the river was fordable. We arrived at the ford the +next day. My father rode across and back, testing the stage of the +water and the river’s bottom before driving the wagon in. Then taking +one of the older boys behind him on the mule in order to lighten the +wagon, he drove the oxen into the river. Near the middle the water was +deep enough to reach the wagon box, but with shoutings and a free +application of the gad, we hurried through in safety. One of the wheel +oxen, a black steer which we called “Pop-eye,” could be ridden, and I +straddled him in fording, laving my sunburned feet in the cool water. +The cows were driven over next, the dogs swimming, and at last, bag +and baggage, we were in Texas.</p> + +<p>We reached the Colorado River early in the fall, where we stopped and +picked cotton for several months, making quite a bit of money, and +near Christmas reached our final destination on the San Antonio River, +where we took up land and built a house. That was a happy home; the +country was new and supplied our simple wants; we had milk and honey, +and, though the fig tree was absent, along the river grew endless +quantities of mustang grapes. At that time the San Antonio valley was +principally a cattle country, and as the boys of our family grew old +enough the fascination of a horse and saddle was too strong to be +resisted. My two older brothers went first, but my father and mother +made strenuous efforts to keep me at home, and did so until I was +sixteen. I suppose it is natural for every country boy to be +fascinated with some other occupation than the one to which he is +bred. In my early teens, I always thought I should like either to +drive six horses to a stage or clerk in a store, and if I could have +attained either of those lofty heights, at that age, I would have +asked no more. So my father, rather than see me follow in the +footsteps of my older brothers, secured me a situation in a village +store some twenty miles distant. The storekeeper was a fellow +countryman of my father—from the same county in Ireland, in fact—and +I was duly elated on getting away from home to the life of the +village.</p> + +<p>But my elation was short-lived. I was to receive no wages for the +first six months. My father counseled the merchant to work me hard, +and, if possible, cure me of the “foolish notion,” as he termed it. +The storekeeper cured me. The first week I was with him he kept me in +a back warehouse shelling corn. The second week started out no better. +I was given a shovel and put on the street to work out the poll-tax, +not only of the merchant but of two other clerks in the store. Here +was two weeks’ work in sight, but the third morning I took breakfast +at home. My mercantile career had ended, and forthwith I took to the +range as a preacher’s son takes to vice. By the time I was twenty +there was no better cow-hand in the entire country. I could, besides, +speak Spanish and play the fiddle, and thought nothing of riding +thirty miles to a dance. The vagabond temperament of the range I +easily assimilated.</p> + +<p>Christmas in the South is always a season of festivity, and the magnet +of mother and home yearly drew us to the family hearthstone. There we +brothers met and exchanged stories of our experiences. But one year +both my brothers brought home a new experience. They had been up the +trail, and the wondrous stories they told about the northern country +set my blood on fire. Until then I thought I had had adventures, but +mine paled into insignificance beside theirs. The following summer, my +eldest brother, Robert, himself was to boss a herd up the trail, and I +pleaded with him to give me a berth, but he refused me, saying: “No, +Tommy; the trail is one place where a foreman can have no favorites. +Hardship and privation must be met, and the men must throw themselves +equally into the collar. I don’t doubt but you’re a good hand; still +the fact that you’re my brother might cause other boys to think I +would favor you. A trail outfit has to work as a unit, and dissensions +would be ruinous.” I had seen favoritism shown on ranches, and +understood his position to be right. Still I felt that I must make +that trip if it were possible. Finally Robert, seeing that I was +overanxious to go, came to me and said: “I’ve been thinking that if I +recommended you to Jim Flood, my old foreman, he might take you with +him next year. He is to have a herd that will take five months from +start to delivery, and that will be the chance of your life. I’ll see +him next week and make a strong talk for you.”</p> + +<p>True to his word, he bespoke me a job with Flood the next time he met +him, and a week later a letter from Flood reached me, terse and +pointed, engaging my services as a trail hand for the coming summer. +The outfit would pass near our home on its way to receive the cattle +which were to make up the trail herd. Time and place were appointed +where I was to meet them in the middle of March, and I felt as if I +were made. I remember my mother and sisters twitted me about the +swagger that came into my walk, after the receipt of Flood’s letter, +and even asserted that I sat my horse as straight as a poker. +Possibly! but wasn’t I going up the trail with Jim Flood, the boss +foreman of Don Lovell, the cowman and drover?</p> + +<p>Our little ranch was near Cibollo Ford on the river, and as the outfit +passed down the country, they crossed at that ford and picked me up. +Flood was not with them, which was a disappointment to me, “Quince” +Forrest acting as <i>segundo</i> at the time. They had four mules to the +“chuck” wagon under Barney McCann as cook, while the <i>remuda</i>, under +Billy Honeyman as horse wrangler, numbered a hundred and forty-two, +ten horses to the man, with two extra for the foreman. Then, for the +first time, I learned that we were going down to the mouth of the Rio +Grande to receive the herd from across the river in Old Mexico; and +that they were contracted for delivery on the Blackfoot Indian +Reservation in the northwest corner of Montana. Lovell had several +contracts with the Indian Department of the government that year, and +had been granted the privilege of bringing in, free of duty, any +cattle to be used in filling Indian contracts.</p> + +<p>My worst trouble was getting away from home on the morning of +starting. Mother and my sisters, of course, shed a few tears; but my +father, stern and unbending in his manner, gave me his benediction in +these words: “Thomas Moore, you’re the third son to leave our roof, +but your father’s blessing goes with you. I left my own home beyond +the sea before I was your age.” And as they all stood at the gate, I +climbed into my saddle and rode away, with a lump in my throat which +left me speechless to reply.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II<br><span class="small">RECEIVING</span></h2></div> + +<p>It was a nice ten days’ trip from the San Antonio to the Rio Grande +River. We made twenty-five to thirty miles a day, giving the saddle +horses all the advantage of grazing on the way. Rather than hobble, +Forrest night-herded them, using five guards, two men to the watch of +two hours each. “As I have little hope of ever rising to the dignity +of foreman,” said our <i>segundo</i>, while arranging the guards, “I’ll +take this occasion to show you varmints what an iron will I possess. +With the amount of help I have, I don’t propose to even catch a night +horse; and I’ll give the cook orders to bring me a cup of coffee and a +cigarette before I arise in the morning. I’ve been up the trail before +and realize that this authority is short-lived, so I propose to make +the most of it while it lasts. Now you all know your places, and see +you don’t incur your foreman’s displeasure.”</p> + +<p>The outfit reached Brownsville on March 25th, where we picked up Flood +and Lovell, and dropping down the river about six miles below Fort +Brown, went into camp at a cattle ford known as Paso Ganado. The Rio +Grande was two hundred yards wide at this point, and at its then stage +was almost swimming from bank to bank. It had very little current, and +when winds were favorable the tide from the Gulf ran in above the +ford. Flood had spent the past two weeks across the river, receiving +and road-branding the herd, so when the cattle should reach the river +on the Mexican side we were in honor bound to accept everything +bearing the “circle dot” the left hip. The contract called for a +thousand she cattle, three and four years of age, and two thousand +four and five year old beeves, estimated as sufficient to fill a +million-pound beef contract. For fear of losses on the trail, our +foreman had accepted fifty extra head of each class, and our herd at +starting would number thirty-one hundred head. They were coming up +from ranches in the interior, and we expected to cross them the first +favorable day after their arrival. A number of different rancheros had +turned in cattle in making up the herd, and Flood reported them in +good, strong condition.</p> + +<p>Lovell and Flood were a good team of cowmen. The former, as a youth, +had carried a musket in the ranks of the Union army, and at the end of +that struggle, cast his fortune with Texas, where others had seen +nothing but the desolation of war, Lovell saw opportunities of +business, and had yearly forged ahead as a drover and beef contractor. +He was well calculated to manage the cattle business, but was +irritable and inclined to borrow trouble, therefore unqualified +personally to oversee the actual management of a cow herd. In repose, +Don Lovell was slow, almost dull, but in an emergency was +astonishingly quick-witted and alert. He never insisted on temperance +among his men, and though usually of a placid temperament, when out of +tobacco—Lord!</p> + +<p>Jim Flood, on the other hand, was in a hundred respects the antithesis +of his employer. Born to the soil of Texas, he knew nothing but +cattle, but he knew them thoroughly. Yet in their calling, the pair +were a harmonious unit. He never crossed a bridge till he reached it, +was indulgent with his men, and would overlook any fault, so long as +they rendered faithful service. Priest told me this incident: Flood +had hired a man at Red River the year before, when a self-appointed +guardian present called Flood to one side and said,—“Don’t you know +that that man you’ve just hired is the worst drunkard in this +country?”</p> + +<p>“No, I didn’t know it,” replied Flood, “but I’m glad to hear he is. I +don’t want to ruin an innocent man, and a trail outfit is not supposed +to have any morals. Just so the herd don’t count out shy on the day of +delivery, I don’t mind how many drinks the outfit takes.”</p> + +<p>The next morning after going into camp, the first thing was the +allotment of our mounts for the trip. Flood had the first pick, and +cut twelve bays and browns. His preference for solid colors, though +they were not the largest in the <i>remuda</i>, showed his practical sense +of horses. When it came the boys’ turn to cut, we were only allowed to +cut one at a time by turns, even casting lots for first choice. We had +ridden the horses enough to have a fair idea as to their merits, and +every lad was his own judge. There were, as it happened, only three +pinto horses in the entire saddle stock, and these three were the last +left of the entire bunch. Now a little boy or girl, and many an older +person, thinks that a spotted horse is the real thing, but practical +cattle men know that this freak of color in range-bred horses is the +result of in-and-in breeding, with consequent physical and mental +deterioration. It was my good fortune that morning to get a good mount +of horses,—three sorrels, two grays, two coyotes, a black, a brown, +and a <i>grulla</i>. The black was my second pick, and though the color is +not a hardy one, his “bread-basket” indicated that he could carry food +for a long ride, and ought to be a good swimmer. My judgment of him +was confirmed throughout the trip, as I used him for my night horse +and when we had swimming rivers to ford. I gave this black the name of +“Nigger Boy.”</p> + +<p>For the trip each man was expected to furnish his own accoutrements. +In saddles, we had the ordinary Texas make, the housings of which +covered our mounts from withers to hips, and would weigh from thirty +to forty pounds, bedecked with the latest in the way of trimmings and +trappings.</p> + +<p>Our bridles were in keeping with the saddles, the reins as long as +plough lines, while the bit was frequently ornamental and costly. The +indispensable slicker, a greatcoat of oiled canvas, was ever at hand, +securely tied to our cantle strings. Spurs were a matter of taste. If +a rider carried a quirt, he usually dispensed with spurs, though, when +used, those with large, dull rowels were the make commonly chosen. In +the matter of leggings, not over half our outfit had any, as a trail +herd always kept in the open, and except for night herding they were +too warm in summer. Our craft never used a cattle whip, but if +emergency required, the loose end of a rope served instead, and was +more humane.</p> + +<p>Either Flood or Lovell went into town every afternoon with some of the +boys, expecting to hear from the cattle. On one trip they took along +the wagon, laying in a month’s supplies. The rest of us amused +ourselves in various ways. One afternoon when the tide was in, we +tried our swimming horses in the river, stripping to our +underclothing, and, with nothing but a bridle on our horses, plunged +into tidewater. My Nigger Boy swam from bank to bank like a duck. On +the return I slid off behind, and taking his tail, let him tow me to +our own side, where he arrived snorting like a tugboat.</p> + +<p>One evening, on their return from Brownsville, Flood brought word that +the herd would camp that night within fifteen miles of the river. At +daybreak Lovell and the foreman, with “Fox” Quarternight and myself, +started to meet the herd. The nearest ferry was at Brownsville, and it +was eleven o’clock when we reached the cattle. Flood had dispensed +with an interpreter and had taken Quarternight and me along to do the +interpreting. The cattle were well shed and in good flesh for such an +early season of the year, and in receiving, our foreman had been +careful and had accepted only such as had strength for a long voyage. +They were the long-legged, long-horned Southern cattle, pale-colored +as a rule, possessed the running powers of a deer, and in an ordinary +walk could travel with a horse. They had about thirty vaqueros under a +corporal driving the herd, and the cattle were strung out in regular +trailing manner. We rode with them until the noon hour, when, with the +understanding that they were to bring the herd to Paso Ganado by ten +o’clock the following day, we rode for Matamoros. Lovell had other +herds to start on the trail that year, and was very anxious to cross +the cattle the following day, so as to get the weekly steamer—the +only mode of travel—which left Point Isabel for Galveston on the +first of April.</p> + +<p>The next morning was bright and clear, with an east wind, which +insured a flood tide in the river. On first sighting the herd that +morning, we made ready to cross them as soon as they reached the +river. The wagon was moved up within a hundred yards of the ford, and +a substantial corral of ropes was stretched. Then the entire saddle +stock was driven in, so as to be at hand in case a hasty change of +mounts was required. By this time Honeyman knew the horses of each +man’s mount, so all we had to do was to sing out our horse, and Billy +would have a rope on one and have him at hand before you could +unsaddle a tired one. On account of our linguistic accomplishments, +Quarternight and I were to be sent across the river to put the cattle +in and otherwise assume control. On the Mexican side there was a +single string of high brush fence on the lower side of the ford, +commencing well out in the water and running back about two hundred +yards, thus giving us a half chute in forcing the cattle to take +swimming water. This ford had been in use for years in crossing +cattle, but I believe this was the first herd ever crossed that was +intended for the trail, or for beyond the bounds of Texas.</p> + +<p>When the herd was within a mile of the river, Fox and I shed our +saddles, boots, and surplus clothing and started to meet it. The water +was chilly, but we struck it with a shout, and with the cheers of our +outfit behind us, swam like smugglers. A swimming horse needs freedom, +and we scarcely touched the reins, but with one hand buried in a mane +hold, and giving gentle slaps on the neck with the other, we guided +our horses for the other shore. I was proving out my black, Fox had a +gray of equal barrel displacement,—both good swimmers; and on +reaching the Mexican shore, we dismounted and allowed them to roll in +the warm sand.</p> + +<p>Flood had given us general instructions, and we halted the herd about +half a mile from the river. The Mexican corporal was only too glad to +have us assume charge, and assured us that he and his outfit were ours +to command. I at once proclaimed Fox Quarternight, whose years and +experience outranked mine, the <i>gringo</i> corporal for the day, at which +the vaqueros smiled, but I noticed they never used the word. On Fox’s +suggestion the Mexican corporal brought up his wagon and corralled his +horses as we had done, when his cook, to our delight, invited all to +have coffee before starting. That cook won our everlasting regards, +for his coffee was delicious. We praised it highly, whereupon the +corporal ordered the cook to have it at hand for the men in the +intervals between crossing the different bunches of cattle. A March +day on the Rio Grande with wet clothing is not summer, and the +vaqueros hesitated a bit before following the example of Quarternight +and myself and dispensing with saddles and boots. Five men were then +detailed to hold the herd as compact as possible, and the remainder, +twenty-seven all told, cut off about three hundred head and started +for the river. I took the lead, for though cattle are less gregarious +by nature than other animals, under pressure of excitement they will +follow a leader. It was about noon and the herd were thirsty, so when +we reached the brush chute, all hands started them on a run for the +water. When the cattle were once inside the wing we went rapidly, four +vaqueros riding outside the fence to keep the cattle from turning the +chute on reaching swimming water. The leaders were crowding me close +when Nigger breasted the water, and closely followed by several lead +cattle, I struck straight for the American shore. The vaqueros forced +every hoof into the river, following and shouting as far as the +midstream, when they were swimming so nicely, Quarternight called off +the men and all turned their horses back to the Mexican side. On +landing opposite the exit from the ford, our men held the cattle as +they came out, in order to bait the next bunch.</p> + +<p>I rested my horse only a few minutes before taking the water again, +but Lovell urged me to take an extra horse across, so as to have a +change in case my black became fagged in swimming. Quarternight was a +harsh <i>segundo</i>, for no sooner had I reached the other bank than he +cut off the second bunch of about four hundred and started them. +Turning Nigger Boy loose behind the brush fence, so as to be out of +the way, I galloped out on my second horse, and meeting the cattle, +turned and again took the lead for the river. My substitute did not +swim with the freedom and ease of the black, and several times cattle +swam so near me that I could lay my hand on their backs. When about +halfway over, I heard shoutings behind me in English, and on looking +back saw Nigger Boy swimming after us. A number of vaqueros attempted +to catch him, but he outswam them and came out with the cattle; the +excitement was too much for him to miss.</p> + +<p>Each trip was a repetition of the former, with varying incident. Every +hoof was over in less than two hours. On the last trip, in which there +were about seven hundred head, the horse of one of the Mexican +vaqueros took cramps, it was supposed, at about the middle of the +river, and sank without a moment’s warning. A number of us heard the +man’s terrified cry, only in time to see horse and rider sink. Every +man within reach turned to the rescue, and a moment later the man rose +to the surface. Fox caught him by the shirt, and, shaking the water +out of him, turned him over to one of the other vaqueros, who towed +him back to their own side. Strange as it may appear, the horse never +came to the surface again, which supported the supposition of cramps.</p> + +<p>After a change of clothes for Quarternight and myself, and rather late +dinner for all hands, there yet remained the counting of the herd. The +Mexican corporal and two of his men had come over for the purpose, and +though Lovell and several wealthy rancheros, the sellers of the +cattle, were present, it remained for Flood and the corporal to make +the final count, as between buyer and seller. There was also present a +river guard,—sent out by the United States Custom House, as a matter +of form in the entry papers,—who also insisted on counting. In order +to have a second count on the herd, Lovell ordered The Rebel to count +opposite the government’s man. We strung the cattle out, now logy with +water, and after making quite a circle, brought the herd around where +there was quite a bluff bank of the river. The herd handled well, and +for a quarter of an hour we lined them between our four mounted +counters. The only difference in the manner of counting between Flood +and the Mexican corporal was that the American used a tally string +tied to the pommel of his saddle, on which were ten knots, keeping +count by slipping a knot on each even hundred, while the Mexican used +ten small pebbles, shifting a pebble from one hand to the other on +hundreds. “Just a mere difference in nationality,” Lovell had me +interpret to the selling dons.</p> + +<p>When the count ended only two of the men agreed on numbers, The Rebel +and the corporal making the same thirty-one hundred and five,—Flood +being one under and the Custom House man one over. Lovell at once +accepted the count of Priest and the corporal; and the delivery, +which, as I learned during the interpreting that followed, was to be +sealed with a supper that night in Brownsville, was consummated. +Lovell was compelled to leave us, to make the final payment for the +herd, and we would not see him again for some time. They were all +seated in the vehicle ready to start for town, when the cowman said to +his foreman,—</p> + +<p>“Now, Jim, I can’t give you any pointers on handling a herd, but you +have until the 10th day of September to reach the Blackfoot Agency. An +average of fifteen miles a day will put you there on time, so don’t +hurry. I’ll try and see you at Dodge and Ogalalla on the way. Now, +live well, for I like your outfit of men. Your credit letter is good +anywhere you need supplies, and if you want more horses on the trail, +buy them and draft on me through your letter of credit. If any of your +men meet with accident or get sick, look out for them the same as you +would for yourself, and I’ll honor all bills. And don’t be stingy over +your expense account, for if that herd don’t make money, you and I had +better quit cows.”</p> + +<p>I had been detained to do any interpreting needful, and at parting +Lovell beckoned to me. When I rode alongside the carriage, he gave me +his hand and said,—</p> + +<p>“Flood tells me to-day that you’re a brother of Bob Quirk. Bob is to +be foreman of my herd that I’m putting up in Nueces County. I’m glad +you’re here with Jim, though, for it’s a longer trip. Yes, you’ll get +all the circus there is, and stay for the concert besides. They say +God is good to the poor and the Irish; and if that’s so, you’ll pull +through all right. Good-by, son.” And as he gave me a hearty, ringing +grip of the hand, I couldn’t help feeling friendly toward him, Yankee +that he was.</p> + +<p>After Lovell and the dons had gone, Flood ordered McCann to move his +wagon back from the river about a mile. It was now too late in the day +to start the herd, and we wanted to graze them well, as it was our +first night with them. About half our outfit grazed them around on a +large circle, preparatory to bringing them up to the bed ground as it +grew dusk. In the untrammeled freedom of the native range, a cow or +steer will pick old dry grass on which to lie down, and if it is +summer, will prefer an elevation sufficient to catch any passing +breeze. Flood was familiar with the habits of cattle, and selected a +nice elevation on which the old dry grass of the previous summer’s +growth lay matted like a carpet.</p> + +<p>Our saddle horses by this time were fairly well broken to camp life, +and, with the cattle on hand, night herding them had to be abandoned. +Billy Honeyman, however, had noticed several horses that were inclined +to stray on day herd, and these few leaders were so well marked in his +memory that, as a matter of precaution, he insisted on putting a rope +hobble on them. At every noon and night camp we strung a rope from the +hind wheel of our wagon and another from the end of the wagon tongue +back to stakes driven in the ground or held by a man, forming a +triangular corral. Thus in a few minutes, under any conditions, we +could construct a temporary corral for catching a change of mounts, or +for the wrangler to hobble untrustworthy horses. On the trail all +horses are free at night, except the regular night ones, which are +used constantly during the entire trip, and under ordinary conditions +keep strong and improve in flesh.</p> + +<p>Before the herd was brought in for the night, and during the supper +hour, Flood announced the guards for the trip. As the men usually +bunked in pairs, the foreman chose them as they slept, but was under +the necessity of splitting two berths of bedfellows. “Rod” Wheat, Joe +Stallings, and Ash Borrowstone were assigned to the first guard, from +eight to ten thirty P.M. Bob Blades, “Bull” Durham, and Fox +Quarternight were given second guard, from ten thirty to one. Paul +Priest, John Officer, and myself made up the third watch, from one to +three thirty. The Rebel and I were bunkies, and this choice of guards, +while not ideal, was much better than splitting bedfellows and having +them annoy each other by going out and returning from guard +separately. The only fault I ever found with Priest was that he could +use the poorest judgment in selecting a bed ground for our blankets, +and always talked and told stories to me until I fell asleep. He was a +light sleeper himself, while I, being much younger, was the reverse. +The fourth and last guard, from three thirty until relieved after +daybreak, fell to Wyatt Roundtree, Quince Forrest, and “Moss” +Strayhorn. Thus the only men in the outfit not on night duty were +Honeyman, our horse wrangler, Barney McCann, our cook, and Flood, the +foreman. The latter, however, made up by riding almost double as much +as any man in his outfit. He never left the herd until it was bedded +down for the night, and we could always hear him quietly arousing the +cook and horse wrangler an hour before daybreak. He always kept a +horse on picket for the night, and often took the herd as it left the +bed ground at clear dawn.</p> + +<p>A half hour before dark, Flood and all the herd men turned out to bed +down the cattle for our first night. They had been well grazed after +counting, and as they came up to the bed ground there was not a hungry +or thirsty animal in the lot. All seemed anxious to lie down, and by +circling around slowly, while gradually closing in, in the course of +half an hour all were bedded nicely on possibly five or six acres. I +remember there were a number of muleys among the cattle, and these +would not venture into the compact herd until the others had lain +down. Being hornless, instinct taught them to be on the defensive, and +it was noticeable that they were the first to arise in the morning, in +advance of their horned kin. When all had lain down, Flood and the +first guard remained, the others returning to the wagon.</p> + +<p>The guards ride in a circle about four rods outside the sleeping +cattle, and by riding in opposite directions make it impossible for +any animal to make its escape without being noticed by the riders. The +guards usually sing or whistle continuously, so that the sleeping herd +may know that a friend and not an enemy is keeping vigil over their +dreams. A sleeping herd of cattle make a pretty picture on a clear +moonlight night, chewing their cuds and grunting and blowing over +contented stomachs. The night horses soon learn their duty, and a +rider may fall asleep or doze along in the saddle, but the horses will +maintain their distance in their leisurely, sentinel rounds.</p> + +<p>On returning to the wagon, Priest and I picketed our horses, saddled, +where we could easily find them in the darkness, and unrolled our bed. +We had two pairs of blankets each, which, with an ordinary wagon sheet +doubled for a tarpaulin, and coats and boots for pillows, completed +our couch. We slept otherwise in our clothing worn during the day, and +if smooth, sandy ground was available on which to spread our bed, we +had no trouble in sleeping the sleep that long hours in the saddle +were certain to bring. With all his pardonable faults, The Rebel was a +good bunkie and a hail companion, this being his sixth trip over the +trail. He had been with Lovell over a year before the two made the +discovery that they had been on opposite sides during the “late +unpleasantness.” On making this discovery, Lovell at once rechristened +Priest “The Rebel,” and that name he always bore. He was fifteen years +my senior at this time, a wonderfully complex nature, hardened by +unusual experiences into a character the gamut of whose moods ran from +that of a good-natured fellow to a man of unrelenting severity in +anger.</p> + +<p>We were sleeping a nine knot gale when Fox Quarternight of the second +guard called us on our watch. It was a clear, starry night, and our +guard soon passed, the cattle sleeping like tired soldiers. When the +last relief came on guard and we had returned to our blankets, I +remember Priest telling me this little incident as I fell asleep.</p> + +<p>“I was at a dance once in Live Oak County, and there was a stuttering +fellow there by the name of Lem Todhunter. The girls, it seems, didn’t +care to dance with him, and pretended they couldn’t understand him. He +had asked every girl at the party, and received the same answer from +each—they couldn’t understand him. ‘W-w-w-ell, g-g-g-go to hell, +then. C-c-c-can y-y-you understand that?’ he said to the last girl, +and her brother threatened to mangle him horribly if he didn’t +apologize, to which he finally agreed. He went back into the house and +said to the girl, ‘Y-y-you n-n-n-needn’t g-g-g-go to hell; y-y-your +b-b-b-brother and I have m-m-made other ’r-r-r-rangements.’”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III<br><span class="small">THE START</span></h2></div> + +<p>On the morning of April 1, 1882, our Circle Dot herd started on its +long tramp to the Blackfoot Agency in Montana. With six men on each +side, and the herd strung out for three quarters of a mile, it could +only be compared to some mythical serpent or Chinese dragon, as it +moved forward on its sinuous, snail-like course. Two riders, known as +point men, rode out and well back from the lead cattle, and by riding +forward and closing in as occasion required, directed the course of +the herd. The main body of the herd trailed along behind the leaders +like an army in loose marching order, guarded by outriders, known as +swing men, who rode well out from the advancing column, warding off +range cattle and seeing that none of the herd wandered away or dropped +out. There was no driving to do; the cattle moved of their own free +will as in ordinary travel. Flood seldom gave orders; but, as a number +of us had never worked on the trail before, at breakfast on the +morning of our start he gave in substance these general directions:—</p> + +<p>“Boys, the secret of trailing cattle is never to let your herd know +that they are under restraint. Let everything that is done be done +voluntarily by the cattle. From the moment you let them off the bed +ground in the morning until they are bedded at night, never let a cow +take a step, except in the direction of its destination. In this +manner you can loaf away the day, and cover from fifteen to twenty +miles, and the herd in the mean time will enjoy all the freedom of an +open range. Of course, it’s long, tiresome hours to the men; but the +condition of the herd and saddle stock demands sacrifices on our part, +if any have to be made. And I want to caution you younger boys about +your horses; there is such a thing as having ten horses in your +string, and at the same time being afoot. You are all well mounted, +and on the condition of the <i>remuda</i> depends the success and safety of +the herd. Accidents will happen to horses, but don’t let it be your +fault; keep your saddle blankets dry and clean, for no better word can +be spoken of a man than that he is careful of his horses. Ordinarily a +man might get along with six or eight horses, but in such emergencies +as we are liable to meet, we have not a horse to spare, and a man +afoot is useless.”</p> + +<p>And as all of us younger boys learned afterward, there was plenty of +good, solid, horse-sense in Flood’s advice; for before the trip ended +there were men in our outfit who were as good as afoot, while others +had their original mounts, every one fit for the saddle. Flood had +insisted on a good mount of horses, and Lovell was cowman enough to +know that what the mule is to the army the cow-horse is to the herd.</p> + +<p>The first and second day out there was no incident worth mentioning. +We traveled slowly, hardly making an average day’s drive. The third +morning Flood left us, to look out a crossing on the Arroyo Colorado. +On coming down to receive the herd, we had crossed this sluggish bayou +about thirty-six miles north of Brownsville. It was a deceptive-looking +stream, being over fifty feet deep and between bluff banks. We ferried +our wagon and saddle horses over, swimming the loose ones. But the +herd was keeping near the coast line for the sake of open country, and +it was a question if there was a ford for the wagon as near the coast +as our course was carrying us. The murmurings of the Gulf had often +reached our ears the day before, and herds had been known, in former +years, to cross from the mainland over to Padre Island, the intervening +Laguna Madre being fordable.</p> + +<p>We were nooning when Flood returned with the news that it would be +impossible to cross our wagon at any point on the bayou, and that we +would have to ford around the mouth of the stream. Where the fresh and +salt water met in the laguna, there had formed a delta, or shallow +bar; and by following its contour we would not have over twelve to +fourteen inches of water, though the half circle was nearly two miles +in length. As we would barely have time to cross that day, the herd +was at once started, veering for the mouth of the Arroyo Colorado. On +reaching it, about the middle of the afternoon, the foreman led the +way, having crossed in the morning and learned the ford. The wagon +followed, the saddle horses came next, while the herd brought up the +rear. It proved good footing on the sandbar, but the water in the +laguna was too salty for the cattle, though the loose horses lay down +and wallowed in it. We were about an hour in crossing, and on reaching +the mainland met a vaquero, who directed us to a large fresh-water +lake a few miles inland, where we camped for the night.</p> + +<p>It proved an ideal camp, with wood, water, and grass in abundance, and +very little range stock to annoy us. We had watered the herd just +before noon, and before throwing them upon the bed ground for the +night, watered them a second time. We had a splendid camp-fire that +night, of dry live oak logs, and after supper was over and the first +guard had taken the herd, smoking and story telling were the order of +the evening. The camp-fire is to all outdoor life what the evening +fireside is to domestic life. After the labors of the day are over, +the men gather around the fire, and the social hour of the day is +spent in yarning. The stories told may run from the sublime to the +ridiculous, from a true incident to a base fabrication, or from a +touching bit of pathos to the most vulgar vulgarity.</p> + +<p>“Have I ever told this outfit my experience with the vigilantes when I +was a kid?” inquired Bull Durham. There was a general negative +response, and he proceeded. “Well, our folks were living on the Frio +at the time, and there was a man in our neighborhood who had an outfit +of four men out beyond Nueces Cañon hunting wild cattle for their +hides. It was necessary to take them out supplies about every so +often, and on one trip he begged my folks to let me go along for +company. I was a slim slip of a colt about fourteen at the time, and +as this man was a friend of ours, my folks consented to let me go +along. We each had a good saddle horse, and two pack mules with +provisions and ammunition for the hunting camp. The first night we +made camp, a boy overtook us with the news that the brother of my +companion had been accidentally killed by a horse, and of course he +would have to return. Well, we were twenty miles on our way, and as it +would take some little time to go back and return with the loaded +mules, I volunteered, like a fool kid, to go on and take the packs +through.</p> + +<p>“The only question was, could I pack and unpack. I had helped him at +this work, double-handed, but now that I was to try it alone, he +showed me what he called a squaw hitch, with which you can lash a pack +single-handed. After putting me through it once or twice, and +satisfying himself that I could do the packing, he consented to let me +go on, he and the messenger returning home during the night. The next +morning I packed without any trouble and started on my way. It would +take me two days yet, poking along with heavy packs, to reach the +hunters. Well, I hadn’t made over eight or ten miles the first +morning, when, as I rounded a turn in the trail, a man stepped out +from behind a rock, threw a gun in my face, and ordered me to hold up +my hands. Then another appeared from the opposite side with his gun +leveled on me. Inside of half a minute a dozen men galloped up from +every quarter, all armed to the teeth. The man on leaving had given me +his gun for company, one of these old smoke-pole, cap-and-ball +six-shooters, but I must have forgotten what guns were for, for I +elevated my little hands nicely. The leader of the party questioned me +as to who I was, and what I was doing there, and what I had in those +packs. That once, at least, I told the truth. Every mother’s son of +them was cursing and cross-questioning me in the same breath. They +ordered me off my horse, took my gun, and proceeded to verify my tale +by unpacking the mules. So much ammunition aroused their suspicions, +but my story was as good as it was true, and they never shook me from +the truth of it. I soon learned that robbery was not their motive, and +the leader explained the situation.</p> + +<p>“A vigilance committee had been in force in that county for some time, +trying to rid the country of lawless characters. But lawlessness got +into the saddle, and had bench warrants issued and served on every +member of this vigilance committee. As the vigilantes numbered several +hundred, there was no jail large enough to hold such a number, so they +were released on parole for appearance at court. When court met, every +man served with a capias”—</p> + +<p>“Hold on! hold your horses just a minute,” interrupted Quince Forrest, +“I want to get that word. I want to make a memorandum of it, for I may +want to use it myself sometime. Capias? Now I have it; go ahead.”</p> + +<p>“When court met, every man served with a bench warrant from the judge +presiding was present, and as soon as court was called to order, a +squad of men arose in the court room, and the next moment the judge +fell riddled with lead. Then the factions scattered to fight it out, +and I was passing through the county while matters were active.</p> + +<p>“They confiscated my gun and all the ammunition in the packs, but +helped me to repack and started me on my way. A happy thought struck +one of the men to give me a letter, which would carry me through +without further trouble, but the leader stopped him, saying, ‘Let the +boy alone. Your letter would hang him as sure as hell’s hot, before he +went ten miles farther.’ I declined the letter. Even then I didn’t +have sense enough to turn back, and inside of two hours I was rounded +up by the other faction. I had learned my story perfectly by this +time, but those packs had to come off again for everything to be +examined. There was nothing in them now but flour and salt and such +things—nothing that they might consider suspicious. One fellow in +this second party took a fancy to my horse, and offered to help hang +me on general principles, but kinder counsels prevailed. They also +helped me to repack, and I started on once more. Before I reached my +destination the following evening, I was held up seven different +times. I got so used to it that I was happily disappointed every +shelter I passed, if some man did not step out and throw a gun in my +face.</p> + +<p>“I had trouble to convince the cattle hunters of my experiences, but +the absence of any ammunition, which they needed worst, at last led +them to give credit to my tale. I was expected home within a week, as +I was to go down on the Nueces on a cow hunt which was making up, and +I only rested one day at the hunters’ camp. On their advice, I took a +different route on my way home, leaving the mules behind me. I never +saw a man the next day returning, and was feeling quite gala on my +good fortune. When evening came on, I sighted a little ranch house +some distance off the trail, and concluded to ride to it and stay +overnight. As I approached, I saw that some one lived there, as there +were chickens and dogs about, but not a person in sight. I dismounted +and knocked on the door, when, without a word, the door was thrown +wide open and a half dozen guns were poked into my face. I was ordered +into the house and given a chance to tell my story again. Whether my +story was true or not, they took no chances on me, but kept me all +night. One of the men took my horse to the stable and cared for him, +and I was well fed and given a place to sleep, but not a man offered a +word of explanation, from which I took it they did not belong to the +vigilance faction. When it came time to go to bed, one man said to me, +‘Now, sonny, don’t make any attempt to get away, and don’t move out of +your bed without warning us, for you’ll be shot as sure as you do. We +won’t harm a hair on your head if you’re telling us the truth; only do +as you’re told, for we’ll watch you.’</p> + +<p>“By this time I had learned to obey orders while in that county, and +got a fair night’s sleep, though there were men going and coming all +night. The next morning I was given my breakfast; my horse, well +cuffed and saddled, was brought to the door, and with this parting +advice I was given permission to go: ‘Son, if you’ve told us the +truth, don’t look back when you ride away. You’ll be watched for the +first ten miles after leaving here, and if you’ve lied to us it will +go hard with you. Now, remember, don’t look back, for these are times +when no one cares to be identified.’ I never questioned that man’s +advice; it was ‘die dog or eat the hatchet’ with me. I mounted my +horse, waved the usual parting courtesies, and rode away. As I turned +into the trail about a quarter mile from the house, I noticed two men +ride out from behind the stable and follow me. I remembered the story +about Lot’s wife looking back, though it was lead and not miracles +that I was afraid of that morning.</p> + +<p>“For the first hour I could hear the men talking and the hoofbeats of +their horses, as they rode along always the same distance behind me. +After about two hours of this one-sided joke, as I rode over a little +hill, I looked out of the corner of my eye back at my escort, still +about a quarter of a mile behind me. One of them noticed me and raised +his gun, but I instantly changed my view, and the moment the hill hid +me, put spurs to my horse, so that when they reached the brow of the +hill, I was half a mile in the lead, burning the earth like a canned +dog. They threw lead close around me, but my horse lengthened the +distance between us for the next five miles, when they dropped +entirely out of sight. By noon I came into the old stage road, and by +the middle of the afternoon reached home after over sixty miles in the +saddle without a halt.”</p> + +<p>Just at the conclusion of Bull’s story, Flood rode in from the herd, +and after picketing his horse, joined the circle. In reply to an +inquiry from one of the boys as to how the cattle were resting, he +replied,—</p> + +<p>“This herd is breaking into trail life nicely. If we’ll just be +careful with them now for the first month, and no bad storms strike us +in the night, we may never have a run the entire trip. That last drink +of water they had this evening gave them a night-cap that’ll last them +until morning. No, there’s no danger of any trouble to-night.”</p> + +<p>For fully an hour after the return of our foreman, we lounged around +the fire, during which there was a full and free discussion of +stampedes. But finally, Flood, suiting the action to the word by +arising, suggested that all hands hunt their blankets and turn in for +the night. A quiet wink from Bull to several of the boys held us for +the time being, and innocently turning to Forrest, Durham inquired,—</p> + +<p>“Where was—when was—was it you that was telling some one about a run +you were in last summer? I never heard you tell it. Where was it?”</p> + +<p>“You mean on the Cimarron last year when we mixed two herds,” said +Quince, who had taken the bait like a bass and was now fully embarked +on a yarn. “We were in rather close quarters, herds ahead and behind +us, when one night here came a cow herd like a cyclone and swept right +through our camp. We tumbled out of our blankets and ran for our +horses, but before we could bridle”—</p> + +<p>Bull had given us the wink, and every man in the outfit fell back, and +the snoring that checked the storyteller was like a chorus of rip saws +running through pine knots. Forrest took in the situation at a glance, +and as he arose to leave, looked back and remarked,—</p> + +<p>“You must all think that’s smart.”</p> + +<p>Before he was out of hearing, Durham said to the rest of us,—</p> + +<p>“A few doses like that will cure him of sucking eggs and acting smart, +interrupting folks.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV<br><span class="small">THE ATASCOSA</span></h2></div> + +<p>For the next few days we paralleled the coast, except when forced +inland by various arms of the Laguna Madre. When about a week out from +the Arroyo Colorado, we encountered the Salt Lagoon, which threw us at +least fifty miles in from the coast. Here we had our last view of salt +water, and the murmurings of the Gulf were heard no more. Our route +now led northward through what were then the two largest ranches in +Texas, the “Running W” and Laurel Leaf, which sent more cattle up the +trail, bred in their own brand, than any other four ranches in the +Lone Star State. We were nearly a week passing through their ranges, +and on reaching Santa Gertruda ranch learned that three trail herds, +of over three thousand head each, had already started in these two +brands, while four more were to follow.</p> + +<p>So far we had been having splendid luck in securing water for the +herd, once a day at least, and often twice and three times. Our herd +was becoming well trail-broken by this time, and for range cattle had +quieted down and were docile and easy to handle. Flood’s years of +experience on the trail made him a believer in the theory that +stampedes were generally due to negligence in not having the herd full +of grass and water on reaching the bed ground at night. Barring +accidents, which will happen, his view is the correct one, if care has +been used for the first few weeks in properly breaking the herd to the +trail. But though hunger and thirst are probably responsible for more +stampedes than all other causes combined, it is the unexpected which +cannot be guarded against. A stampede is the natural result of fear, +and at night or in an uncertain light, this timidity might be imparted +to an entire herd by a flash of lightning or a peal of thunder, while +the stumbling of a night horse, or the scent of some wild animal, +would in a moment’s time, from frightening a few head, so infect a +herd as to throw them into the wildest panic. Amongst the thousands of +herds like ours which were driven over the trail during its brief +existence, none ever made the trip without encountering more or less +trouble from runs. Frequently a herd became so spoiled in this manner +that it grew into a mania with them, so that they would stampede on +the slightest provocation,—or no provocation at all.</p> + +<p>A few days after leaving Santa Gertruda Ranch, we crossed the Nueces +River, which we followed up for several days, keeping in touch with it +for water for the herd. But the Nueces, after passing Oakville, makes +an abrupt turn, doubling back to the southwest; and the Atascosa, one +of its tributaries, became our source of water supply. We were +beginning to feel a degree of overconfidence in the good behavior of +our herd, when one night during the third week out, an incident +occurred in which they displayed their running qualities to our +complete satisfaction.</p> + +<p>It occurred during our guard, and about two o’clock in the morning. +The night was an unusually dark one and the atmosphere was very humid. +After we had been on guard possibly an hour, John Officer and I riding +in one direction on opposite sides of the herd, and The Rebel circling +in the opposite, Officer’s horse suddenly struck a gopher burrow with +his front feet, and in a moment horse and rider were sprawling on the +ground. The accident happened but a few rods from the sleeping herd, +which instantly came to their feet as one steer, and were off like a +flash. I was riding my Nigger Boy, and as the cattle headed toward me, +away from the cause of their fright, I had to use both quirt and rowel +to keep clear of the onrush. Fortunately we had a clear country near +the bed ground, and while the terrified cattle pressed me close, my +horse kept the lead. In the rumbling which ensued, all sounds were +submerged by the general din; and I was only brought to the +consciousness that I was not alone by seeing several distinct flashes +from six-shooters on my left, and, realizing that I also had a gun, +fired several times in the air in reply. I was soon joined by Priest +and Officer, the latter having lost no time in regaining his seat in +the saddle, and the three of us held together some little distance, +for it would have been useless to attempt to check or turn this +onslaught of cattle in their first mad rush.</p> + +<p>The wagon was camped about two hundred yards from the bed ground, and +the herd had given ample warning to the boys asleep, so that if we +three could hold our position in the lead, help would come to us as +soon as the men in camp could reach their horses. Realizing the wide +front of the running cattle, Priest sent Officer to the left and +myself to the right, to point in the leaders in order to keep the herd +from splitting or scattering, while he remained in the centre and led +the herd. I soon gained the outside of the leaders, and by dropping +back and coming up the line, pointed them in to the best of my +ability. I had repeated this a number of times, even quirting some +cattle along the outside, or burning a little powder in the face of +some obstinate leader, when across the herd and to the rear I saw a +succession of flashes like fireflies, which told me the boys were +coming to our assistance.</p> + +<p>Running is not a natural gait with cattle, and if we could only hold +them together and prevent splitting up, in time they would tire, while +the rear cattle could be depended on to follow the leaders. All we +could hope to do was to force them to run straight, and in this +respect we were succeeding splendidly, though to a certain extent it +was a guess in the dark. When they had run possibly a mile, I noticed +a horseman overtake Priest. After they had ridden together a moment, +one of them came over to my point, and the next minute our foreman was +racing along by my side. In his impatience to check the run, he took +me with him, and circling the leaders we reached the left point, by +which time the remainder of the outfit had come up. Now massing our +numbers, we fell on the left point, and amid the flash of guns +deflected their course for a few moments. A dozen men, however, can +cover but a small space, and we soon realized that we had turned only +a few hundred head, for the momentum of the main body bore steadily +ahead. Abandoning what few cattle we had turned, which, owing to their +running ability, soon resumed their places in the lead, we attempted +to turn them to the left. Stretching out our line until there was a +man about every twenty feet, we threw our force against the right +point and lead in the hope of gradually deviating their course. For a +few minutes the attempt promised to be successful, but our cordon was +too weak and the cattle went through between the riders, and we soon +found a portion of our forces on either side of the herd, while a few +of the boys were riding out of the rush in the lead.</p> + +<p>On finding our forces thus divided, the five or six of us who remained +on the right contented ourselves by pointing in the leaders, for the +cattle, so far as we could tell, were running compactly. Our foreman, +however, was determined to turn the run, and after a few minutes’ time +rejoined us on the right, when under his leadership we circled the +front of the herd and collected on the left point, when, for a third +time, we repeated the same tactics in our efforts to turn the +stampede. But in this, which was our final effort, we were attempting +to turn them slowly and on a much larger circle, and with a promise of +success. Suddenly in the dark we encountered a mesquite thicket into +which the lead cattle tore with a crashing of brush and a rattle of +horns that sent a chill up and down my spine. But there was no time to +hesitate, for our horses were in the thicket, and with the herd +closing in on us there was no alternative but to go through it, every +man for himself. I gave Nigger a free rein, shutting my eyes and +clutching both cantle and pommel to hold my seat; the black responded +to the rowel and tore through the thicket, in places higher than my +head, and came out in an open space considerably in the lead of the +cattle.</p> + +<p>This thicket must have been eight or ten rods wide, and checked the +run to a slight extent; but as they emerged from it, they came out in +scattering flies and resumed their running. Being alone, and not +knowing which way to turn, I rode to the right and front and soon +found myself in the lead of quite a string of cattle. Nigger and I +were piloting them where they listed, when Joe Stallings, hatless +himself and his horse heaving, overtook me, and the two of us gave +those lead cattle all the trouble we knew how. But we did not attempt +to turn them, for they had caught their wind in forcing the thicket, +and were running an easy stroke. Several times we worried the leaders +into a trot, but as other cattle in the rear came up, we were +compelled to loosen out and allow them to resume their running, or +they would have scattered on us like partridges. At this stage of the +run, we had no idea where the rest of the outfit were, but both of us +were satisfied the herd had scattered on leaving the mesquite thicket, +and were possibly then running in half a dozen bunches like the one we +were with.</p> + +<p>Stallings’s horse was badly winded, and on my suggestion, he dropped +out on one side to try to get some idea how many cattle we were +leading. He was gone some little time, and as Nigger cantered along +easily in the lead, I managed to eject the shells from my six-shooter +and refill the cylinder. On Joe’s overtaking me again, he reported +that there was a slender column of cattle, half a mile in length, +following. As one man could easily lead this string of the herd until +daybreak, I left Stallings with them and rode out to the left nearly a +quarter of a mile, listening to hear if there were any cattle running +to the left of those we were leading. It took me but a few minutes to +satisfy myself that ours was the outside band on the left, and after I +rejoined Joe, we made an effort to check our holding.</p> + +<p>There were about fifty or sixty big steers in the lead of our bunch, +and after worrying them into a trot, we opened in their front with our +six-shooters, shooting into the ground in their very faces, and were +rewarded by having them turn tail and head the other way. Taking +advantage of the moment, we jumped our horses on the retreating +leaders, and as fast as the rear cattle forged forward, easily turned +them. Leaving Joe to turn the rear as they came up, I rode to the +lead, unfastening my slicker as I went, and on reaching the turned +leaders, who were running on an angle from their former course, +flaunted my “fish” in their faces until they reentered the rear guard +of our string, and we soon had a mill going which kept them busy, and +rested our horses. Once we had them milling, our trouble, as far as +running was concerned, was over, for all two of us could hope to do +was to let them exhaust themselves in this endless circle.</p> + +<p>It then lacked an hour of daybreak, and all we could do was to ride +around and wait for daylight. In the darkness preceding dawn, we had +no idea of the number of our bunch, except as we could judge from the +size and compactness of the milling cattle, which must have covered an +acre or more. The humidity of the atmosphere, which had prevailed +during the night, by dawn had changed until a heavy fog, cutting off +our view on every hand, left us as much at sea as we had been +previously. But with the break of day we rode through our holding a +number of times, splitting and scattering the milling cattle, and as +the light of day brightened, we saw them quiet down and go to grazing +as though they had just arisen from the bed ground. It was over an +hour before the fog lifted sufficiently to give us any idea as to our +whereabouts, and during the interim both Stallings and myself rode to +the nearest elevation, firing a number of shots in the hope of getting +an answer from the outfit, but we had no response.</p> + +<p>When the sun was sufficiently high to scatter the mists which hung in +clouds, there was not an object in sight by which we could determine +our location. Whether we had run east, west, or south during the night +neither of us knew, though both Stallings and myself were satisfied +that we had never crossed the trail, and all we did know for a +certainty was that we had between six and seven hundred head of +cattle. Stallings had lost his hat, and I had one sleeve missing and +both outside pockets torn out of my coat, while the mesquite thorns +had left their marks on the faces of both of us, one particularly ugly +cut marking Joe’s right temple. “I’ve worn leggins for the last ten +years,” said Stallings to me, as we took an inventory of our +disfigurements, “and for about ten seconds in forcing that mesquite +thicket was the only time I ever drew interest on my investment. +They’re a heap like a six-shooter—wear them all your life and never +have any use for them.”</p> + +<p>With a cigarette for breakfast, I left Joe to look after our bunch, +and after riding several miles to the right, cut the trail of quite a +band of cattle. In following up this trail I could easily see that +some one was in their lead, as they failed to hold their course in any +one direction for any distance, as free cattle would. After following +this trail about three miles, I sighted the band of cattle, and on +overtaking them, found two of our boys holding about half as many as +Stallings had. They reported that The Rebel and Bob Blades had been +with them until daybreak, but having the freshest horses had left them +with the dawn and ridden away to the right, where it was supposed the +main body of the herd had run. As Stallings’s bunch was some three or +four miles to the rear and left of this band, Wyatt Roundtree +suggested that he go and pilot in Joe’s cattle, as he felt positive +that the main body were somewhere to our right. On getting directions +from me as to where he would find our holding, he rode away, and I +again rode off to the right, leaving Rod Wheat with their catch.</p> + +<p>The sun was now several hours high, and as my black’s strength was +standing the test bravely, I cross-cut the country and was soon on +another trail of our stampeded cattle. But in following this trail, I +soon noticed two other horsemen preceding me. Knowing that my services +would be too late, I only followed far enough to satisfy myself of the +fact. The signs left by the running cattle were as easy to follow as a +public road, and in places where the ground was sandy, the sod was cut +up as if a regiment of cavalry had charged across it. On again bearing +off to the right, I rode for an elevation which ought to give me a +good view of the country. Slight as this elevation was, on reaching +it, I made out a large band of cattle under herd, and as I was on the +point of riding to them, saw our wagon and saddle horses heave in +sight from a northwest quarter. Supposing they were following up the +largest trail, I rode for the herd, where Flood and two of the boys +had about twelve hundred cattle. From a comparison of notes, our +foreman was able to account for all the men with the exception of two, +and as these proved to be Blades and Priest, I could give him a +satisfactory explanation as to their probable whereabouts. On my +report of having sighted the wagon and <i>remuda</i>, Flood at once ordered +me to meet and hurry them in, as not only he, but Strayhorn and +Officer, were badly in need of a change of mounts.</p> + +<p>I learned from McCann, who was doing the trailing from the wagon, that +the regular trail was to the west, the herd having crossed it within a +quarter of a mile after leaving the bed ground. Joining Honeyman, I +took the first horse which came within reach of my rope, and with a +fresh mount under me, we rushed the saddle horses past the wagon and +shortly came up with our foreman. There we rounded in the horses as +best we could without the aid of the wagon, and before McCann arrived, +all had fresh mounts and were ready for orders. This was my first trip +on the trail, and I was hungry and thirsty enough to hope something +would be said about eating, but that seemed to be the last idea in our +foreman’s mind. Instead, he ordered me to take the two other boys with +me, and after putting them on the trail of the bunch which The Rebel +and Blades were following, to drift in what cattle we had held on our +left. But as we went, we managed to encounter the wagon and get a +drink and a canteen of water from McCann before we galloped away on +our mission. After riding a mile or so together, we separated, and on +my arrival at the nearest bunch, I found Roundtree and Stallings +coming up with the larger holding. Throwing the two hunches together, +we drifted them a free clip towards camp. We soon sighted the main +herd, and saw across to our right and about five miles distant two of +our men bringing in another hunch. As soon as we turned our cattle +into the herd, Flood ordered me, on account of my light weight, to +meet this bunch, find out where the last cattle were, and go to their +assistance.</p> + +<p>With a hungry look in the direction of our wagon, I obeyed, and on +meeting Durham and Borrowstone, learned that the outside bunch on the +right, which had got into the regular trail, had not been checked +until daybreak. All they knew about their location was that the up +stage from Oakville had seen two men with Circle Dot cattle about five +miles below, and had sent up word by the driver that they had +something like four hundred head. With this meagre information, I rode +away in the direction where one would naturally expect to find our +absent men, and after scouring the country for an hour, sighted a +single horseman on an elevation, whom from the gray mount I knew for +Quince Forrest. He was evidently on the lookout for some one to pilot +them in. They had been drifting like lost sheep ever since dawn, but +we soon had their cattle pointed in the right direction, and Forrest +taking the lead, Quarternight and I put the necessary push behind +them. Both of them cursed me roundly for not bringing them a canteen +of water, though they were well aware that in an emergency like the +present, our foreman would never give a thought to anything but the +recovery of the herd. Our comfort was nothing; men were cheap, but +cattle cost money.</p> + +<p>We reached the camp about two o’clock, and found the outfit cutting +out range cattle which had been absorbed into the herd during the run. +Throwing in our contingent, we joined in the work, and though Forrest +and Quarternight were as good as afoot, there were no orders for a +change of mounts, to say nothing of food and drink. Several hundred +mixed cattle were in the herd, and after they had been cut out, we +lined our cattle out for a count. In the absence of Priest, Flood and +John Officer did the counting, and as the hour of the day made the +cattle sluggish, they lined through between the counters as though +they had never done anything but walk in their lives. The count showed +sixteen short of twenty-eight hundred, which left us yet over three +hundred out. But good men were on their trail, and leaving two men on +herd, the rest of us obeyed the most welcome orders of the day when +Flood intimated that we would “eat a bite and go after the rest.”</p> + +<p>As we had been in our saddles since one or two o’clock the morning +before, it is needless to add that our appetites were equal to the +spread which our cook had waiting for us. Our foreman, as though +fearful of the loss of a moment’s time, sent Honeyman to rustle in the +horses before we had finished our dinners. Once the <i>remuda</i> was +corralled, under the rush of a tireless foreman, dinner was quickly +over, and fresh horses became the order of the moment. The Atascosa, +our nearest water, lay beyond the regular trail to the west, and +leaving orders for the outfit to drift the herd into it and water, +Flood and myself started in search of our absent men, not forgetting +to take along two extra horses as a remount for Blades and Priest. The +leading of these extra horses fell to me, but with the loose end of a +rope in Jim Flood’s hand as he followed, it took fast riding to keep +clear of them.</p> + +<p>After reaching the trail of the missing cattle, our foreman set a pace +for five or six miles which would have carried us across the Nueces by +nightfall, and we were only checked by Moss Strayhorn riding in on an +angle and intercepting us in our headlong gait. The missing cattle +were within a mile of us to the right, and we turned and rode to them. +Strayhorn explained to us that the cattle had struck some recent +fencing on their course, and after following down the fence several +miles had encountered an offset, and the angle had held the squad +until The Rebel and Blades overtook them. When Officer and he reached +them, they were unable to make any accurate count, because of the +range cattle amongst them, and they had considered it advisable to +save horseflesh, and not cut them until more help was available. When +we came up with the cattle, my bunkie and Blades looked wistfully at +our saddles, and anticipating their want, I untied my slicker, well +remembering the reproof of Quarternight and Forrest, and produced a +full canteen of water,—warm of course, but no less welcome.</p> + +<p>No sooner were saddles shifted than we held up the bunch, cut out the +range cattle, counted, and found we had some three hundred and thirty +odd Circle Dots,—our number more than complete. With nothing now +missing, Flood took the loose horses and two of the boys with him and +returned to the herd, leaving three of us behind to bring in this last +contingent of our stampeded cattle. This squad were nearly all large +steers, and had run fully twenty miles, before, thanks to an angle in +a fence, they had been checked. As our foreman galloped away, leaving +us behind, Bob Blades said,—</p> + +<p>“Hasn’t the boss got a wiggle on himself today! If he’d made this old +world, he’d have made it in half a day, and gone fishing in the +afternoon—if his horses had held out.”</p> + +<p>We reached the Atascosa shortly after the arrival of the herd, and +after holding the cattle on the water for an hour, grazed them the +remainder of the evening, for if there was any virtue in their having +full stomachs, we wanted to benefit from it. While grazing that +evening, we recrossed the trail on an angle, and camped in the most +open country we could find, about ten miles below our camp of the +night before. Every precaution was taken to prevent a repetition of +the run; our best horses were chosen for night duty, as our regular +ones were too exhausted; every advantage of elevation for a bed ground +was secured, and thus fortified against accident, we went into camp +for the night. But the expected never happens on the trail, and the +sun arose the next morning over our herd grazing in peace and +contentment on the flowery prairies which border on the Atascosa.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V<br><span class="small">A DRY DRIVE</span></h2></div> + +<p>Our cattle quieted down nicely after this run, and the next few weeks +brought not an incident worth recording. There was no regular trail +through the lower counties, so we simply kept to the open country. +Spring had advanced until the prairies were swarded with grass and +flowers, while water, though scarcer, was to be had at least once +daily. We passed to the west of San Antonio—an outfitting point which +all herds touched in passing northward—and Flood and our cook took +the wagon and went in for supplies. But the outfit with the herd kept +on, now launched on a broad, well-defined trail, in places +seventy-five yards wide, where all local trails blent into the one +common pathway, known in those days as the Old Western Trail. It is +not in the province of this narrative to deal with the cause or origin +of this cattle trail, though it marked the passage of many hundred +thousand cattle which preceded our Circle Dots, and was destined to +afford an outlet to several millions more to follow. The trail proper +consisted of many scores of irregular cow paths, united into one broad +passageway, narrowing and widening as conditions permitted, yet ever +leading northward. After a few years of continued use, it became as +well defined as the course of a river.</p> + +<p>Several herds which had started farther up country were ahead of ours, +and this we considered an advantage, for wherever one herd could go, +it was reasonable that others could follow. Flood knew the trail as +well as any of the other foremen, but there was one thing he had not +taken into consideration: the drouth of the preceding summer. True, +there had been local spring showers, sufficient to start the grass +nicely, but water in such quantities as we needed was growing daily +more difficult to find. The first week after leaving San Antonio, our +foreman scouted in quest of water a full day in advance of the herd. +One evening he returned to us with the news that we were in for a dry +drive, for after passing the next chain of lakes it was sixty miles to +the next water, and reports regarding the water supply even after +crossing this arid stretch were very conflicting.</p> + +<p>“While I know every foot of this trail through here,” said the +foreman, “there’s several things that look scaly. There are only five +herds ahead of us, and the first three went through the old route, but +the last two, after passing Indian Lakes, for some reason or other +turned and went westward. These last herds may be stock cattle, +pushing out west to new ranges; but I don’t like the outlook. It would +take me two days to ride across and back, and by that time we could be +two thirds of the way through. I’ve made this drive before without a +drop of water on the way, and wouldn’t dread it now, if there was any +certainty of water at the other end. I reckon there’s nothing to do +but tackle her; but isn’t this a hell of a country? I’ve ridden fifty +miles to-day and never saw a soul.”</p> + +<p>The Indian Lakes, some seven in number, were natural reservoirs with +rocky bottoms, and about a mile apart. We watered at ten o’clock the +next day, and by night camped fifteen miles on our way. There was +plenty of good grazing for the cattle and horses, and no trouble was +experienced the first night. McCann had filled an extra twenty gallon +keg for this trip. Water was too precious an article to be lavish +with, so we shook the dust from our clothing and went unwashed. This +was no serious deprivation, and no one could be critical of another, +for we were all equally dusty and dirty.</p> + +<p>The next morning by daybreak the cattle were thrown off the bed ground +and started grazing before the sun could dry out what little moisture +the grass had absorbed during the night. The heat of the past week had +been very oppressive, and in order to avoid it as much as possible, we +made late and early drives. Before the wagon passed the herd during +the morning drive, what few canteens we had were filled with water for +the men. The <i>remuda</i> was kept with the herd, and four changes of +mounts were made during the day, in order not to exhaust any one +horse. Several times for an hour or more, the herd was allowed to lie +down and rest; but by the middle of the afternoon thirst made them +impatient and restless, and the point men were compelled to ride +steadily in the lead in order to hold the cattle to a walk. A number +of times during the afternoon we attempted to graze them, but not +until the twilight of evening was it possible.</p> + +<p>After the fourth change of horses was made, Honeyman pushed on ahead +with the saddle stock and overtook the wagon. Under Flood’s orders he +was to tie up all the night horses, for if the cattle could be induced +to graze, we would not bed them down before ten that night, and all +hands would be required with the herd. McCann had instructions to make +camp on the divide, which was known to be twenty-five miles from our +camp of the night before, or forty miles from the Indian Lakes. As we +expected, the cattle grazed willingly after nightfall, and with a fair +moon, we allowed them to scatter freely while grazing forward. The +beacon of McCann’s fire on the divide was in sight over an hour before +the herd grazed up to camp, all hands remaining to bed the thirsty +cattle. The herd was given triple the amount of space usually required +for bedding, and even then for nearly an hour scarcely half of them +lay down.</p> + +<p>We were handling the cattle as humanely as possible under the +circumstances. The guards for the night were doubled, six men on the +first half and the same on the latter, Bob Blades being detailed to +assist Honeyman in night-herding the saddle horses. If any of us got +more than an hour’s sleep that night, he was lucky. Flood, McCann, and +the horse wranglers did not even try to rest. To those of us who could +find time to eat, our cook kept open house. Our foreman knew that a +well-fed man can stand an incredible amount of hardship, and +appreciated the fact that on the trail a good cook is a valuable +asset. Our outfit therefore was cheerful to a man, and jokes and songs +helped to while away the weary hours of the night.</p> + +<p>The second guard, under Flood, pushed the cattle off their beds an +hour before dawn, and before they were relieved had urged the herd +more than five miles on the third day’s drive over this waterless +mesa. In spite of our economy of water, after breakfast on this third +morning there was scarcely enough left to fill the canteens for the +day. In view of this, we could promise ourselves no midday +meal—except a can of tomatoes to the man; so the wagon was ordered to +drive through to the expected water ahead, while the saddle horses +were held available as on the day before for frequent changing of +mounts. The day turned out to be one of torrid heat, and before the +middle of the forenoon, the cattle lolled their tongues in despair, +while their sullen lowing surged through from rear to lead and back +again in piteous yet ominous appeal. The only relief we could offer +was to travel them slowly, as they spurned every opportunity offered +them either to graze or to lie down.</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img004"> +<img src="images/004.jpg" class="w75" alt="HEAT AND THIRST"> +</span></p> +<p class="center caption">HEAT AND THIRST<br></p> + +<p>It was nearly noon when we reached the last divide, and sighted the +scattering timber of the expected watercourse. The enforced order of +the day before—to hold the herd in a walk and prevent exertion and +heating—now required four men in the lead, while the rear followed +over a mile behind, dogged and sullen. Near the middle of the +afternoon, McCann returned on one of his mules with the word that it +was a question if there was water enough to water even the horse +stock. The preceding outfit, so he reported, had dug a shallow well in +the bed of the creek, from which he had filled his kegs, but the stock +water was a mere loblolly. On receipt of this news, we changed mounts +for the fifth time that day; and Flood, taking Forrest, the cook, and +the horse wrangler, pushed on ahead with the <i>remuda</i> to the waterless +stream.</p> + +<p>The outlook was anything but encouraging. Flood and Forrest scouted +the creek up and down for ten miles in a fruitless search for water. +The outfit held the herd back until the twilight of evening, when +Flood returned and confirmed McCann’s report. It was twenty miles yet +to the next water ahead, and if the horse stock could only be watered +thoroughly, Flood was determined to make the attempt to nurse the herd +through to water. McCann was digging an extra well, and he expressed +the belief that by hollowing out a number of holes, enough water could +be secured for the saddle stock. Honeyman had corralled the horses and +was letting only a few go to the water at a time, while the night +horses were being thoroughly watered as fast as the water rose in the +well.</p> + +<p>Holding the herd this third night required all hands. Only a few men +at a time were allowed to go into camp and eat, for the herd refused +even to lie down. What few cattle attempted to rest were prevented by +the more restless ones. By spells they would mill, until riders were +sent through the herd at a break-neck pace to break up the groups. +During these milling efforts of the herd, we drifted over a mile from +camp; but by the light of moon and stars and the number of riders, +scattering was prevented. As the horses were loose for the night, we +could not start them on the trail until daybreak gave us a change of +mounts, so we lost the early start of the morning before.</p> + +<p>Good cloudy weather would have saved us, but in its stead was a sultry +morning without a breath of air, which bespoke another day of sizzling +heat. We had not been on the trail over two hours before the heat +became almost unbearable to man and beast. Had it not been for the +condition of the herd, all might yet have gone well; but over three +days had now elapsed without water for the cattle, and they became +feverish and ungovernable. The lead cattle turned back several times, +wandering aimlessly in any direction, and it was with considerable +difficulty that the herd could be held on the trail. The rear overtook +the lead, and the cattle gradually lost all semblance of a trail herd. +Our horses were fresh, however, and after about two hours’ work, we +once more got the herd strung out in trailing fashion; but before a +mile had been covered, the leaders again turned, and the cattle +congregated into a mass of unmanageable animals, milling and lowing in +their fever and thirst. The milling only intensified their sufferings +from the heat, and the outfit split and quartered them again and +again, in the hope that this unfortunate outbreak might be checked. No +sooner was the milling stopped than they would surge hither and yon, +sometimes half a mile, as ungovernable as the waves of an ocean. After +wasting several hours in this manner, they finally turned back over +the trail, and the utmost efforts of every man in the outfit failed to +check them. We threw our ropes in their faces, and when this failed, +we resorted to shooting; but in defiance of the fusillade and the +smoke they walked sullenly through the line of horsemen across their +front. Six-shooters were discharged so close to the leaders’ faces as +to singe their hair, yet, under a noonday sun, they disregarded this +and every other device to turn them, and passed wholly out of our +control. In a number of instances wild steers deliberately walked +against our horses, and then for the first time a fact dawned on us +that chilled the marrow in our bones,—<i>the herd was going blind</i>.</p> + +<p>The bones of men and animals that lie bleaching along the trails +abundantly testify that this was not the first instance in which the +plain had baffled the determination of man. It was now evident that +nothing short of water would stop the herd, and we rode aside and let +them pass. As the outfit turned back to the wagon, our foreman seemed +dazed by the sudden and unexpected turn of affairs, but rallied and +met the emergency.</p> + +<p>“There’s but one thing left to do,” said he, as we rode along, “and +that is to hurry the outfit back to Indian Lakes. The herd will travel +day and night, and instinct can be depended on to carry them to the +only water they know. It’s too late to be of any use now, but it’s +plain why those last two herds turned off at the lakes; some one had +gone back and warned them of the very thing we’ve met. We must beat +them to the lakes, for water is the only thing that will check them +now. It’s a good thing that they are strong, and five or six days +without water will hardly kill any. It was no vague statement of the +man who said if he owned hell and Texas, he’d rent Texas and live in +hell, for if this isn’t Billy hell, I’d like to know what you call +it.”</p> + +<p>We spent an hour watering the horses from the wells of our camp of the +night before, and about two o’clock started back over the trail for +Indian Lakes. We overtook the abandoned herd during the afternoon. +They were strung out nearly five miles in length, and were walking +about a three-mile gait. Four men were given two extra horses apiece +and left to throw in the stragglers in the rear, with instructions to +follow them well into the night, and again in the morning as long as +their canteens lasted. The remainder of the outfit pushed on without a +halt, except to change mounts, and reached the lakes shortly after +midnight. There we secured the first good sleep of any consequence for +three days.</p> + +<p>It was fortunate for us that there were no range cattle at these +lakes, and we had only to cover a front of about six miles to catch +the drifting herd. It was nearly noon the next day before the cattle +began to arrive at the water holes in squads of from twenty to fifty. +Pitiful objects as they were, it was a novelty to see them reach the +water and slack their thirst. Wading out into the lakes until their +sides were half covered, they would stand and low in a soft moaning +voice, often for half an hour before attempting to drink. Contrary to +our expectation, they drank very little at first, but stood in the +water for hours. After coming out, they would lie down and rest for +hours longer, and then drink again before attempting to graze, their +thirst overpowering hunger. That they were blind there was no +question, but with the causes that produced it once removed, it was +probable their eyesight would gradually return.</p> + +<p>By early evening, the rear guard of our outfit returned and reported +the tail end of the herd some twenty miles behind when they left them. +During the day not over a thousand head reached the lakes, and towards +evening we put these under herd and easily held them during the night. +All four of the men who constituted the rear guard were sent back the +next morning to prod up the rear again, and during the night at least +a thousand more came into the lakes, which held them better than a +hundred men. With the recovery of the cattle our hopes grew, and with +the gradual accessions to the herd, confidence was again completely +restored. Our saddle stock, not having suffered as had the cattle, +were in a serviceable condition, and while a few men were all that +were necessary to hold the herd, the others scoured the country for +miles in search of any possible stragglers which might have missed the +water.</p> + +<p>During the forenoon of the third day at the lakes, Nat Straw, the +foreman of Ellison’s first herd on the trail, rode up to our camp. He +was scouting for water for his herd, and, when our situation was +explained and he had been interrogated regarding loose cattle, gave us +the good news that no stragglers in our road brand had been met by +their outfit. This was welcome news, for we had made no count yet, and +feared some of them, in their locoed condition, might have passed the +water during the night. Our misfortune was an ill wind by which Straw +profited, for he had fully expected to keep on by the old route, but +with our disaster staring him in the face, a similar experience was to +be avoided. His herd reached the lakes during the middle of the +afternoon, and after watering, turned and went westward over the new +route taken by the two herds which preceded us. He had a herd of about +three thousand steers, and was driving to the Dodge market. After the +experience we had just gone through, his herd and outfit were a +welcome sight. Flood made inquiries after Lovell’s second herd, under +my brother Bob as foreman, but Straw had seen or heard nothing of +them, having come from Goliad County with his cattle.</p> + +<p>After the Ellison herd had passed on and out of sight, our squad which +had been working the country to the northward, over the route by which +the abandoned herd had returned, came in with the information that +that section was clear of cattle, and that they had only found three +head dead from thirst. On the fourth morning, as the herd left the bed +ground, a count was ordered, and to our surprise we counted out +twenty-six head more than we had received on the banks of the Rio +Grande a month before. As there had been but one previous occasion to +count, the number of strays absorbed into our herd was easily +accounted for by Priest: “If a steer herd could increase on the trail, +why shouldn’t ours, that had over a thousand cows in it?” The +observation was hardly borne out when the ages of our herd were taken +into consideration. But 1882 in Texas was a liberal day and +generation, and “cattle stealing” was too drastic a term to use for +the chance gain of a few cattle, when the foundations of princely +fortunes were being laid with a rope and a branding iron.</p> + +<p>In order to give the Ellison herd a good start of us, we only moved +our wagon to the farthest lake and went into camp for the day. The +herd had recovered its normal condition by this time, and of the +troubles of the past week not a trace remained. Instead, our herd +grazed in leisurely content over a thousand acres, while with the +exception of a few men on herd, the outfit lounged around the wagon +and beguiled the time with cards.</p> + +<p>We had undergone an experience which my bunkie, The Rebel, termed “an +interesting incident in his checkered career,” but which not even he +would have cared to repeat. That night while on night herd +together—the cattle resting in all contentment—we rode one round +together, and as he rolled a cigarette he gave me an old war story:—</p> + +<p>“They used to tell the story in the army, that during one of the +winter retreats, a cavalryman, riding along in the wake of the column +at night, saw a hat apparently floating in the mud and water. In the +hope that it might be a better hat than the one he was wearing, he +dismounted to get it. Feeling his way carefully through the ooze until +he reached the hat, he was surprised to find a man underneath and +wearing it. ‘Hello, comrade,’ he sang out, ‘can I lend you a hand?’</p> + +<p>“‘No, no,’ replied the fellow, ‘I’m all right; I’ve got a good mule +yet under me.’”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI<br><span class="small">A REMINISCENT NIGHT</span></h2></div> + +<p>On the ninth morning we made our second start from the Indian Lakes. +An amusing incident occurred during the last night of our camp at +these water holes. Coyotes had been hanging around our camp for +several days, and during the quiet hours of the night these scavengers +of the plain had often ventured in near the wagon in search of scraps +of meat or anything edible. Rod Wheat and Ash Borrowstone had made +their beds down some distance from the wagon; the coyotes as they +circled round the camp came near their bed, and in sniffing about +awoke Borrowstone. There was no more danger of attack from these +cowards than from field mice, but their presence annoyed Ash, and as +he dared not shoot, he threw his boots at the varmints. Imagine his +chagrin the next morning to find that one boot had landed among the +banked embers of the camp-fire, and was burned to a crisp. It was +looked upon as a capital joke by the outfit, as there was no telling +when we would reach a store where he could secure another pair.</p> + +<p>The new trail, after bearing to the westward for several days, turned +northward, paralleling the old one, and a week later we came into the +old trail over a hundred miles north of the Indian Lakes. With the +exception of one thirty-mile drive without water, no fault could be +found with the new trail. A few days after coming into the old trail, +we passed Mason, a point where trail herds usually put in for +supplies. As we passed during the middle of the afternoon, the wagon +and a number of the boys went into the burg. Quince Forrest and Billy +Honeyman were the only two in the outfit for whom there were any +letters, with the exception of a letter from Lovell, which was common +property. Never having been over the trail before, and not even +knowing that it was possible to hear from home, I wasn’t expecting any +letter; but I felt a little twinge of homesickness that night when +Honeyman read us certain portions of his letter, which was from his +sister. Forrest’s letter was from a sweetheart, and after reading it a +few times, he burnt it, and that was all we ever knew of its contents, +for he was too foxy to say anything, even if it had not been +unfavorable. Borrowstone swaggered around camp that evening in a new +pair of boots, which had the Lone Star set in filigree-work in their +red tops.</p> + +<p>At our last camp at the lakes, The Rebel and I, as partners, had been +shamefully beaten in a game of seven-up by Bull Durham and John +Officer, and had demanded satisfaction in another trial around the +fire that night. We borrowed McCann’s lantern, and by the aid of it +and the camp-fire had an abundance of light for our game. In the +absence of a table, we unrolled a bed and sat down Indian fashion over +a game of cards in which all friendship ceased.</p> + +<p>The outfit, with the exception of myself, had come from the same +neighborhood, and an item in Honeyman’s letter causing considerable +comment was a wedding which had occurred since the outfit had left. It +seemed that a number of the boys had sparked the bride in times past, +and now that she was married, their minds naturally became reminiscent +over old sweethearts.</p> + +<p>“The way I make it out,” said Honeyman, in commenting on the news, “is +that the girl had met this fellow over in the next county while +visiting her cousins the year before. My sister gives it as a +horseback opinion that she’d been engaged to this fellow nearly eight +months; girls, you know, sabe each other that way. Well, it won’t +affect my appetite any if all the girls I know get married while I’m +gone.”</p> + +<p>“You certainly have never experienced the tender passion,” said Fox +Quarternight to our horse wrangler, as he lighted his pipe with a +brand from the fire. “Now I have. That’s the reason why I sympathize +with these old beaus of the bride. Of course I was too old to stand +any show on her string, and I reckon the fellow who got her ain’t so +powerful much, except his veneering and being a stranger, which was a +big advantage. To be sure, if she took a smile to this stranger, no +other fellow could check her with a three-quarter rope and a snubbing +post. I’ve seen girls walk right by a dozen good fellows and fawn over +some scrub. My experience teaches me that when there’s a woman in it, +it’s haphazard pot luck with no telling which way the cat will hop. +You can’t play any system, and merit cuts little figure in general +results.”</p> + +<p>“Fox,” said Durham, while Officer was shuffling the cards, “your auger +seems well oiled and working keen to-night. Suppose you give us that +little experience of yours in love affairs. It will be a treat to +those of us who have never been in love, and won’t interrupt the game +a particle. Cut loose, won’t you?”</p> + +<p>“It’s a long time back,” said Quarternight, meditatively, “and the +scars have all healed, so I don’t mind telling it. I was born and +raised on the border of the Blue Grass Region in Kentucky. I had the +misfortune to be born of poor but honest parents, as they do in +stories; no hero ever had the advantage of me in that respect. In love +affairs, however, it’s a high card in your hand to be born rich. The +country around my old home had good schools, so we had the advantage +of a good education. When I was about nineteen, I went away from home +one winter to teach school—a little country school about fifteen +miles from home. But in the old States fifteen miles from home makes +you a dead rank stranger. The trustee of the township was shucking +corn when I went to apply for the school. I simply whipped out my peg +and helped him shuck out a shock or two while we talked over school +matters. The dinner bell rang, and he insisted on my staying for +dinner with him. Well, he gave me a better school than I had asked +for—better neighborhood, he said—and told me to board with a certain +family who had no children; he gave his reasons, but that’s +immaterial. They were friends of his, so I learned afterwards. They +proved to be fine people. The woman was one of those kindly souls who +never know where to stop. She planned and schemed to marry me off in +spite of myself. The first month that I was with them she told me all +about the girls in that immediate neighborhood. In fact, she rather +got me unduly excited, being a youth and somewhat verdant. She dwelt +powerful heavy on a girl who lived in a big brick house which stood +back of the road some distance. This girl had gone to school at a +seminary for young ladies near Lexington,—studied music and painting +and was ’way up on everything. She described her to me as black-eyed +with raven tresses, just like you read about in novels.</p> + +<p>“Things were rocking along nicely, when a few days before Christmas a +little girl who belonged to the family who lived in the brick house +brought me a note one morning. It was an invitation to take supper +with them the following evening. The note was written in a pretty +hand, and the name signed to it—I’m satisfied now it was a forgery. +My landlady agreed with me on that point; in fact, she may have +mentioned it first. I never ought to have taken her into my confidence +like I did. But I wanted to consult her, showed her the invitation, +and asked her advice. She was in the seventh heaven of delight; had me +answer it at once, accept the invitation with pleasure and a lot of +stuff that I never used before—she had been young once herself. I +used up five or six sheets of paper in writing the answer, spoilt one +after another, and the one I did send was a flat failure compared to +the one I received. Well, the next evening when it was time to start, +I was nervous and uneasy. It was nearly dark when I reached the house, +but I wanted it that way. Say, but when I knocked on the front door of +that house it was with fear and trembling. ‘Is this Mr. Quarternight?’ +inquired a very affable lady who received me. I knew I was one of old +man Quarternight’s seven boys, and admitted that that was my name, +though it was the first time any one had ever called me <i>mister</i>. I +was welcomed, ushered in, and introduced all around. There were a few +small children whom I knew, so I managed to talk to them. The girl +whom I was being braced against was not a particle overrated, but +sustained the Kentucky reputation for beauty. She made herself so +pleasant and agreeable that my fears soon subsided. When the man of +the house came in I was cured entirely. He was gruff and hearty, +opened his mouth and laughed deep. I built right up to him. We talked +about cattle and horses until supper was announced. He was really +sorry I hadn’t come earlier, so as to look at a three year old colt +that he set a heap of store by. He showed him to me after supper with +a lantern. Fine colt, too. I don’t remember much about the supper, +except that it was fine and I came near spilling my coffee several +times, my hands were so large and my coat sleeves so short. When we +returned from looking at the colt, we went into the parlor. Say, +fellows, it was a little the nicest thing that ever I went against. +Carpet that made you think you were going to bog down every step, +springy like marsh land, and I was glad I came. Then the younger +children were ordered to retire, and shortly afterward the man and his +wife followed suit.</p> + +<p>“When I heard the old man throw his heavy boots on the floor in the +next room, I realized that I was left all alone with their charming +daughter. All my fears of the early part of the evening tried to crowd +on me again, but were calmed by the girl, who sang and played on the +piano with no audience but me. Then she interested me by telling her +school experiences, and how glad she was that they were over. Finally +she lugged out a great big family album, and sat down aside of me on +one of these horsehair sofas. That album had a clasp on it, a buckle +of pure silver, same as these eighteen dollar bridles. While we were +looking at the pictures—some of the old varmints had fought in the +Revolutionary war, so she said—I noticed how close we were sitting +together. Then we sat farther apart after we had gone through the +album, one on each end of the sofa, and talked about the neighborhood, +until I suddenly remembered that I had to go. While she was getting my +hat and I was getting away, somehow she had me promise to take dinner +with them on Christmas.</p> + +<p>“For the next two or three months it was hard to tell if I lived at my +boarding house or at the brick. If I failed to go, my landlady would +hatch up some errand and send me over. If she hadn’t been such a good +woman, I’d never forgive her for leading me to the sacrifice like she +did. Well, about two weeks before school was out, I went home over +Saturday and Sunday. Those were fatal days in my life. When I returned +on Monday morning, there was a letter waiting for me. It was from the +girl’s mamma. There had been a quilting in the neighborhood on +Saturday, and at this meet of the local gossips, some one had hinted +that there was liable to be a wedding as soon as school was out. Mamma +was present, and neither admitted nor denied the charge. But there was +a woman at this quilting who had once lived over in our neighborhood +and felt it her duty to enlighten the company as to who I was. I got +all this later from my landlady. ‘Law me,’ said this woman, ‘folks +round here in this section think our teacher is the son of that big +farmer who raises so many cattle and horses. Why, I’ve known both +families of those Quarternights for nigh on to thirty year. Our +teacher is one of old John Fox’s boys, the Irish Quarternights, who +live up near the salt licks on Doe Run. They were always so poor that +the children never had enough to eat and hardly half enough to wear.’</p> + +<p>“This plain statement of facts fell like a bombshell on mamma. She +started a private investigation of her own, and her verdict was in +that letter. It was a centre shot. That evening when I locked the +schoolhouse door it was for the last time, for I never unlocked it +again. My landlady, dear old womanly soul, tried hard to have me teach +the school out at least, but I didn’t see it that way. The cause of +education in Kentucky might have gone straight to eternal hell, before +I’d have stayed another day in that neighborhood. I had money enough +to get to Texas with, and here I am. When a fellow gets it burnt into +him like a brand that way once, it lasts him quite a while. He’ll +feel his way next time.”</p> + +<p>“That was rather a raw deal to give a fellow,” said Officer, who had +been listening while playing cards. “Didn’t you never see the girl +again?”</p> + +<p>“No, nor you wouldn’t want to either if that letter had been written +to you. And some folks claim that seven is a lucky number; there were +seven boys in our family and nary one ever married.”</p> + +<p>“That experience of Fox’s,” remarked Honeyman, after a short silence, +“is almost similar to one I had. Before Lovell and Flood adopted me, I +worked for a horse man down on the Nueces. Every year he drove up the +trail a large herd of horse stock. We drove to the same point on the +trail each year, and I happened to get acquainted up there with a +family that had several girls in it. The youngest girl in the family +and I seemed to understand each other fairly well. I had to stay at +the horse camp most of the time, and in one way and another did not +get to see her as much as I would have liked. When we sold out the +herd, I hung around for a week or so, and spent a month’s wages +showing her the cloud with the silver lining. She stood it all easy, +too. When the outfit went home, of course I went with them. I was +banking plenty strong, however, that next year, if there was a good +market in horses, I’d take her home with me. I had saved my wages and +rustled around, and when we started up the trail next year, I had +forty horses of my own in the herd. I had figured they would bring me +a thousand dollars, and there was my wages besides.</p> + +<p>“When we reached this place, we held the herd out twenty miles, so it +was some time before I got into town to see the girl. But the first +time I did get to see her I learned that an older sister of hers, who +had run away with some renegade from Texas a year or so before, had +drifted back home lately with tears in her eyes and a big fat baby boy +in her arms. She warned me to keep away from the house, for men from +Texas were at a slight discount right then in that family. The girl +seemed to regret it and talked reasonable, and I thought I could see +encouragement. I didn’t crowd matters, nor did her folks forget me +when they heard that Byler had come in with a horse herd from the +Nueces. I met the girl away from home several times during the summer, +and learned that they kept hot water on tap to scald me if I ever +dared to show up. One son-in-law from Texas had simply surfeited that +family—there was no other vacancy. About the time we closed out and +were again ready to go home, there was a cattleman’s ball given in +this little trail town. We stayed over several days to take in this +ball, as I had some plans of my own. My girl was at the ball all easy +enough, but she warned me that her brother was watching me. I paid no +attention to him, and danced with her right along, begging her to run +away with me. It was obviously the only play to make. But the more I’d +’suade her the more she’d ’fuse. The family was on the prod bigger +than a wolf, and there was no use reasoning with them. After I had had +every dance with her for an hour or so, her brother coolly stepped in +and took her home. The next morning he felt it his duty, as his +sister’s protector, to hunt me up and inform me that if I even spoke +to his sister again, he’d shoot me like a dog.</p> + +<p>“‘Is that a bluff, or do you mean it for a real play?’ I inquired, +politely.</p> + +<p>“‘You’ll find that it will be real enough,’ he answered, angrily.</p> + +<p>“‘Well, now, that’s too bad,’ I answered; ‘I’m really sorry that I +can’t promise to respect your request. But this much I can assure you: +any time that you have the leisure and want to shoot me, just cut +loose your dog. But remember this one thing—that it will be my second +shot.’”</p> + +<p>“Are you sure you wasn’t running a blazer yourself, or is the wind +merely rising?” inquired Durham, while I was shuffling the cards for +the next deal.</p> + +<p>“Well, if I was, I hung up my gentle honk before his eyes and ears and +gave him free license to call it. The truth is, I didn’t pay any more +attention to him than I would to an empty bottle. I reckon the girl +was all right, but the family were these razor-backed, barnyard +savages. It makes me hot under the collar yet when I think of it. +They’d have lawed me if I had, but I ought to have shot him and +checked the breed.”</p> + +<p>“Why didn’t you run off with her?” inquired Fox, dryly.</p> + +<p>“Well, of course a man of your nerve is always capable of advising +others. But you see, I’m strong on the breed. Now a girl can’t show +her true colors like the girl’s brother did, but get her in the +harness once, and then she’ll show you the white of her eye, balk, and +possibly kick over the wagon tongue. No, I believe in the +breed—blood’ll tell.”</p> + +<p>“I worked for a cowman once,” said Bull, irrelevantly, “and they told +it on him that he lost twenty thousand dollars the night he was +married.”</p> + +<p>“How, gambling?” I inquired.</p> + +<p>“No. The woman he married claimed to be worth twenty thousand dollars +and she never had a cent. Spades trump?”</p> + +<p>“No; hearts,” replied The Rebel. “I used to know a foreman up in +DeWitt County,—‘Honest’ John Glen they called him. He claimed the +only chance he ever had to marry was a widow, and the reason he didn’t +marry her was, he was too honest to take advantage of a dead man.”</p> + +<p>While we paid little attention to wind or weather, this was an ideal +night, and we were laggard in seeking our blankets. Yarn followed +yarn; for nearly every one of us, either from observation or from +practical experience, had a slight acquaintance with the great +mastering passion. But the poetical had not been developed in us to an +appreciative degree, so we discussed the topic under consideration +much as we would have done horses or cattle.</p> + +<p>Finally the game ended. A general yawn went the round of the loungers +about the fire. The second guard had gone on, and when the first rode +in, Joe Stallings, halting his horse in passing the fire, called out +sociably, “That muley steer, the white four year old, didn’t like to +bed down amongst the others, so I let him come out and lay down by +himself. You’ll find him over on the far side of the herd. You all +remember how wild he was when we first started? Well, you can ride +within three feet of him to-night, and he’ll grunt and act sociable +and never offer to get up. I promised him that he might sleep alone as +long as he was good; I just love a good steer. Make down our bed, +pardner; I’ll be back as soon as I picket my horse.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII<br><span class="small">THE COLORADO</span></h2></div> + +<p>The month of May found our Circle Dot herd, in spite of all drawbacks, +nearly five hundred miles on its way. For the past week we had been +traveling over that immense tableland which skirts the arid portion of +western Texas. A few days before, while passing the blue mountains +which stand as a southern sentinel in the chain marking the headwaters +of the Concho River, we had our first glimpse of the hills. In its +almost primitive condition, the country was generous, supplying every +want for sustenance of horses and cattle. The grass at this stage of +the season was well matured, the herd taking on flesh in a very +gratifying manner, and, while we had crossed some rocky country, lame +and sore-footed cattle had as yet caused us no serious trouble.</p> + +<p>One morning when within one day’s drive of the Colorado River, as our +herd was leaving the bed ground, the last guard encountered a bunch of +cattle drifting back down the trail. There were nearly fifty head of +the stragglers; and as one of our men on guard turned them to throw +them away from our herd, the road brand caught his eye, and he +recognized the strays as belonging to the Ellison herd which had +passed us at the Indian Lakes some ten days before. Flood’s attention +once drawn to the brand, he ordered them thrown into our herd. It was +evident that some trouble had occurred with the Ellison cattle, +possibly a stampede; and it was but a neighborly act to lend any +assistance in our power. As soon as the outfit could breakfast, mount, +and take the herd, Flood sent Priest and me to scout the country to +the westward of the trail, while Bob Blades and Ash Borrowstone +started on a similar errand to the eastward, with orders to throw in +any drifting cattle in the Ellison road brand. Within an hour after +starting, the herd encountered several straggling bands, and as Priest +and I were on the point of returning to the herd, we almost overrode a +bunch of eighty odd head lying down in some broken country. They were +gaunt and tired, and The Rebel at once pronounced their stiffened +movements the result of a stampede.</p> + +<p>We were drifting them back towards the trail, when Nat Straw and two +of his men rode out from our herd and met us. “I always did claim that +it was better to be born lucky than handsome,” said Straw as he rode +up. “One week Flood saves me from a dry drive, and the very next one, +he’s just the right distance behind to catch my drift from a nasty +stampede. Not only that, but my peelers and I are riding Circle Dot +horses, as well as reaching the wagon in time for breakfast and lining +our flues with Lovell’s good chuck. It’s too good luck to last, I’m +afraid.</p> + +<p>“I’m not hankering for the dramatic in life, but we had a run last +night that would curl your hair. Just about midnight a bunch of range +cattle ran into us, and before you could say Jack Robinson, our dogies +had vamoosed the ranch and were running in half a dozen different +directions. We rounded them up the best we could in the dark, and then +I took a couple of men and came back down the trail about twenty miles +to catch any drift when day dawned. But you see there’s nothing like +being lucky and having good neighbors,—cattle caught, fresh horses, +and a warm breakfast all waiting for you. I’m such a lucky dog, it’s a +wonder some one didn’t steal me when I was little. I can’t help it, +but some day I’ll marry a banker’s daughter, or fall heir to a ranch +as big as old McCulloch County.”</p> + +<p>Before meeting us, Straw had confided to our foreman that he could +assign no other plausible excuse for the stampede than that it was the +work of cattle rustlers. He claimed to know the country along the +Colorado, and unless it had changed recently, those hills to the +westward harbored a good many of the worst rustlers in the State. He +admitted it might have been wolves chasing the range cattle, but +thought it had the earmarks of being done by human wolves. He +maintained that few herds had ever passed that river without loss of +cattle, unless the rustlers were too busy elsewhere to give the +passing herd their attention. Straw had ordered his herd to drop back +down the trail about ten miles from their camp of the night previous, +and about noon the two herds met on a branch of Brady Creek. By that +time our herd had nearly three hundred head of the Ellison cattle, so +we held it up and cut theirs out. Straw urged our foreman, whatever he +did, not to make camp in the Colorado bottoms or anywhere near the +river, if he didn’t want a repetition of his experience. After +starting our herd in the afternoon, about half a dozen of us turned +back and lent a hand in counting Straw’s herd, which proved to be over +a hundred head short, and nearly half his outfit were still out +hunting cattle. Acting on Straw’s advice, we camped that night some +five or six miles back from the river on the last divide. From the +time the second guard went on until the third was relieved, we took +the precaution of keeping a scout outriding from a half to three +quarters of a mile distant from the herd, Flood and Honeyman serving +in that capacity. Every precaution was taken to prevent a surprise; +and in case anything did happen, our night horses tied to the wagon +wheels stood ready saddled and bridled for any emergency. But the +night passed without incident.</p> + +<p>An hour or two after the herd had started the next morning, four well +mounted, strange men rode up from the westward, and representing +themselves as trail cutters, asked for our foreman. Flood met them, in +his usual quiet manner, and after admitting that we had been troubled +more or less with range cattle, assured our callers that if there was +anything in the herd in the brands they represented, he would gladly +hold it up and give them every opportunity to cut their cattle out. As +he was anxious to cross the river before noon, he invited the visitors +to stay for dinner, assuring them that before starting the herd in the +afternoon, he would throw the cattle together for their inspection. +Flood made himself very agreeable, inquiring into cattle and range +matters in general as well as the stage of water in the river ahead. +The spokesman of the trail cutters met Flood’s invitation to dinner +with excuses about the pressing demands on his time, and urged, if it +did not seriously interfere with our plans, that he be allowed to +inspect the herd before crossing the river. His reasons seemed trivial +and our foreman was not convinced.</p> + +<p>“You see, gentlemen,” he said, “in handling these southern cattle, we +must take advantage of occasions. We have timed our morning’s drive so +as to reach the river during the warmest hour of the day, or as near +noon as possible. You can hardly imagine what a difference there is, +in fording this herd, between a cool, cloudy day and a clear, hot one. +You see the herd is strung out nearly a mile in length now, and to +hold them up and waste an hour or more for your inspection would +seriously disturb our plans. And then our wagon and <i>remuda</i> have gone +on with orders to noon at the first good camp beyond the river. I +perfectly understand your reasons, and you equally understand mine; +but I will send a man or two back to help you recross any cattle you +may find in our herd. Now, if a couple of you gentlemen will ride +around on the far side with me, and the others will ride up near the +lead, we will trail the cattle across when we reach the river without +cutting the herd into blocks.”</p> + +<p>Flood’s affability, coupled with the fact that the lead cattle were +nearly up to the river, won his point. Our visitors could only yield, +and rode forward with our lead swing men to assist in forcing the lead +cattle into the river. It was swift water, but otherwise an easy +crossing, and we allowed the herd, after coming out on the farther +side, to spread out and graze forward at its pleasure. The wagon and +saddle stock were in sight about a mile ahead, and leaving two men on +herd to drift the cattle in the right direction, the rest of us rode +leisurely on to the wagon, where dinner was waiting. Flood treated our +callers with marked courtesy during dinner, and casually inquired if +any of their number had seen any cattle that day or the day previous +in the Ellison road brand. They had not, they said, explaining that +their range lay on both sides of the Concho, and that during the trail +season they kept all their cattle between that river and the main +Colorado. Their work had kept them on their own range recently, except +when trail herds were passing and needed to be looked through for +strays. It sounded as though our trail cutters could also use +diplomacy on occasion.</p> + +<p>When dinner was over and we had caught horses for the afternoon and +were ready to mount, Flood asked our guests for their credentials as +duly authorized trail cutters. They replied that they had none, but +offered in explanation the statement that they were merely cutting in +the interest of the immediate locality, which required no written +authority.</p> + +<p>Then the previous affability of our foreman turned to iron. “Well, +men,” said he, “if you have no authority to cut this trail, then you +don’t cut this herd. I must have inspection papers before I can move a +brand out of the county in which it is bred, and I’ll certainly let no +other man, local or duly appointed, cut an animal out of this herd +without written and certified authority. You know that without being +told, or ought to. I respect the rights of every man posted on a trail +to cut it. If you want to see my inspection papers, you have a right +to demand them, and in turn I demand of you your credentials, showing +who you work for and the list of brands you represent; otherwise no +harm’s done; nor do you cut any herd that I’m driving.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said one of the men, “I saw a couple of head in my own +individual brand as we rode up the herd. I’d like to see the man who +says that I haven’t the right to claim my own brand, anywhere I find +it.”</p> + +<p>“If there’s anything in our herd in your individual brand,” said +Flood, “all you have to do is to give me the brand, and I’ll cut it +for you. What’s your brand?”</p> + +<p>“The ‘Window Sash.’”</p> + +<p>“Have any of you boys seen such a brand in our herd?” inquired Flood, +turning to us as we all stood by our horses ready to start.</p> + +<p>“I didn’t recognize it by that name,” replied Quince Forrest, who rode +in the swing on the branded side of the cattle and belonged to the +last guard, “but I remember seeing such a brand, though I would have +given it a different name. Yes, come to think, I’m sure I saw it, and +I’ll tell you where: yesterday morning when I rode out to throw those +drifting cattle away from our herd, I saw that brand among the Ellison +cattle which had stampeded the night before. When Straw’s outfit cut +theirs out yesterday, they must have left the ‘Window Sash’ cattle +with us; those were the range cattle which stampeded his herd. It +looked to me a little blotched, but if I’d been called on to name it, +I’d called it a thief’s brand. If these gentlemen claim them, though, +it’ll only take a minute to cut them out.”</p> + +<p>“This outfit needn’t get personal and fling out their insults,” +retorted the claimant of the “Window Sash” brand, “for I’ll claim my +own if there were a hundred of you. And you can depend that any animal +I claim, I’ll take, if I have to go back to the ranch and bring twenty +men to help me do it.”</p> + +<p>“You won’t need any help to get all that’s coming to you,” replied our +foreman, as he mounted his horse. “Let’s throw the herd together, +boys, and cut these ‘Window Sash’ cattle out. We don’t want any cattle +in our herd that stampede on an open range at midnight; they must +certainly be terrible wild.”</p> + +<p>As we rode out together, our trail cutters dropped behind and kept a +respectable distance from the herd while we threw the cattle together. +When the herd had closed to the required compactness, Flood called our +trail cutters up and said, “Now, men, each one of you can take one of +my outfit with you and inspect this herd to your satisfaction. If you +see anything there you claim, we’ll cut it out for you, but don’t +attempt to cut anything yourselves.”</p> + +<p>We rode in by pairs, a man of ours with each stranger, and after +riding leisurely through the herd for half an hour, cut out three head +in the blotched brand called the “Window Sash.” Before leaving the +herd, one of the strangers laid claim to a red cow, but Fox +Quarternight refused to cut the animal.</p> + +<p>When the pair rode out the stranger accosted Flood. “I notice a cow of +mine in there,” said he, “not in your road brand, which I claim. Your +man here refuses to cut her for me, so I appeal to you.”</p> + +<p>“What’s her brand, Fox?” asked Flood.</p> + +<p>“She’s a ‘Q’ cow, but the colonel here thinks it’s an ‘O.’ I happen to +know the cow and the brand both; she came into the herd four hundred +miles south of here while we were watering the herd in the Nueces +River. The ‘Q’ is a little dim, but it’s plenty plain to hold her for +the present.”</p> + +<p>“If she’s a ‘Q’ cow I have no claim on her,” protested the stranger, +“but if the brand is an ‘O,’ then I claim her as a stray from our +range, and I don’t care if she came into your herd when you were +watering in the San Fernando River in Old Mexico, I’ll claim her just +the same. I’m going to ask you to throw her.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll throw her for you,” coolly replied Fox, “and bet you my saddle +and six-shooter on the side that it isn’t an ‘O,’ and even if it was, +you and all the thieves on the Concho can’t take her. I know a few of +the simple principles of rustling myself. Do you want her thrown?”</p> + +<p>“That’s what I asked for.”</p> + +<p>“Throw her, then,” said Flood, “and don’t let’s parley.”</p> + +<p>Fox rode back in to the herd, and after some little delay, located the +cow and worked her out to the edge of the cattle. Dropping his rope, +he cut her out clear of the herd, and as she circled around in an +endeavor to reenter, he rode close and made an easy cast of the rope +about her horns. As he threw his horse back to check the cow, I rode +to his assistance, my rope in hand, and as the cow turned ends, I +heeled her. A number of the outfit rode up and dismounted, and one of +the boys taking her by the tail, we threw the animal as humanely as +possible. In order to get at the brand, which was on the side, we +turned the cow over, when Flood took out his knife and cut the hair +away, leaving the brand easily traceable.</p> + +<p>“What is she, Jim?” inquired Fox, as he sat his horse holding the rope +taut.</p> + +<p>“I’ll let this man who claims her answer that question,” replied +Flood, as her claimant critically examined the brand to his +satisfaction.</p> + +<p>“I claim her as an ‘O’ cow,” said the stranger, facing Flood.</p> + +<p>“Well, you claim more than you’ll ever get,” replied our foreman. +“Turn her loose, boys.”</p> + +<p>The cow was freed and turned back into the herd, but the claimant +tried to argue the matter with Flood, claiming the branding iron had +simply slipped, giving it the appearance of a “Q” instead of an “O” as +it was intended to be. Our foreman paid little attention to the +stranger, but when his persistence became annoying checked his +argument by saying,—</p> + +<p>“My Christian friend, there’s no use arguing this matter. You asked to +have the cow thrown, and we threw her. You might as well try to tell +me that the cow is white as to claim her in any other brand than a +‘Q.’ You may read brands as well as I do, but you’re wasting time +arguing against the facts. You’d better take your ‘Window Sash’ cattle +and ride on, for you’ve cut all you’re going to cut here to-day. But +before you go, for fear I may never see you again, I’ll take this +occasion to say that I think you’re common cow thieves.”</p> + +<p>By his straight talk, our foreman stood several inches higher in our +estimation as we sat our horses, grinning at the discomfiture of the +trail cutters, while a dozen six-shooters slouched languidly at our +hips to give emphasis to his words.</p> + +<p>“Before going, I’ll take this occasion to say to you that you will see +me again,” replied the leader, riding up and confronting Flood. “You +haven’t got near enough men to bluff me. As to calling me a cow thief, +that’s altogether too common a name to offend any one; and from what I +can gather, the name wouldn’t miss you or your outfit over a thousand +miles. Now in taking my leave, I want to tell you that you’ll see me +before another day passes, and what’s more, I’ll bring an outfit with +me and we’ll cut your herd clean to your road brand, if for no better +reasons, just to learn you not to be so insolent.”</p> + +<p>After hanging up this threat, Flood said to him as he turned to ride +away, “Well, now, my young friend, you’re bargaining for a whole lot +of fun. I notice you carry a gun and quite naturally suppose you shoot +a little as occasion requires. Suppose when you and your outfit come +back, you come a-shooting, so we’ll know who you are; for I’ll +promise you there’s liable to be some powder burnt when you cut this +herd.”</p> + +<p>Amid jeers of derision from our outfit, the trail cutters drove off +their three lonely “Window Sash” cattle. We had gained the point we +wanted, and now in case of any trouble, during inspection or at night, +we had the river behind us to catch our herd. We paid little attention +to the threat of our disappointed callers, but several times Straw’s +remarks as to the character of the residents of those hills to the +westward recurred to my mind. I was young, but knew enough, instead of +asking foolish questions, to keep mum, though my eyes and ears drank +in everything. Before we had been on the trail over an hour, we met +two men riding down the trail towards the river. Meeting us, they +turned and rode along with our foreman, some distance apart from the +herd, for nearly an hour, and curiosity ran freely among us boys +around the herd as to who they might be. Finally Flood rode forward to +the point men and gave the order to throw off the trail and make a +short drive that afternoon. Then in company with the two strangers, he +rode forward to overtake our wagon, and we saw nothing more of him +until we reached camp that evening. This much, however, our point man +was able to get from our foreman: that the two men were members of a +detachment of Rangers who had been sent as a result of information +given by the first herd over the trail that year. This herd, which had +passed some twenty days ahead of us, had met with a stampede below the +river, and on reaching Abilene had reported the presence of rustlers +preying on through herds at the crossing of the Colorado.</p> + +<p>On reaching camp that evening with the herd, we found ten of the +Rangers as our guests for the night. The detachment was under a +corporal named Joe Hames, who had detailed the two men we had met +during the afternoon to scout this crossing. Upon the information +afforded by our foreman about the would-be trail cutters, these +scouts, accompanied by Flood, had turned back to advise the Ranger +squad, encamped in a secluded spot about ten miles northeast of the +Colorado crossing. They had only arrived late the day before, and this +was their first meeting with any trail herd to secure any definite +information.</p> + +<p>Hames at once assumed charge of the herd, Flood gladly rendering every +assistance possible. We night herded as usual, but during the two +middle guards, Hames sent out four of his Rangers to scout the +immediate outlying country, though, as we expected, they met with no +adventure. At daybreak the Rangers threw their packs into our wagon +and their loose stock into our <i>remuda</i>, and riding up the trail a +mile or more, left us, keeping well out of sight. We were all hopeful +now that the trail cutters of the day before would make good their +word and return. In this hope we killed time for several hours that +morning, grazing the cattle and holding the wagon in the rear. Sending +the wagon ahead of the herd had been agreed on as the signal between +our foreman and the Ranger corporal, at first sight of any posse +behind us. We were beginning to despair of their coming, when a dust +cloud appeared several miles back down the trail. We at once hurried +the wagon and <i>remuda</i> ahead to warn the Rangers, and allowed the +cattle to string out nearly a mile in length.</p> + +<p>A fortunate rise in the trail gave us a glimpse of the cavalcade in +our rear, which was entirely too large to be any portion of Straw’s +outfit; and shortly we were overtaken by our trail cutters of the day +before, now increased to twenty-two mounted men. Flood was +intentionally in the lead of the herd, and the entire outfit galloped +forward to stop the cattle. When they had nearly reached the lead, +Flood turned back and met the rustlers.</p> + +<p>“Well, I’m as good as my word,” said the leader, “and I’m here to trim +your herd as I promised you I would. Throw off and hold up your +cattle, or I’ll do it for you.”</p> + +<p>Several of our outfit rode up at this juncture in time to hear Flood’s +reply: “If you think you’re equal to the occasion, hold them up +yourself. If I had as big an outfit <i>as</i> you have, I wouldn’t ask any +man to help me. I want to watch a Colorado River outfit work a +herd,—I might learn something. My outfit will take a rest, or perhaps +hold the cut or otherwise clerk for you. But be careful and don’t +claim anything that you are not certain is your own, for I reserve the +right to look over your cut before you drive it away.”</p> + +<p>The rustlers rode in a body to the lead, and when they had thrown the +herd off the trail, about half of them rode back and drifted forward +the rear cattle. Flood called our outfit to one side and gave us our +instructions, the herd being entirely turned over to the rustlers. +After they began cutting, we rode around and pretended to assist in +holding the cut as the strays in our herd were being cut out. When the +red “Q” cow came out, Fox cut her back, which nearly precipitated a +row, for she was promptly recut to the strays by the man who claimed +her the day before. Not a man of us even cast a glance up the trail, +or in the direction of the Rangers; but when the work was over, Flood +protested with the leader of the rustlers over some five or six head +of dim-branded cattle which actually belonged to our herd. But he was +exultant and would listen to no protests, and attempted to drive away +the cut, now numbering nearly fifty head. Then we rode across their +front and stopped them.</p> + +<p>In the parley which ensued, harsh words were passing, when one of our +outfit blurted out in well feigned surprise,—</p> + +<p>“Hello, who’s that, coming over there?”</p> + +<p>A squad of men were riding leisurely through our abandoned herd, +coming over to where the two outfits were disputing.</p> + +<p>“What’s the trouble here, gents?” inquired Hames as he rode up.</p> + +<p>“Who are you and what might be your business, may I ask?” inquired the +leader of the rustlers.</p> + +<p>“Personally I’m nobody, but officially I’m Corporal in Company B, +Texas Rangers—well, if there isn’t smiling Ed Winters, the biggest +cattle thief ever born in Medina County. Why, I’ve got papers for you; +for altering the brands on over fifty head of ‘C’ cattle into a ‘G’ +brand. Come here, dear, and give me that gun of yours. Come on, and no +false moves or funny work or I’ll shoot the white out of your eye. +Surround this layout, lads, and let’s examine them more closely.”</p> + +<p>At this command, every man in our outfit whipped out his six-shooter, +the Rangers leveled their carbines on the rustlers, and in less than a +minute’s time they were disarmed and as crestfallen a group of men as +ever walked into a trap of their own setting. Hames got out a “black +book,” and after looking the crowd over concluded to hold the entire +covey, as the descriptions of the “wanted” seemed to include most of +them. Some of the rustlers attempted to explain their presence, but +Hames decided to hold the entire party, “just to learn them to be more +careful of their company the next time,” as he put it.</p> + +<p>The cut had drifted away into the herd again during the arrest, and +about half our outfit took the cattle on to where the wagon camped for +noon. McCann had anticipated an extra crowd for dinner and was +prepared for the emergency. When dinner was over and the Rangers had +packed and were ready to leave, Hames said to Flood,—</p> + +<p>“Well, Flood, I’m powerful glad I met you and your outfit. This has +been one of the biggest round-ups for me in a long time. You don’t +know how proud I am over this bunch of beauties. Why, there’s liable +to be enough rewards out for this crowd to buy my girl a new pair of +shoes. And say, when your wagon comes into Abilene, if I ain’t there, +just drive around to the sheriff’s office and leave those captured +guns. I’m sorry to load your wagon down that way, but I’m short on +pack mules and it will be a great favor to me; besides, these fellows +are not liable to need any guns for some little time. I like your +company and your chuck, Flood, but you see how it is; the best of +friends must part; and then I have an invitation to take dinner in +Abilene by to-morrow noon, so I must be a-riding. Adios, everybody.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII<br><span class="small">ON THE BRAZOS AND WICHITA</span></h2></div> + +<p>As we neared Buffalo Gap a few days later, a deputy sheriff of Taylor +County, who resided at the Gap, rode out and met us. He brought an +urgent request from Hames to Flood to appear as a witness against the +rustlers, who were to be given a preliminary trial at Abilene the +following day. Much as he regretted to leave the herd for even a +single night, our foreman finally consented to go. To further his +convenience we made a long evening drive, camping for the night well +above Buffalo Gap, which at that time was little more than a landmark +on the trail. The next day we made an easy drive and passed Abilene +early in the afternoon, where Flood rejoined us, but refused any one +permission to go into town, with the exception of McCann with the +wagon, which was a matter of necessity. It was probably for the best, +for this cow town had the reputation of setting a pace that left the +wayfarer purseless and breathless, to say nothing about headaches. +Though our foreman had not reached those mature years in life when the +pleasures and frivolities of dissipation no longer allure, yet it was +but natural that he should wish to keep his men from the temptation of +the cup that cheers and the wiles of the siren. But when the wagon +returned that evening, it was evident that our foreman was human, for +with a box of cigars which were promised us were several bottles of +Old Crow.</p> + +<p>After crossing the Clear Fork of the Brazos a few days later, we +entered a well-watered, open country, through which the herd made +splendid progress. At Abilene, we were surprised to learn that our +herd was the twentieth that had passed that point. The weather so far +on our trip had been exceptionally good; only a few showers had +fallen, and those during the daytime. But we were now nearing a +country in which rain was more frequent, and the swollen condition of +several small streams which have their headwaters in the Staked Plains +was an intimation to us of recent rains to the westward of our route. +Before reaching the main Brazos, we passed two other herds of yearling +cattle, and were warned of the impassable condition of that river for +the past week. Nothing daunted, we made our usual drive; and when the +herd camped that night, Flood, after scouting ahead to the river, +returned with the word that the Brazos had been unfordable for over a +week, five herds being waterbound.</p> + +<p>As we were then nearly twenty miles south of the river, the next +morning we threw off the trail and turned the herd to the northeast, +hoping to strike the Brazos a few miles above Round Timber ferry. Once +the herd was started and their course for the day outlined to our +point men by definite landmarks, Flood and Quince Forrest set out to +locate the ferry and look up a crossing. Had it not been for our +wagon, we would have kept the trail, but as there was no ferry on the +Brazos at the crossing of the western trail, it was a question either +of waiting or of making this detour. Then all the grazing for several +miles about the crossing was already taken by the waterbound herds, +and to crowd up and trespass on range already occupied would have been +a violation of an unwritten law. Again, no herd took kindly to another +attempting to pass them when in traveling condition the herds were on +an equality. Our foreman had conceived the scheme of getting past +these waterbound herds, if possible, which would give us a clear field +until the next large watercourse was reached.</p> + +<p>Flood and Forrest returned during the noon hour, the former having +found, by swimming, a passable ford near the mouth of Monday Creek, +while the latter reported the ferry in “apple-pie order.” No sooner, +then, was dinner over than the wagon set out for the ferry under +Forrest as pilot, though we were to return to the herd once the ferry +was sighted. The mouth of Monday Creek was not over ten miles below +the regular trail crossing on the Brazos, and much nearer our noon +camp than the regular one; but the wagon was compelled to make a +direct elbow, first turning to the eastward, then doubling back after +the river was crossed. We held the cattle off water during the day, so +as to have them thirsty when they reached the river. Flood had swum it +during the morning, and warned us to be prepared for fifty or sixty +yards of swimming water in crossing. When within a mile, we held up +the herd and changed horses, every man picking out one with a tested +ability to swim. Those of us who were expected to take the water as +the herd entered the river divested ourselves of boots and clothing, +which we intrusted to riders in the rear. The approach to crossing was +gradual, but the opposite bank was abrupt, with only a narrow +passageway leading out from the channel. As the current was certain to +carry the swimming cattle downstream, we must, to make due allowance, +take the water nearly a hundred yards above the outlet on the other +shore. All this was planned out in advance by our foreman, who now +took the position of point man on the right hand or down the +riverside; and with our saddle horses in the immediate lead, we +breasted the angry Brazos.</p> + +<p>The water was shallow as we entered, and we reached nearly the middle +of the river before the loose saddle horses struck swimming water. +Honeyman was on their lee, and with the cattle crowding in their rear, +there was no alternative but to swim. A loose horse swims easily, +however, and our <i>remuda</i> readily faced the current, though it was +swift enough to carry them below the passageway on the opposite side. +By this time the lead cattle were adrift, and half a dozen of us were +on their lower side, for the footing under the cutbank was narrow, and +should the cattle become congested on landing, some were likely to +drown. For a quarter of an hour it required cool heads to keep the +trail of cattle moving into the water and the passageway clear on the +opposite landing. While they were crossing, the herd represented a +large letter “U,” caused by the force of the current drifting the +cattle downstream, or until a foothold was secured on the farther +side. Those of us fortunate enough to have good swimming horses swam +the river a dozen times, and then after the herd was safely over, swam +back to get our clothing. It was a thrilling experience to us younger +lads of the outfit, and rather attractive; but the elder and more +experienced men always dreaded swimming rivers. Their reasons were +made clear enough when, a fortnight later, we crossed Red River, where +a newly made grave was pointed out to us, amongst others of men who +had lost their lives while swimming cattle.</p> + +<p>Once the bulk of the cattle were safely over, with no danger of +congestion on the farther bank, they were allowed to loiter along +under the cutbank and drink to their hearts’ content. Quite a number +strayed above the passageway, and in order to rout them out, Bob +Blades, Moss Strayhorn, and I rode out through the outlet and up the +river, where we found some of them in a passageway down a dry arroyo. +The steers had found a soft, damp place in the bank, and were so busy +horning the waxy, red mud, that they hardly noticed our approach until +we were within a rod of them. We halted our horses and watched their +antics. The kneeling cattle were cutting the bank viciously with their +horns and matting their heads with the red mud, but on discovering our +presence, they curved their tails and stampeded out as playfully as +young lambs on a hillside.</p> + +<p>“Can you sabe where the fun comes in to a steer, to get down on his +knees in the mud and dirt, and horn the bank and muss up his curls and +enjoy it like that?” inquired Strayhorn of Blades and me.</p> + +<p>“Because it’s healthy and funny besides,” replied Bob, giving me a +cautious wink. “Did you never hear of people taking mud baths? You’ve +seen dogs eat grass, haven’t you? Well, it’s something on the same +order. Now, if I was a student of the nature of animals, like you are, +I’d get off my horse and imagine I had horns, and scar and otherwise +mangle that mud bank shamefully. I’ll hold your horse if you want to +try it—some of the secrets of the humor of cattle might be revealed +to you.”</p> + +<p>The banter, though given in jest, was too much for this member of a +craft that can always be depended on to do foolish things; and when we +rejoined the outfit, Strayhorn presented a sight no sane man save a +member of our tribe ever would have conceived of.</p> + +<p>The herd had scattered over several thousand acres after leaving the +river, grazing freely, and so remained during the rest of the evening. +Forrest changed horses and set out down the river to find the wagon +and pilot it in, for with the long distance that McCann had to cover, +it was a question if he would reach us before dark. Flood selected a +bed ground and camp about a mile out from the river, and those of the +outfit not on herd dragged up an abundance of wood for the night, and +built a roaring fire as a beacon to our absent commissary. Darkness +soon settled over camp, and the prospect of a supperless night was +confronting us; the first guard had taken the herd, and yet there was +no sign of the wagon. Several of us youngsters then mounted our night +horses and rode down the river a mile or over in the hope of meeting +McCann. We came to a steep bank, caused by the shifting of the first +bottom of the river across to the north bank, rode up this bluff some +little distance, dismounted, and fired several shots; then with our +ears to the earth patiently awaited a response. It did not come, and +we rode back again. “Hell’s fire and little fishes!” said Joe +Stallings, as we clambered into our saddles to return, “it’s not +supper or breakfast that’s troubling me, but will we get any dinner +to-morrow? That’s a more pregnant question.”</p> + +<p>It must have been after midnight when I was awakened by the braying of +mules and the rattle of the wagon, to hear the voices of Forrest and +McCann, mingled with the rattle of chains as they unharnessed, +condemning to eternal perdition the broken country on the north side +of the Brazos, between Round Timber ferry and the mouth of Monday +Creek.</p> + +<p>“I think that when the Almighty made this country on the north side of +the Brazos,” said McCann the next morning at breakfast, “the Creator +must have grown careless or else made it out of odds and ends. There’s +just a hundred and one of these dry arroyos that you can’t see until +you are right onto them. They wouldn’t bother a man on horseback, but +with a loaded wagon it’s different. And I’ll promise you all right now +that if Forrest hadn’t come out and piloted me in, you might have +tightened up your belts for breakfast and drank out of cow tracks and +smoked cigarettes for nourishment. Well, it’ll do you good; this high +living was liable to spoil some of you, but I notice that you are all +on your feed this morning. The black strap? Honeyman, get that +molasses jug out of the wagon—it sits right in front of the chuck +box. It does me good to see this outfit’s tastes once more going back +to the good old staples of life.”</p> + +<p>We made our usual early start, keeping well out from the river on a +course almost due northward. The next river on our way was the +Wichita, still several days’ drive from the mouth of Monday Creek. +Flood’s intention was to parallel the old trail until near the river, +when, if its stage of water was not fordable, we would again seek a +lower crossing in the hope of avoiding any waterbound herds on that +watercourse. The second day out from the Brazos it rained heavily +during the day and drizzled during the entire night. Not a hoof would +bed down, requiring the guards to be doubled into two watches for the +night. The next morning, as was usual when off the trail, Flood +scouted in advance, and near the middle of the afternoon’s drive we +came into the old trail. The weather in the mean time had faired off, +which revived life and spirit in the outfit, for in trail work there +is nothing that depresses the spirits of men like falling weather. On +coming into the trail, we noticed that no herds had passed since the +rain began. Shortly afterward our rear guard was overtaken by a +horseman who belonged to a mixed herd which was encamped some four or +five miles below the point where we came into the old trail. He +reported the Wichita as having been unfordable for the past week, but +at that time falling; and said that if the rain of the past few days +had not extended as far west as the Staked Plains, the river would be +fordable in a day or two.</p> + +<p>Before the stranger left us, Flood returned and confirmed this +information, and reported further that there were two herds lying over +at the Wichita ford expecting to cross the following day. With this +outlook, we grazed our herd up to within five miles of the river and +camped for the night, and our visitor returned to his outfit with +Flood’s report of our expectation of crossing on the morrow. But with +the fair weather and the prospects of an easy night, we encamped +entirely too close to the trail, as we experienced to our sorrow. The +grazing was good everywhere, the recent rains having washed away the +dust, and we should have camped farther away. We were all sleepy that +night, and no sooner was supper over than every mother’s son of us was +in his blankets. We slept so soundly that the guards were compelled to +dismount when calling the relief, and shake the next guards on duty +out of their slumber and see that they got up, for men would +unconsciously answer in their sleep. The cattle were likewise tired, +and slept as willingly as the men.</p> + +<p>About midnight, however, Fox Quarternight dashed into camp, firing his +six-shooter and yelling like a demon. We tumbled out of our blankets +in a dazed condition to hear that one of the herds camped near the +river had stampeded, the heavy rumbling of the running herd and the +shooting of their outfit now being distinctly audible. We lost no time +getting our horses, and in less than a minute were riding for our +cattle, which had already got up and were timidly listening to the +approaching noise. Although we were a good quarter mile from the +trail, before we could drift our herd to a point of safety, the +stampeding cattle swept down the trail like a cyclone and our herd was +absorbed into the maelstrom of the onrush like leaves in a whirlwind. +It was then that our long-legged Mexican steers set us a pace that +required a good horse to equal, for they easily took the lead, the +other herd having run between three and four miles before striking us, +and being already well winded. The other herd were Central Texas +cattle, and numbered over thirty-five hundred, but in running capacity +were never any match for ours.</p> + +<p>Before they had run a mile past our camp, our outfit, bunched well +together on the left point, made the first effort to throw them out +and off the trail, and try to turn them. But the waves of an angry +ocean could as easily have been brought under subjection as our +terrorized herd during this first mad dash. Once we turned a few +hundred of the leaders, and about the time we thought success was in +reach, another contingent of double the number had taken the lead; +then we had to abandon what few we had, and again ride to the front. +When we reached the lead, there, within half a mile ahead, burned the +camp-fire of the herd of mixed cattle which had moved up the trail +that evening. They had had ample warning of impending trouble, just as +we had; and before the running cattle reached them about half a dozen +of their outfit rode to our assistance, when we made another effort to +turn or hold the herds from mixing. None of the outfit of the first +herd had kept in the lead with us, their horses fagging, and when the +foreman of this mixed herd met us, not knowing that we were as +innocent of the trouble as himself, he made some slighting remarks +about our outfit and cattle. But it was no time to be sensitive, and +with his outfit to help we threw our whole weight against the left +point a second time, but only turned a few hundred; and before we +could get into the lead again their campfire had been passed and their +herd of over three thousand cattle more were in the run. As cows and +calves predominated in this mixed herd, our own southerners were still +leaders in the stampede.</p> + +<p>It is questionable if we would have turned this stampede before +daybreak, had not the nature of the country come to our assistance. +Something over two miles below the camp of the last herd was a deep +creek, the banks of which were steep and the passages few and narrow. +Here we succeeded in turning the leaders, and about half the outfit of +the mixed herd remained, guarding the crossing and turning the lagging +cattle in the run as they came up. With the leaders once turned and no +chance for the others to take a new lead, we had the entire run of +cattle turned back within an hour and safely under control. The first +outfit joined us during the interim, and when day broke we had over +forty men drifting about ten thousand cattle back up the trail. The +different outfits were unfortunately at loggerheads, no one being +willing to assume any blame. Flood hunted up the foreman of the mixed +herd and demanded an apology for his remarks on our abrupt meeting +with him the night before; and while it was granted, it was plain that +it was begrudged. The first herd disclaimed all responsibility, +holding that the stampede was due to an unavoidable accident, their +cattle having grown restless during their enforced lay-over. The +indifferent attitude of their foreman, whose name was Wilson, won the +friendly regard of our outfit, and before the wagon of the mixed +cattle was reached, there was a compact, at least tacit, between their +outfit and ours. Our foreman was not blameless, for had we taken the +usual precaution and camped at least a mile off the trail, which was +our custom when in close proximity to other herds, we might and +probably would have missed this mix-up, for our herd was inclined to +be very tractable. Flood, with all his experience, well knew that if +stampeded cattle ever got into a known trail, they were certain to +turn backward over their course; and we were now paying the fiddler +for lack of proper precaution.</p> + +<p>Within an hour after daybreak, and before the cattle had reached the +camp of the mixed herd, our saddle horses were sighted coming over a +slight divide about two miles up the trail, and a minute later +McCann’s mules hove in sight, bringing up the rear. They had made a +start with the first dawn, rightly reasoning, as there was no time to +leave orders on our departure, that it was advisable for Mahomet to go +to the mountain. Flood complimented our cook and horse wrangler on +their foresight, for the wagon was our base of sustenance; and there +was little loss of time before Barney McCann was calling us to a +hastily prepared breakfast. Flood asked Wilson to bring his outfit to +our wagon for breakfast, and as fast as they were relieved from herd, +they also did ample justice to McCann’s cooking. During breakfast, I +remember Wilson explaining to Flood what he believed was the cause of +the stampede. It seems that there were a few remaining buffalo ranging +north of the Wichita, and at night when they came into the river to +drink they had scented the cattle on the south side. The bellowing of +buffalo bulls had been distinctly heard by his men on night herd for +several nights past. The foreman stated it as his belief that a number +of bulls had swum the river and had by stealth approached near the +sleeping cattle,—then, on discovering the presence of the herders, +had themselves stampeded, throwing his herd into a panic.</p> + +<p>We had got a change of mounts during the breakfast hour, and when all +was ready Flood and Wilson rode over to the wagon of the mixed herd, +the two outfits following, when Flood inquired of their foreman,—</p> + +<p>“Have you any suggestions to make in the cutting of these herds?”</p> + +<p>“No suggestions,” was the reply, “but I intend to cut mine first and +cut them northward on the trail.”</p> + +<p>“You intend to cut them northward, you mean, provided there are no +objections, which I’m positive there will be,” said Flood. “It takes +me some little time to size a man up, and the more I see of you during +our brief acquaintance, the more I think there’s two or three things +that you might learn to your advantage. I’ll not enumerate them now, +but when these herds are separated, if you insist, it will cost you +nothing but the asking for my opinion of you. This much you can depend +on: when the cutting’s over, you’ll occupy the same position on the +trail that you did before this accident happened. Wilson, here, has +nothing but jaded horses, and his outfit will hold the herd while +yours and mine cut their cattle. And instead of you cutting north, you +can either cut south where you belong on the trail or sulk in your +camp, your own will and pleasure to govern. But if you are a cowman, +willing to do your part, you’ll have your outfit ready to work by the +time we throw the cattle together.”</p> + +<p>Not waiting for any reply, Flood turned away, and the double outfit +circled around the grazing herd and began throwing the sea of cattle +into a compact body ready to work. Rod Wheat and Ash Borrowstone were +detailed to hold our cut, and the remainder of us, including Honeyman, +entered the herd and began cutting. Shortly after we had commenced the +work, the mixed outfit, finding themselves in a lonesome minority, +joined us and began cutting out their cattle to the westward. When we +had worked about half an hour, Flood called us out, and with the +larger portion of Wilson’s men, we rode over and drifted the mixed cut +around to the southward, where they belonged. The mixed outfit +pretended they meant no harm, and were politely informed that if they +were sincere, they could show it more plainly. For nearly three hours +we sent a steady stream of cattle out of the main herd into our cut, +while our horses dripped with sweat. With our advantage in the start, +as well as that of having the smallest herd, we finished our work +first. While the mixed outfit were finishing their cutting, we changed +mounts, and then were ready to work the separated herds. Wilson took +about half his outfit, and after giving our herd a trimming, during +which he recut about twenty, the mixed outfit were given a similar +chance, and found about half a dozen of their brand. These cattle of +Wilson’s and the other herd amongst ours were not to be wondered at, +for we cut by a liberal rule. Often we would find a number of ours on +the outside of the main herd, when two men would cut the squad in a +bunch, and if there was a wrong brand amongst them, it was no +matter,—we knew our herd would have to be retrimmed anyhow, and the +other outfits might be disappointed if they found none of their cattle +amongst ours.</p> + +<p>The mixed outfit were yet working our herd when Wilson’s wagon and +saddle horses arrived, and while they were changing mounts, we cut the +mixed herd of our brand and picked up a number of strays which we had +been nursing along, though when we first entered the main herd, strays +had received our attention, being well known to us by ranch brands as +well as flesh marks. In gathering up this very natural flotsam of the +trail, we cut nothing but what our herd had absorbed in its travels, +showing due regard to a similar right of the other herds. Our work was +finished first, and after Wilson had recut the mixed herd, we gave his +herd one more looking over in a farewell parting. Flood asked him if +he wanted the lead, but Wilson waived his right in his open, frank +manner, saying, “If I had as long-legged cattle as you have, I +wouldn’t ask no man for the privilege of passing. Why, you ought to +out-travel horses. I’m glad to have met you and your outfit, +personally, but regret the incident which has given you so much +trouble. As I don’t expect to go farther than Dodge or Ogalalla at the +most, you are more than welcome to the lead. And if you or any of +these rascals in your outfit are ever in Coryell County, hunt up Frank +Wilson of the Block Bar Ranch, and I’ll promise you a drink of milk or +something stronger if possible.”</p> + +<p>We crossed the Wichita late that afternoon, there being not over fifty +feet of swimming water for the cattle. Our wagon gave us the only +trouble, for the load could not well be lightened, and it was an +imperative necessity to cross it the same day. Once the cattle were +safely over and a few men left to graze them forward, the remainder of +the outfit collected all the ropes and went back after the wagon. As +mules are always unreliable in the water, Flood concluded to swim them +loose. We lashed the wagon box securely to the gearing with ropes, +arranged our bedding in the wagon where it would be on top, and ran +the wagon by hand into the water as far as we dared without flooding +the wagon box. Two men, with guy ropes fore and aft, were then left to +swim with the wagon in order to keep it from toppling over, while the +remainder of us recrossed to the farther side of the swimming channel, +and fastened our lariats to two long ropes from the end of the tongue. +We took a wrap on the pommels of our saddles with the loose end, and +when the word was given our eight horses furnished abundant motive +power, and the wagon floated across, landing high and dry amid the +shoutings of the outfit.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX<br><span class="small">DOAN’S CROSSING</span></h2></div> + +<p>It was a nice open country between the Wichita and Pease rivers. On +reaching the latter, we found an easy stage of water for crossing, +though there was every evidence that the river had been on a recent +rise, the débris of a late freshet littering the cutbank, while +high-water mark could be easily noticed on the trees along the river +bottom. Summer had advanced until the June freshets were to be +expected, and for the next month we should be fortunate if our advance +was not checked by floods and falling weather. The fortunate stage of +the Pease encouraged us, however, to hope that possibly Red River, two +days’ drive ahead, would be fordable. The day on which we expected to +reach it, Flood set out early to look up the ford which had then been +in use but a few years, and which in later days was known as Doan’s +Crossing on Red River. Our foreman returned before noon and reported a +favorable stage of water for the herd, and a new ferry that had been +established for wagons. With this good news, we were determined to put +that river behind us in as few hours as possible, for it was a common +occurrence that a river which was fordable at night was the reverse by +daybreak. McCann was sent ahead with the wagon, but we held the saddle +horses with us to serve as leaders in taking the water at the ford.</p> + +<p>The cattle were strung out in trailing manner nearly a mile, and on +reaching the river near the middle of the afternoon, we took the water +without a halt or even a change of horses. This boundary river on the +northern border of Texas was a terror to trail drovers, but on our +reaching it, it had shallowed down, the flow of water following +several small channels. One of these was swimming, with shallow bars +intervening between the channels. But the majestic grandeur of the +river was apparent on every hand,—with its red, bluff banks, the +sediment of its red waters marking the timber along its course, while +the driftwood, lodged in trees and high on the banks, indicated what +might be expected when she became sportive or angry. That she was +merciless was evident, for although this crossing had been in use only +a year or two when we forded, yet five graves, one of which was less +than ten days made, attested her disregard for human life. It can +safely be asserted that at this and lower trail crossings on Red +River, the lives of more trail men were lost by drowning than on all +other rivers together. Just as we were nearing the river, an unknown +horseman from the south overtook our herd. It was evident that he +belonged to some through herd and was looking out the crossing. He +made himself useful by lending a hand while our herd was fording, and +in a brief conversation with Flood, informed him that he was one of +the hands with a “Running W” herd, gave the name of Bill Mann as their +foreman, the number of cattle they were driving, and reported the herd +as due to reach the river the next morning. He wasted little time with +us, but recrossed the river, returning to his herd, while we grazed +out four or five miles and camped for the night.</p> + +<p>I shall never forget the impression left in my mind of that first +morning after we crossed Red River into the Indian lands. The country +was as primitive as in the first day of its creation. The trail led up +a divide between the Salt and North forks of Red River. To the +eastward of the latter stream lay the reservation of the Apaches, +Kiowas, and Comanches, the latter having been a terror to the +inhabitants of western Texas. They were a warlike tribe, as the +records of the Texas Rangers and government troops will verify, but +their last effective dressing down was given them in a fight at Adobe +Walls by a party of buffalo hunters whom they hoped to surprise. As we +wormed our way up this narrow divide, there was revealed to us a +panorama of green-swarded plain and timber-fringed watercourse, with +not a visible evidence that it had ever been invaded by civilized man, +save cattlemen with their herds. Antelope came up in bands and +gratified their curiosity as to who these invaders might be, while old +solitary buffalo bulls turned tail at our approach and lumbered away +to points of safety. Very few herds had ever passed over this route, +but buffalo trails leading downstream, deep worn by generations of +travel, were to be seen by hundreds on every hand. We were not there +for a change of scenery or for our health, so we may have overlooked +some of the beauties of the landscape. But we had a keen eye for the +things of our craft. We could see almost back to the river, and +several times that morning noticed clouds of dust on the horizon. +Flood noticed them first. After some little time the dust clouds arose +clear and distinct, and we were satisfied that the “Running W” herd +had forded and were behind us, not more than ten or twelve miles away.</p> + +<p>At dinner that noon, Flood said he had a notion to go back and pay +Mann a visit. “Why, I’ve not seen ‘Little-foot’ Bill Mann,” said our +foreman, as he helped himself to a third piece of “fried chicken” +(bacon), “since we separated two years ago up at Ogalalla on the +Platte. I’d just like the best in the world to drop back and sleep in +his blankets one night and complain of his chuck. Then I’d like to +tell him how we had passed them, starting ten days’ drive farther +south. He must have been amongst those herds laying over on the +Brazos.”</p> + +<p>“Why don’t you go, then?” said Fox Quarternight. “Half the outfit +could hold the cattle now with the grass and water we’re in at +present.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll go you one for luck,” said our foreman. “Wrangler, rustle in +your horses the minute you’re through eating. I’m going visiting.”</p> + +<p>We all knew what horse he would ride, and when he dropped his rope on +“Alazanito,” he had not only picked his own mount of twelve, but the +top horse of the entire <i>remuda</i>,—a chestnut sorrel, fifteen hands +and an inch in height, that drew his first breath on the prairies of +Texas. No man who sat him once could ever forget him. Now, when the +trail is a lost occupation, and reverie and reminiscence carry the +mind back to that day, there are friends and faces that may be +forgotten, but there are horses that never will be. There were +emergencies in which the horse was everything, his rider merely the +accessory. But together, man and horse, they were the force that made +it possible to move the millions of cattle which passed up and over +the various trails of the West.</p> + +<p>When we had caught our horses for the afternoon, and Flood had saddled +and was ready to start, he said to us, “You fellows just mosey along +up the trail. I’ll not be gone long, but when I get back I shall +expect to find everything running smooth. An outfit that can’t run +itself without a boss ought to stay at home and do the milking. So +long, fellows!”</p> + +<p>The country was well watered, and when rounded the cattle into the bed +ground that night, they were actually suffering from stomachs gorged +with grass and water. They went down and to sleep like tired children; +one man could have held them that night. We all felt good, and McCann +got up an extra spread for supper. We even had dried apples for +dessert. McCann had talked the storekeeper at Doan’s, where we got our +last supplies, out of some extras as a <i>pelon</i>. Among them was a can +of jam. He sprung this on us as a surprise. Bob Blades toyed with the +empty can in mingled admiration and disgust over a picture on the +paper label. It was a supper scene, every figure wearing full dress. +“Now, that’s General Grant,” said he, pointing with his finger, “and +this is Tom Ochiltree. I can’t quite make out this other duck, but I +reckon he’s some big auger—a senator or governor, maybe. Them old +girls have got their gall with them. That style of dress is what you +call <i>lo</i> and <i>behold</i>. The whole passel ought to be ashamed. And they +seem to be enjoying themselves, too.”</p> + +<p>Though it was a lovely summer night, we had a fire, and supper over, +the conversation ranged wide and free. As the wagon on the trail is +home, naturally the fire is the hearthstone, so we gathered and +lounged around it.</p> + +<p>“The only way to enjoy such a fine night as this,” remarked Ash, “is +to sit up smoking until you fall asleep with your boots on. Between +too much sleep and just enough, there’s a happy medium which suits +me.”</p> + +<p>“Officer,” inquired Wyatt Roundtree, trailing into the conversation +very innocently, “why is it that people who live up among those +Yankees always say ‘be’ the remainder of their lives?”</p> + +<p>“What’s the matter with the word?” countered Officer.</p> + +<p>“Oh, nothing, I reckon, only it sounds a little odd, and there’s a +tale to it.”</p> + +<p>“A story, you mean,” said Officer, reprovingly.</p> + +<p>“Well, I’ll tell it to you,” said Roundtree, “and then you can call it +to suit yourself. It was out in New Mexico where this happened. There +was a fellow drifted into the ranch where I was working, dead broke. +To make matters worse, he could do nothing; he wouldn’t fit anywhere. +Still, he was a nice fellow and we all liked him. Must have had a good +education, for he had good letters from people up North. He had worked +in stores and had once clerked in a bank, at least the letters said +so. Well, we put up a job to get him a place in a little town out on +the railroad. You all know how clannish Kentuckians are. Let two meet +who never saw each other before, and inside of half an hour they’ll be +chewing tobacco from the same plug and trying to loan each other +money.”</p> + +<p>“That’s just like them,” interposed Fox Quarternight.</p> + +<p>“Well, there was an old man lived in this town, who was the genuine +blend of bluegrass and Bourbon. If another Kentuckian came within +twenty miles of him, and he found it out, he’d hunt him up and they’d +hold a two-handed reunion. We put up the job that this young man +should play that he was a Kentuckian, hoping that the old man would +take him to his bosom and give him something to do. So we took him +into town one day, coached and fully posted how to act and play his +part. We met the old man in front of his place of business, and, after +the usual comment on the news over our way, weather, and other small +talk, we were on the point of passing on, when one of our own crowd +turned back and inquired, ‘Uncle Henry, have you met the young +Kentuckian who’s in the country?’</p> + +<p>“‘No,’ said the old man, brightening with interest, ‘who is he and +where is he?’</p> + +<p>“‘He’s in town somewhere,’ volunteered one of the boys. We pretended +to survey the street from where we stood, when one of the boys blurted +out, ‘Yonder he stands now. That fellow in front of the drug store +over there, with the hard-boiled hat on.’</p> + +<p>“The old man started for him, angling across the street, in disregard +of sidewalks. We watched the meeting, thinking it was working all +right. We were mistaken. We saw them shake hands, when the old man +turned and walked away very haughtily. Something had gone wrong. He +took the sidewalk on his return, and when he came near enough to us, +we could see that he was angry and on the prod. When he came near +enough to speak, he said, ‘You think you’re smart, don’t you? He’s a +Kentuckian, is he? Hell’s full of such Kentuckians!’ And as he passed +beyond hearing he was muttering imprecations on us. The young fellow +joined us a minute later with the question, ‘What kind of a crank is +that you ran me up against?’</p> + +<p>“‘He’s as nice a man as there is in this country,’ said one of the +crowd. ‘What did you say to him?’</p> + +<p>“‘Nothing’; he came up to me, extended his hand, saying, “My young +friend, I understand that you’re from Kentucky.” “I be, sir,” I +replied, when he looked me in the eye and said, “You’re a G—— d—— +liar,” and turned and walked away. Why, he must have wanted to insult +me. And then we all knew why our little scheme had failed. There was +food and raiment in it for him, but he would use that little word +‘be.’”</p> + +<p>“Did any of you notice my saddle horse lie down just after we crossed +this last creek this afternoon?” inquired Rod Wheat.</p> + +<p>“No; what made him lie down?” asked several of the boys.</p> + +<p>“Oh, he just found a gopher hole and stuck his forefeet into it one at +a time, and then tried to pull them both out at once, and when he +couldn’t do it, he simply shut his eyes like a dying sheep and lay +down.”</p> + +<p>“Then you’ve seen sheep die,” said the horse wrangler.</p> + +<p>“Of course I have; a sheep can die any time he makes up his mind to by +simply shutting both eyes—then he’s a goner.”</p> + +<p>Quince Forrest, who had brought in his horse to go out with the second +watch, he and Bob Blades having taken advantage of the foreman’s +absence to change places on guard for the night, had been listening to +the latter part of Wyatt’s yarn very attentively. We all hoped that he +would mount and ride out to the herd, for though he was a good +story-teller and meaty with personal experiences, where he thought +they would pass muster he was inclined to overcolor his statements. We +usually gave him respectful attention, but were frequently compelled +to regard him as a cheerful, harmless liar. So when he showed no +disposition to go, we knew we were in for one from him.</p> + +<p>“When I was boss bull-whacker,” he began, “for a big army sutler at +Fort Concho, I used to make two round trips a month with my train. It +was a hundred miles to wagon from the freight point where we got our +supplies. I had ten teams, six and seven yoke to the team, and trail +wagons to each. I was furnished a night herder and a cook, saddle +horses for both night herder and myself. You hear me, it was a slam up +fine layout. We could handle three or four tons to the team, and with +the whole train we could chamber two car loads of anything. One day we +were nearing the fort with a mixed cargo of freight, when a messenger +came out and met us with an order from the sutler. He wanted us to +make the fort that night and unload. The mail buckboard had reported +us to the sutler as camped out back on a little creek about ten miles. +We were always entitled to a day to unload and drive back to camp, +which gave us good grass for the oxen, but under the orders the whips +popped merrily that afternoon, and when they all got well strung out, +I rode in ahead, to see what was up. Well, it seems that four +companies of infantry from Fort McKavett, which were out for field +practice, were going to be brought into this post to be paid three +months’ wages. This, with the troops stationed at Concho, would turn +loose quite a wad of money. The sutler called me into his office when +I reached the fort, and when he had produced a black bottle used for +cutting the alkali in your drinking water, he said, ‘Jack,’—he called +me Jack; my full name is John Quincy Forrest,—‘Jack, can you make the +round trip, and bring in two cars of bottled beer that will be on the +track waiting for you, and get back by pay day, the 10th?’</p> + +<p>“I figured the time in my mind; it was twelve days.</p> + +<p>“‘There’s five extra in it for each man for the trip, and I’ll make it +right with you,’ he added, as he noticed my hesitation, though I was +only making a mental calculation.</p> + +<p>“‘Why, certainly, Captain,’ I said. ‘What’s that fable about the jack +rabbit and the land tarrapin?’ He didn’t know and I didn’t either, so +I said to illustrate the point: ‘Put your freight on a bull train, and +it always goes through on time. A race horse can’t beat an ox on a +hundred miles and repeat to a freight wagon.’ Well, we unloaded before +night, and it was pitch dark before we made camp. I explained the +situation to the men. We planned to go in empty in five days, which +would give us seven to come back loaded. We made every camp on time +like clockwork. The fifth morning we were anxious to get a daybreak +start, so we could load at night. The night herder had his orders to +bring in the oxen the first sign of day, and I called the cook an hour +before light. When the oxen were brought in, the men were up and ready +to go to yoking. But the nigh wheeler in Joe Jenk’s team, a big +brindle, muley ox, a regular pet steer, was missing. I saw him myself, +Joe saw him, and the night herder swore he came in with the rest. +Well, we looked high and low for that Mr. Ox, but he had vanished. +While the men were eating their breakfast, I got on my horse and the +night herder and I scoured and circled that country for miles around, +but no ox. The country was so bare and level that a jack rabbit needed +to carry a fly for shade. I was worried, for we needed every ox and +every moment of time. I ordered Joe to tie his mate behind the trail +wagon and pull out one ox shy.</p> + +<p>“Well, fellows, that thing worried me powerful. Half the teamsters, +good, honest, truthful men as ever popped a whip, swore they saw that +ox when they came in. Well, it served a strong argument that a man can +be positive and yet be mistaken. We nooned ten miles from our night +camp that day. Jerry Wilkens happened to mention it at dinner that he +believed his trail needed greasing. ‘Why,’ said Jerry, ‘you’d think +that I was loaded, the way my team kept their chains taut.’ I noticed +Joe get up from dinner before he had finished, as if an idea had +struck him. He went over and opened the sheet in Jerry’s trail wagon, +and a smile spread over his countenance. ‘Come here, fellows,’ was all +he said.</p> + +<p>“We ran over to the wagon and there”—</p> + +<p>The boys turned their backs with indistinct mutterings of disgust.</p> + +<p>“You all don’t need to believe this if you don’t want to, but there +was the missing ox, coiled up and sleeping like a bear in the wagon. +He even had Jerry’s roll of bedding for a pillow. You see, the wagon +sheet was open in front, and he had hopped up on the trail tongue and +crept in there to steal a ride. Joe climbed into the wagon, and gave +him a few swift kicks in the short ribs, when he opened his eyes, +yawned, got up, and jumped out.”</p> + +<p>Bull was rolling a cigarette before starting, while Fox’s night horse +was hard to bridle, which hindered them. With this slight delay, +Forrest turned his horse back and continued: “That same ox on the next +trip, one night when we had the wagons parked into a corral, got away +from the herder, tip-toed over the men’s beds in the gate, stood on +his hind legs long enough to eat four fifty-pound sacks of flour out +of the rear end of a wagon, got down on his side, and wormed his way +under the wagon back into the herd, without being detected or waking a +man.”</p> + +<p>As they rode away to relieve the first guard, McCann said, “Isn’t he a +muzzle-loading daisy? If I loved a liar I’d hug that man to death.”</p> + +<p>The absence of our foreman made no difference. We all knew our places +on guard. Experience told us there would be no trouble that night. +After Wyatt Roundtree and Moss Strayhorn had made down their bed and +got into it, Wyatt remarked,—</p> + +<p>“Did you ever notice, old sidey, how hard this ground is?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes,” said Moss, as he turned over, hunting for a soft spot, “it +is hard, but we’ll forget all that when this trip ends. Brother, dear, +just think of those long slings with red cherries floating around in +them that we’ll be drinking, and picture us smoking cigars in a blaze. +That thought alone ought to make a hard bed both soft and warm. Then +to think we’ll ride all the way home on the cars.”</p> + +<p>McCann banked his fire, and the first guard, Wheat, Stallings, and +Borrowstone, rode in from the herd, all singing an old chorus that had +been composed, with little regard for music or sense, about a hotel +where they had stopped the year before:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1">“Sure it’s one cent for coffee and two cents for bread,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Three for a steak and five for a bed,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Sea breeze from the gutter wafts a salt water smell,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">To the festive cowboy in the Southwestern hotel.”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X<br><span class="small">“NO MAN’S LAND”</span></h2></div> + +<p>Flood overtook us the next morning, and as a number of us gathered +round him to hear the news, told us of a letter that Mann had got at +Doan’s, stating that the first herd to pass Camp Supply had been +harassed by Indians. The “Running W” people, Mann’s employers, had a +representative at Dodge, who was authority for the statement. Flood +had read the letter, which intimated that an appeal would be made to +the government to send troops from either Camp Supply or Fort Sill to +give trail herds a safe escort in passing the western border of this +Indian reservation. The letter, therefore, admonished Mann, if he +thought the Indians would give any trouble, to go up the south side of +Red River as far as the Pan-handle of Texas, and then turn north to +the government trail at Fort Elliot.</p> + +<p>“I told Mann,” said our foreman, “that before I’d take one step +backward, or go off on a wild goose chase through that Pan-handle +country, I’d go back home and start over next year on the Chisholm +trail. It’s the easiest thing in the world for some big auger to sit +in a hotel somewhere and direct the management of a herd. I don’t look +for no soldiers to furnish an escort; it would take the government six +months to get a move on her, even in an emergency. I left Billy Mann +in a quandary; he doesn’t know what to do. That big auger at Dodge is +troubling him, for if he don’t act on his advice, and loses cattle as +the result—well, he’ll never boss any more herds for King and +Kennedy. So, boys, if we’re ever to see the Blackfoot Agency, there’s +but one course for us to take, and that’s straight ahead. As old +Oliver Loving, the first Texas cowman that ever drove a herd, used to +say, ‘Never borrow trouble, or cross a river before you reach it.’ So +when the cattle are through grazing, let them hit the trail north. +It’s entirely too late for us to veer away from any Indians.”</p> + +<p>We were following the regular trail, which had been slightly used for +a year or two, though none of our outfit had ever been over it, when +late on the third afternoon, about forty miles out from Doan’s, about +a hundred mounted bucks and squaws sighted our herd and crossed the +North Fork from their encampment. They did not ride direct to the +herd, but came into the trail nearly a mile above the cattle, so it +was some little time from our first sighting them before we met. We +did not check the herd or turn out of the trail, but when the lead +came within a few hundred yards of the Indians, one buck, evidently +the chief of the band, rode forward a few rods and held up one hand, +as if commanding a halt. At the sight of this gaudily bedecked +apparition, the cattle turned out of the trail, and Flood and I rode +up to the chief, extending our hands in friendly greeting. The chief +could not speak a word of English, but made signs with his hands; when +I turned loose on him in Spanish, however, he instantly turned his +horse and signed back to his band. Two young bucks rode forward and +greeted Flood and myself in good Spanish.</p> + +<p>On thus opening up an intelligible conversation, I called Fox +Quarternight, who spoke Spanish, and he rode up from his position of +third man in the swing and joined in the council. The two young +Indians through whom we carried on the conversation were Apaches, no +doubt renegades of that tribe, and while we understood each other in +Spanish, they spoke in a heavy guttural peculiar to the Indian. Flood +opened the powwow by demanding to know the meaning of this visit. When +the question had been properly interpreted to the chief, the latter +dropped his blanket from his shoulders and dismounted from his horse. +He was a fine specimen of the Plains Indian, fully six feet in height, +perfectly proportioned, and in years well past middle life. He looked +every inch a chief, and was a natural born orator. There was a certain +easy grace to his gestures, only to be seen in people who use the sign +language, and often when he was speaking to the Apache interpreters, I +could anticipate his requests before they were translated to us, +although I did not know a word of Comanche.</p> + +<p>Before the powwow had progressed far it was evident that begging was +its object. In his prelude, the chief laid claim to all the country in +sight as the hunting grounds of the Comanche tribe,—an intimation +that we were intruders. He spoke of the great slaughter of the buffalo +by the white hide-hunters, and the consequent hunger and poverty +amongst his people. He dwelt on the fact that he had ever counseled +peace with the whites, until now his band numbered but a few squaws +and papooses, the younger men having deserted him for other chiefs of +the tribe who advocated war on the palefaces. When he had fully stated +his position, he offered to allow us to pass through his country in +consideration of ten beeves. On receiving this proposition, all of us +dismounted, including the two Apaches, the latter seating themselves +in their own fashion, while we whites lounged on the ground in truly +American laziness, rolling cigarettes. In dealing with people who know +not the value of time, the civilized man is taken at a disadvantage, +and unless he can show an equal composure in wasting time, results +will be against him. Flood had had years of experience in dealing with +Mexicans in the land of <i>mañana</i>, where all maxims regarding the value +of time are religiously discarded. So in dealing with this Indian +chief he showed no desire to hasten matters, and carefully avoided all +reference to the demand for beeves.</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img003"> +<img src="images/003.jpg" class="w75" alt="MEETING WITH INDIANS"> +</span></p> +<p class="center caption">MEETING WITH INDIANS</p> + +<p>His first question, instead, was to know the distance to Fort Sill and +Fort Elliot. The next was how many days it would take for cavalry to +reach him. He then had us narrate the fact that when the first herd of +cattle passed through the country less than a month before, some bad +Indians had shown a very unfriendly spirit. They had taken many of the +cattle and had killed and eaten them, and now the great white man’s +chief at Washington was very much displeased. If another single ox +were taken and killed by bad Indians, he would send his soldiers from +the forts to protect the cattle, even though their owners drove the +herds through the reservation of the Indians—over the grass where +their ponies grazed. He had us inform the chief that our entire herd +was intended by the great white man’s chief at Washington as a present +to the Blackfeet Indians who lived in Montana, because they were good +Indians, and welcomed priests and teachers amongst them to teach them +the ways of the white man. At our foreman’s request we then informed +the chief that he was under no obligation to give him even a single +beef for any privilege of passing through his country, but as the +squaws and little papooses were hungry, he would give him two beeves.</p> + +<p>The old chief seemed not the least disconcerted, but begged for five +beeves, as many of the squaws were in the encampment across the North +Fork, those present being not quite half of his village. It was now +getting late in the day and the band seemed to be getting tired of the +parleying, a number of squaws having already set out on their return +to the village. After some further talk, Flood agreed to add another +beef, on condition they be taken to the encampment before being +killed. This was accepted, and at once the entire band set up a +chattering in view of the coming feast. The cattle had in the mean +time grazed off nearly a mile, the outfit, however, holding them under +a close herd during the powwowing. All the bucks in the band, +numbering about forty, now joined us, and we rode away to the herd. I +noticed, by the way, that quite a number of the younger braves had +arms, and no doubt they would have made a display of force had Flood’s +diplomacy been of a more warlike character. While drifting the herd +back to the trail we cut out a big lame steer and two stray cows for +the Indians, who now left us and followed the beeves which were being +driven to their village.</p> + +<p>Flood had instructed Quarternight and me to invite the two Apaches to +our camp for the night, on the promise of sugar, coffee, and tobacco. +They consulted with the old chief, and gaining his consent came with +us. We extended the hospitality of our wagon to our guests, and when +supper was over, promised them an extra beef if they would give us +particulars of the trail until it crossed the North Fork, after that +river turned west towards the Pan-handle. It was evident that they +were familiar with the country, for one of them accepted our offer, +and with his finger sketched a rude map on the ground where there had +formerly been a camp-fire. He outlined the two rivers between which we +were then encamped, and traced the trail until it crossed the North +Fork or beyond the Indian reservation. We discussed the outline of the +trail in detail for an hour, asking hundreds of unimportant questions, +but occasionally getting in a leading one, always resulting in the +information wanted. We learned that the big summer encampment of the +Comanches and Kiowas was one day’s ride for a pony or two days’ with +cattle up the trail, at the point where the divide between Salt and +North Fork narrows to about ten miles in width. We leeched out of them +very cautiously the information that the encampment was a large one, +and that all herds this year had given up cattle, some as many as +twenty-five head.</p> + +<p>Having secured the information we wanted, Flood gave to each Apache a +package of Arbuckle coffee, a small sack of sugar, and both smoking +and chewing tobacco. Quarternight informed them that as the cattle +were bedded for the night, they had better remain until morning, when +he would pick them out a nice fat beef. On their consenting, Fox +stripped the wagon sheet off the wagon and made them a good bed, in +which, with their body blankets, they were as comfortable as any of +us. Neither of them was armed, so we felt no fear of them, and after +they had lain down on their couch, Flood called Quarternight and me, +and we strolled out into the darkness and reviewed the information. We +agreed that the topography of the country they had given was most +likely correct, because we could verify much of it by maps in our +possession. Another thing on which we agreed was, that there was some +means of communication between this small and seemingly peaceable band +and the main encampment of the tribe; and that more than likely our +approach would be known in the large encampment before sunrise. In +spite of the good opinion we entertained of our guests, we were also +satisfied they had lied to us when they denied they had been in the +large camp since the trail herds began to pass. This was the last +question we had asked, and the artful manner in which they had parried +it showed our guests to be no mean diplomats themselves.</p> + +<p>Our camp was astir by daybreak, and after breakfast, as we were +catching our mounts for the day, one of the Apaches offered to take a +certain pinto horse in our <i>remuda</i> in lieu of the promised beef, but +Flood declined the offer. On overtaking the herd after breakfast, +Quarternight cut out a fat two year old stray heifer, and he and I +assisted our guests to drive their beef several miles toward their +village. Finally bidding them farewell, we returned to the herd, when +the outfit informed us that Flood and The Rebel had ridden on ahead to +look out a crossing on the Salt Fork. From this move it was evident +that if a passable ford could be found, our foreman intended to +abandon the established route and avoid the big Indian encampment.</p> + +<p>On the return of Priest and Flood about noon, they reported having +found an easy ford of the Salt Fork, which, from the indications of +their old trails centring from every quarter at this crossing, must +have been used by buffalo for generations. After dinner we put our +wagon in the lead, and following close at hand with the cattle, turned +off the trail about a mile above our noon camp and struck to the +westward for the crossing. This we reached and crossed early that +evening, camping out nearly five miles to the west of the river. Rain +was always to be dreaded in trail work, and when bedding down the herd +that night, we had one of the heaviest downpours which we had +experienced since leaving the Rio Grande. It lasted several hours, but +we stood it uncomplainingly, for this fortunate drenching had +obliterated every trace left by our wagon and herd since abandoning +the trail, as well as the sign left at the old buffalo crossing on the +Salt Fork. The rain ceased about ten o’clock, when the cattle bedded +down easily, and the second guard took them for their watch. Wood was +too scarce to afford a fire, and while our slickers had partially +protected us from the rain, many of us went to bed in wet clothing +that night. After another half day’s drive to the west, we turned +northward and traveled in that direction through a nice country, more +or less broken with small hills, but well watered. On the morning of +the first day after turning north, Honeyman reported a number of our +saddle horses had strayed from camp. This gave Flood some little +uneasiness, and a number of us got on our night horses without loss of +time and turned out to look up the missing saddle stock. The Rebel and +I set out together to the southward, while others of the outfit set +off to the other points of the compass.</p> + +<p>I was always a good trailer, was in fact acknowledged to be one of the +best, with the exception of my brother Zack, on the San Antonio River, +where we grew up as boys. In circling about that morning, I struck the +trail of about twenty horses—the missing number—and at once signaled +to Priest, who was about a mile distant, to join me. The ground was +fortunately fresh from the recent rain and left an easy trail. We +galloped along it easily for some little distance, when the trail +suddenly turned and we could see that the horses had been running, +having evidently received a sudden scare. On following up the trail +nearly a mile, we noticed where they had quieted down and had +evidently grazed for several hours, but in looking up the trail by +which they had left these parts, Priest made the discovery of signs of +cattle. We located the trail of the horses soon, and were again +surprised to find that they had been running as before, though the +trail was much fresher, having possibly been made about dawn. We ran +the trail out until it passed over a slight divide, when there before +us stood the missing horses. They never noticed us, but were standing +at attention, cautiously sniffing the early morning air, on which was +borne to them the scent of something they feared. On reaching them, +their fear seemed not the least appeased, and my partner and I had our +curiosity sufficiently aroused to ride forward to the cause of their +alarm. As we rounded the spur of the hill, there in plain view grazed +a band of about twenty buffalo. We were almost as excited as the +horses over the discovery. By dropping back and keeping the hill +between us and them, then dismounting and leaving our horses, we +thought we could reach the apex of the hill. It was but a small +elevation, and from its summit we secured a splendid view of the +animals, now less than three hundred yards distant. Flattening +ourselves out, we spent several minutes watching the shaggy animals as +they grazed leisurely forward, while several calves in the bunch +gamboled around their mothers. A buffalo calf, I had always heard, +made delicious veal, and as we had had no fresh meat since we had +started, I proposed to Priest that we get one. He suggested trying our +ropes, for if we could ever get within effective six-shooter range, a +rope was much the surest. Certainly such cumbrous, awkward looking +animals, he said, could be no match for our Texas horses. We +accordingly dropped back off the hill to our saddle stock, when Priest +said that if he only had a certain horse of his out of the band we had +been trailing he would promise me buffalo veal if he had to follow +them to the Pan-handle. It took us but a few minutes to return to our +horses, round them in, and secure the particular horse he wanted. I +was riding my Nigger Boy, my regular night horse, and as only one of +my mount was in this bunch,—a good horse, but sluggish,—I concluded +to give my black a trial, not depending on his speed so much as his +staying qualities. It took but a minute for The Rebel to shift his +saddle from one horse to another, when he started around to the south, +while I turned to the north, so as to approach the buffalo +simultaneously. I came in sight of the band first, my partner having a +farther ride to make, but had only a few moments to wait, before I +noticed the quarry take alarm, and the next instant Priest dashed out +from behind a spur of the hill and was after them, I following suit. +They turned westward, and when The Rebel and I came together on the +angle of their course, we were several hundred yards in their rear. My +bunkie had the best horse in speed by all odds, and was soon crowding +the band so close that they began to scatter, and though I passed +several old bulls and cows, it was all I could do to keep in sight of +the calves. After the chase had continued over a mile, the staying +qualities of my horse began to shine, but while I was nearing the +lead, The Rebel tied to the largest calf in the bunch. The calf he had +on his rope was a beauty, and on overtaking him, I reined in my horse, +for to have killed a second one would have been sheer waste. Priest +wanted me to shoot the calf, but I refused, so he shifted the rope to +the pommel of my saddle, and, dismounting, dropped the calf at the +first shot. We skinned him, cut off his head, and after disemboweling +him, lashed the carcass across my saddle. Then both of us mounted +Priest’s horse, and started on our return.</p> + +<p>On reaching the horse stock, we succeeded in catching a sleepy old +horse belonging to Rod Wheat’s mount, and I rode him bridleless and +bareback to camp. We received an ovation on our arrival, the recovery +of the saddle horses being a secondary matter compared to the buffalo +veal. “So it was buffalo that scared our horses, was it, and ran them +out of camp?” said McCann, as he helped to unlash the calf. “Well, +it’s an ill wind that blows nobody good.” There was no particular loss +of time, for the herd had grazed away on our course several miles, and +after changing our mounts we overtook the herd with the news that not +only the horses had been found, but that there was fresh meat in +camp—and buffalo veal at that! The other men out horse hunting, +seeing the cattle strung out in traveling shape, soon returned to +their places beside the trailing herd.</p> + +<p>We held a due northward course, which we figured ought to carry us +past and at least thirty miles to the westward of the big Indian +encampment. The worst thing with which we had now to contend was the +weather, it having rained more or less during the past day and night, +or ever since we had crossed the Salt Fork. The weather had thrown the +outfit into such a gloomy mood that they would scarcely speak to or +answer each other. This gloomy feeling had been growing on us for +several days, and it was even believed secretly that our foreman +didn’t know where he was; that the outfit was drifting and as good as +lost. About noon of the third day, the weather continuing wet with +cold nights, and with no abatement of the general gloom, our men on +point noticed smoke arising directly ahead on our course, in a little +valley through which ran a nice stream of water. When Flood’s +attention was directed to the smoke, he rode forward to ascertain the +cause, and returned worse baffled than I ever saw him.</p> + +<p>It was an Indian camp, and had evidently been abandoned only that +morning, for the fires were still smouldering. Ordering the wagon to +camp on the creek and the cattle to graze forward till noon, Flood +returned to the Indian camp, taking two of the boys and myself with +him. It had not been a permanent camp, yet showed evidence of having +been occupied several days at least, and had contained nearly a +hundred lean-tos, wickyups, and tepees—altogether too large an +encampment to suit our tastes. The foreman had us hunt up the trail +leaving, and once we had found it, all four of us ran it out five or +six miles, when, from the freshness of it, fearing that we might be +seen, we turned back. The Indians had many ponies and possibly some +cattle, though the sign of the latter was hard to distinguish from +buffalo. Before quitting their trail, we concluded they were from one +of the reservations, and were heading for their old stamping ground, +the Pan-handle country,—peaceable probably; but whether peaceable or +not, we had no desire to meet with them. We lost little time, then, in +returning to the herd and making late and early drives until we were +out of that section.</p> + +<p>But one cannot foresee impending trouble on the cattle trail, any more +than elsewhere, and although we encamped that night a long distance to +the north of the abandoned Indian camp, the next morning we came near +having a stampede. It happened just at dawn. Flood had called the cook +an hour before daybreak, and he had started out with Honeyman to drive +in the <i>remuda</i>, which had scattered badly the morning before. They +had the horses rounded up and were driving them towards camp when, +about half a mile from the wagon, four old buffalo bulls ran +quartering past the horses. This was tinder among stubble, and in +their panic the horses outstripped the wranglers and came thundering +for camp. Luckily we had been called to breakfast, and those of us who +could see what was up ran and secured our night horses. Before half of +the horses were thus secured, however, one hundred and thirty loose +saddle stock dashed through camp, and every horse on picket went with +them, saddles and all, and dragging the picket ropes. Then the cattle +jumped from the bed ground and were off like a shot, the fourth guard, +who had them in charge, with them. Just for the time being it was an +open question which way to ride, our saddle horses going in one +direction and the herd in another. Priest was an early riser and had +hustled me out early, so fortunately we reached our horses, though +over half the outfit in camp could only look on and curse their luck +at being left afoot. The Rebel was first in the saddle, and turned +after the horses, but I rode for the herd. The cattle were not badly +scared, and as the morning grew clearer, five of us quieted them down +before they had run more than a short mile.</p> + +<p>The horses, however, gave us a long, hard run, and since a horse has a +splendid memory, the effects of this scare were noticeable for nearly +a month after. Honeyman at once urged our foreman to hobble at night, +but Flood knew the importance of keeping the <i>remuda</i> strong, and +refused. But his decision was forced, for just as it was growing dusk +that evening, we heard the horses running, and all hands had to turn +out, to surround them and bring them into camp. We hobbled every horse +and side-lined certain leaders, and for fully a week following, one +scare or another seemed to hold our saddle stock in constant terror. +During this week we turned out our night horses, and taking the worst +of the leaders in their stead, tied them solidly to the wagon wheels +all night, not being willing to trust to picket ropes. They would even +run from a mounted man during the twilight of evening or early dawn, +or from any object not distinguishable in uncertain light; but the +wrangler now never went near them until after sunrise, and their +nervousness gradually subsided. Trouble never comes singly, however, +and when we struck the Salt Fork, we found it raging, and impassable +nearly from bank to bank. But get across we must. The swimming of it +was nothing, but it was necessary to get our wagon over, and there +came the rub. We swam the cattle in twenty minutes’ time, but it took +us a full half day to get the wagon over. The river was at least a +hundred yards wide, three quarters of which was swimming to a horse. +But we hunted up and down the river until we found an eddy, where the +banks had a gradual approach to deep water, and started to raft the +wagon over—a thing none of the outfit had ever seen done, though we +had often heard of it around camp-fires in Texas. The first thing was +to get the necessary timber to make the raft. We scouted along the +Salt Fork for a mile either way before we found sufficient dry, dead +cottonwood to form our raft. Then we set about cutting it, but we had +only one axe, and were the poorest set of axemen that were ever called +upon to perform a similar task; when we cut a tree it looked as though +a beaver had gnawed it down. On horseback the Texan shines at the head +of his class, but in any occupation which must be performed on foot he +is never a competitor. There was scarcely a man in our outfit who +could not swing a rope and tie down a steer in a given space of time, +but when it came to swinging an axe to cut logs for the raft, our +lustre faded. “Cutting these logs,” said Joe Stallings, as he mopped +the sweat from his brow, “reminds me of what the Tennessee girl who +married a Texan wrote home to her sister. ‘Texas,’ so she wrote, ‘is a +good place for men and dogs, but it’s hell on women and oxen.’”</p> + +<p>Dragging the logs up to the place selected for the ford was an easy +matter. They were light, and we did it with ropes from the pommels of +our saddles, two to four horses being sufficient to handle any of the +trees. When everything was ready, we ran the wagon out into two-foot +water and built the raft under it. We had cut the dry logs from +eighteen to twenty feet long, and now ran a tier of these under the +wagon between the wheels. These we lashed securely to the axle, and +even lashed one large log on the underside of the hub on the outside +of the wheel. Then we cross-timbered under these, lashing everything +securely to this outside guard log. Before we had finished the +cross-timbering, it was necessary to take an anchor rope ashore for +fear our wagon would float away. By the time we had succeeded in +getting twenty-five dry cottonwood logs under our wagon, it was +afloat. Half a dozen of us then swam the river on our horses, taking +across the heaviest rope we had for a tow line. We threw the wagon +tongue back and lashed it, and making fast to the wagon with one end +of the tow rope, fastened our lariats to the other. With the remainder +of our unused rope, we took a guy line from the wagon and snubbed it +to a tree on the south bank. Everything being in readiness, the word +was given, and as those on the south bank eased away, those on +horseback on the other side gave the rowel to their horses, and our +commissary floated across. The wagon floated so easily that McCann was +ordered on to the raft to trim the weight when it struck the current. +The current carried it slightly downstream, and when it lodged on the +other side, those on the south bank fastened lariats to the guy rope; +and with them pulling from that side and us from ours, it was soon +brought opposite the landing and hauled into shallow water. Once the +raft timber was unlashed and removed, the tongue was lowered, and from +the pommels of six saddles the wagon was set high and dry on the north +bank. There now only remained to bring up the cattle and swim them, +which was an easy task and soon accomplished.</p> + +<p>After putting the Salt Fork behind us, our spirits were again +dampened, for it rained all the latter part of the night and until +noon the next day. It was with considerable difficulty that McCann +could keep his fire from drowning out while he was getting breakfast, +and several of the outfit refused to eat at all. Flood knew it was +useless to rally the boys, for a wet, hungry man is not to be jollied +or reasoned with. Five days had now elapsed since we turned off the +established trail, and half the time rain had been falling. Besides, +our doubt as to where we were had been growing, so before we started +that morning, Bull Durham very good-naturedly asked Flood if he had +any idea where he was.</p> + +<p>“No, I haven’t. No more than you have,” replied our foreman. “But this +much I do know, or will just as soon as the sun comes out: I know +north from south. We have been traveling north by a little west, and +if we hold that course we’re bound to strike the North Fork, and +within a day or two afterwards we will come into the government trail, +running from Fort Elliot to Camp Supply, which will lead us into our +own trail. Or if we were certain that we had cleared the Indian +reservation, we could bear to our right, and in time we would reenter +the trail that way. I can’t help the weather, boys, and as long as I +have chuck, I’d as lief be lost as found.”</p> + +<p>If there was any recovery in the feelings of the outfit after this +talk of Flood’s, it was not noticeable, and it is safe to say that two +thirds of the boys believed we were in the Pan-handle of Texas. One +man’s opinion is as good as another’s in a strange country, and while +there wasn’t a man in the outfit who cared to suggest it, I know the +majority of us would have indorsed turning northeast. But the fates +smiled on us at last. About the middle of the forenoon, on the +following day, we cut an Indian trail, about three days old, of +probably fifty horses. A number of us followed the trail several miles +on its westward course, and among other things discovered that they +had been driving a small bunch of cattle, evidently making for the +sand hills which we could see about twenty miles to our left. How they +had come by the cattle was a mystery,—perhaps by forced levy, perhaps +from a stampede. One thing was certain: the trail must have +contributed them, for there were none but trail cattle in the country. +This was reassuring and gave some hint of guidance. We were all +tickled, therefore, after nooning that day and on starting the herd in +the afternoon, to hear our foreman give orders to point the herd a +little east of north. The next few days we made long drives, our +saddle horses recovered from their scare, and the outfit fast regained +its spirits.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the tenth day after leaving the trail, we loitered +up a long slope to a divide in our lead from which we sighted timber +to the north. This we supposed from its size must be the North Fork. +Our route lay up this divide some distance, and before we left it, +some one in the rear sighted a dust cloud to the right and far behind +us. As dust would hardly rise on a still morning without a cause, we +turned the herd off the divide and pushed on, for we suspected +Indians. Flood and Priest hung back on the divide, watching the dust +signals, and after the herd had left them several miles in the rear, +they turned and rode towards it,—a move which the outfit could hardly +make out. It was nearly noon when we saw them returning in a long +lope, and when they came in sight of the herd, Priest waved his hat in +the air and gave the long yell. When he explained that there was a +herd of cattle on the trail in the rear and to our right, the yell +went around the herd, and was reechoed by our wrangler and cook in the +rear. The spirits of the outfit instantly rose. We halted the herd and +camped for noon, and McCann set out his best in celebrating the +occasion. It was the most enjoyable meal we had had in the past ten +days. After a good noonday rest, we set out, and having entered the +trail during the afternoon, crossed the North Fork late that evening. +As we were going into camp, we noticed a horseman coming up the trail, +who turned out to be smiling Nat Straw, whom we had left on the +Colorado River. “Well, girls,” said Nat, dismounting, “I didn’t know +who you were, but I just thought I’d ride ahead and overtake whoever +it was and stay all night. Indians? Yes; I wouldn’t drive on a trail +that hadn’t any excitement on it. I gave the last big encampment ten +strays, and won them all back and four ponies besides on a horse race. +Oh, yes, got some running stock with us. How soon will supper be +ready, cusi? Get up something extra, for you’ve got company.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI<br><span class="small">A BOGGY FORD</span></h2></div> + +<p>That night we learned from Straw our location on the trail. We were +far above the Indian reservation, and instead of having been astray +our foreman had held a due northward course, and we were probably as +far on the trail as if we had followed the regular route. So in spite +of all our good maxims, we had been borrowing trouble; we were never +over thirty miles to the westward of what was then the new Western +Cattle Trail. We concluded that the “Running W” herd had turned back, +as Straw brought the report that some herd had recrossed Red River the +day before his arrival, giving for reasons the wet season and the +danger of getting waterbound.</p> + +<p>About noon of the second day after leaving the North Fork of Red +River, we crossed the Washita, a deep stream, the slippery banks of +which gave every indication of a recent rise. We had no trouble in +crossing either wagon or herd, it being hardly a check in our onward +course. The abandonment of the regular trail the past ten days had +been a noticeable benefit to our herd, for the cattle had had an +abundance of fresh country to graze over as well as plenty of rest. +But now that we were back on the trail, we gave them their freedom and +frequently covered twenty miles a day, until we reached the South +Canadian, which proved to be the most delusive stream we had yet +encountered. It also showed, like the Washita, every evidence of +having been on a recent rampage. On our arrival there was no volume of +water to interfere, but it had a quicksand bottom that would bog a +saddle blanket. Our foreman had been on ahead and examined the regular +crossing, and when he returned, freely expressed his opinion that we +would be unable to trail the herd across, but might hope to effect it +by cutting it into small bunches. When we came, therefore, within +three miles of the river, we turned off the trail to a near-by creek +and thoroughly watered the herd. This was contrary to our practice, +for we usually wanted the herd thirsty when reaching a large river. +But any cow brute that halted in fording the Canadian that day was +doomed to sink into quicksands from which escape was doubtful.</p> + +<p>We held the wagon and saddle horses in the rear, and when we were half +a mile away from the trail ford, cut off about two hundred head of the +leaders and started for the crossing, leaving only the horse wrangler +and one man with the herd. On reaching the river we gave them an extra +push, and the cattle plunged into the muddy water. Before the cattle +had advanced fifty feet, instinct earned them of the treacherous +footing, and the leaders tried to turn back; but by that time we had +the entire bunch in the water and were urging them forward. They had +halted but a moment and begun milling, when several heavy steers sank; +then we gave way and allowed the rest to come back. We did not realize +fully the treachery of this river until we saw that twenty cattle were +caught in the merciless grasp of the quicksand. They sank slowly to +the level of their bodies, which gave sufficient resistance to support +their weight, but they were hopelessly bogged. We allowed the free +cattle to return to the herd, and immediately turned our attention to +those that were bogged, some of whom were nearly submerged by water. +We dispatched some of the boys to the wagon for our heavy corral ropes +and a bundle of horse-hobbles; and the remainder of us, stripped to +the belt, waded out and surveyed the situation at close quarters. We +were all experienced in handling bogged cattle, though this quicksand +was the most deceptive that I, at least, had ever witnessed. The +bottom of the river as we waded through it was solid under our feet, +and as long as we kept moving it felt so, but the moment we stopped we +sank as in a quagmire. The “pull” of this quicksand was so strong that +four of us were unable to lift a steer’s tail out, once it was +imbedded in the sand. And when we had released a tail by burrowing +around it to arm’s length and freed it, it would sink of its own +weight in a minute’s time until it would have to be burrowed out +again. To avoid this we had to coil up the tails and tie them with a +soft rope hobble.</p> + +<p>Fortunately none of the cattle were over forty feet from the bank, and +when our heavy rope arrived we divided into two gangs and began the +work of rescue. We first took a heavy rope from the animal’s horns to +solid footing on the river bank, and tied to this five or six of our +lariats. Meanwhile others rolled a steer over as far as possible and +began burrowing with their hands down alongside a fore and hind leg +simultaneously until they could pass a small rope around the pastern +above the cloof, or better yet through the cloven in the hoof, when +the leg could be readily lifted by two men. We could not stop +burrowing, however, for a moment, or the space would fill and +solidify. Once a leg was freed, we doubled it back short and securely +tied it with a hobble, and when the fore and hind leg were thus +secured, we turned the animal over on that side and released the other +legs in a similar manner. Then we hastened out of the water and into +our saddles, and wrapped the loose end of our ropes to the pommels, +having already tied the lariats to the heavy corral rope from the +animal’s horns. When the word was given, we took a good swinging +start, and unless something gave way there was one steer less in the +bog. After we had landed the animal high and dry on the bank, it was +but a minute’s work to free the rope and untie the hobbles. Then it +was advisable to get into the saddle with little loss of time and give +him a wide berth, for he generally arose angry and sullen.</p> + +<p>It was dark before we got the last of the bogged cattle out and +retraced our way to camp from the first river on the trip that had +turned us. But we were not the least discouraged, for we felt certain +there was a ford that had a bottom somewhere within a few miles, and +we could hunt it up on the morrow. The next one, however, we would try +before we put the cattle in. There was no question that the +treacherous condition of the river was due to the recent freshet, +which had brought down new deposits of sediment and had agitated the +old, even to changing the channel of the river, so that it had not as +yet had sufficient time to settle and solidify.</p> + +<p>The next morning after breakfast, Flood and two or three of the boys +set out up the river, while an equal number of us started, under the +leadership of The Rebel, down the river on a similar errand,—to +prospect for a crossing. Our party scouted for about five miles, and +the only safe footing we could find was a swift, narrow channel +between the bank and an island in the river, while beyond the island +was a much wider channel with water deep enough in several places to +swim our saddle horses. The footing seemed quite secure to our horses, +but the cattle were much heavier; and if an animal ever bogged in the +river, there was water enough to drown him before help could be +rendered. We stopped our horses a number of times, however, to try the +footing, and in none of our experiments was there any indication of +quicksand, so we counted the crossing safe. On our return we found the +herd already in motion, headed up the river where our foreman had +located a crossing. As it was then useless to make any mention of the +island crossing which we had located, at least until a trial had been +given to the upper ford, we said nothing. When we came within half a +mile of the new ford, we held up the herd and allowed them to graze, +and brought up the <i>remuda</i> and crossed and recrossed them without +bogging a single horse. Encouraged at this, we cut off about a hundred +head of heavy lead cattle and started for the ford. We had a good push +on them when we struck the water, for there were ten riders around +them and Flood was in the lead. We called to him several times that +the cattle were bogging, but he never halted until he pulled out on +the opposite bank, leaving twelve of the heaviest steers in the +quicksand.</p> + +<p>“Well, in all my experience in trail work,” said Flood, as he gazed +back at the dozen animals struggling in the quicksand, “I never saw as +deceptive a bottom in any river. We used to fear the Cimarron and +Platte, but the old South Canadian is the girl that can lay it over +them both. Still, there ain’t any use crying over spilt milk, and we +haven’t got men enough to hold two herds, so surround them, boys, and +we’ll recross them if we leave twenty-four more in the river. Take +them back a good quarter, fellows, and bring them up on a run, and +I’ll take the lead when they strike the water; and give them no show +to halt until they get across.”</p> + +<p>As the little bunch of cattle had already grazed out nearly a quarter, +we rounded them into a compact body and started for the river to +recross them. The nearer we came to the river, the faster we went, +till we struck the water. In several places where there were channels, +we could neither force the cattle nor ride ourselves faster than a +walk on account of the depth of the water, but when we struck the +shallows, which were the really dangerous places, we forced the cattle +with horse and quirt. Near the middle of the river, in shoal water, +Rod Wheat was quirting up the cattle, when a big dun steer, trying to +get out of his reach, sank in the quicksand, and Rod’s horse stumbled +across the animal and was thrown. He floundered in attempting to rise, +and his hind feet sank to the haunches. His ineffectual struggles +caused him to sink farther to the flanks in the loblolly which the +tramping of the cattle had caused, and there horse and steer lay, side +by side, like two in a bed. Wheat loosened the cinches of the saddle +on either side, and stripping the bridle off, brought up the rear, +carrying saddle, bridle, and blankets on his back. The river was at +least three hundred yards wide, and when we got to the farther bank, +our horses were so exhausted that we dismounted and let them blow. A +survey showed we had left a total of fifteen cattle and the horse in +the quicksands. But we congratulated ourselves that we had bogged down +only three head in recrossing. Getting these cattle out was a much +harder task than the twenty head gave us the day before, for many of +these were bogged more than a hundred yards from the bank. But no time +was to be lost; the wagon was brought up in a hurry, fresh horses were +caught, and we stripped for the fray. While McCann got dinner we got +out the horse, even saving the cinches that were abandoned in freeing +him of the saddle.</p> + +<p>During the afternoon we were compelled to adopt a new mode of +procedure, for with the limited amount of rope at hand, we could only +use one rope for drawing the cattle out to solid footing, after they +were freed from the quagmire. But we had four good mules to our chuck +wagon, and instead of dragging the cattle ashore from the pommels of +saddles, we tied one end of the rope to the hind axle and used the +mules in snaking the cattle out. This worked splendidly, but every +time we freed a steer we had to drive the wagon well out of reach, for +fear he might charge the wagon and team. But with three crews working +in the water, tying up tails and legs, the work progressed more +rapidly than it had done the day before, and two hours before sunset +the last animal had been freed. We had several exciting incidents +during the operation, for several steers showed fight, and when +released went on the prod for the first thing in sight. The herd was +grazing nearly a mile away during the afternoon, and as fast as a +steer was pulled out, some one would take a horse and give the freed +animal a start for the herd. One big black steer turned on Flood, who +generally attended to this, and gave him a spirited chase. In getting +out of the angry steer’s way, he passed near the wagon, when the +maddened beef turned from Flood and charged the commissary. McCann was +riding the nigh wheel mule, and when he saw the steer coming, he +poured the whip into the mules and circled around like a battery in +field practice, trying to get out of the way. Flood made several +attempts to cut off the steer from the wagon, but he followed it like +a mover’s dog, until a number of us, fearing our mules would be gored, +ran out of the water, mounted our horses, and joined in the chase. +When we came up with the circus, our foreman called to us to rope the +beef, and Fox Quarternight, getting in the first cast, caught him by +the two front feet and threw him heavily. Before he could rise, +several of us had dismounted and were sitting on him like buzzards on +carrion. McCann then drove the team around behind a sand dune, out of +sight; we released the beef, and he was glad to return to the herd, +quite sobered by the throwing.</p> + +<p>Another incident occurred near the middle of the afternoon. From some +cause or other, the hind leg of a steer, after having been tied up, +became loosened. No one noticed this; but when, after several +successive trials, during which Barney McCann exhausted a large +vocabulary of profanity, the mule team was unable to move the steer, +six of us fastened our lariats to the main rope, and dragged the beef +ashore with great <i>éclat</i>. But when one of the boys dismounted to +unloose the hobbles and rope, a sight met our eyes that sent a +sickening sensation through us, for the steer had left one hind leg in +the river, neatly disjointed at the knee. Then we knew why the mules +had failed to move him, having previously supposed his size was the +difficulty, for he was one of the largest steers in the herd. No doubt +the steer’s leg had been unjointed in swinging him around, but it had +taken six extra horses to sever the ligaments and skin, while the +merciless quicksands of the Canadian held the limb. A friendly shot +ended the steer’s sufferings, and before we finished our work for the +day, a flight of buzzards were circling around in anticipation of the +coming feast.</p> + +<p>Another day had been lost, and still the South Canadian defied us. We +drifted the cattle back to the previous night camp, using the same bed +ground for our herd. It was then that The Rebel broached the subject +of a crossing at the island which we had examined that morning, and +offered to show it to our foreman by daybreak. We put two extra horses +on picket that night, and the next morning, before the sun was half an +hour high, the foreman and The Rebel had returned from the island down +the river with word that we were to give the ford a trial, though we +could not cross the wagon there. Accordingly we grazed the herd down +the river and came opposite the island near the middle of the +forenoon. As usual, we cut off about one hundred of the lead cattle, +the leaders naturally being the heaviest, and started them into the +water. We reached the island and scaled the farther bank without a +single animal losing his footing. We brought up a second bunch of +double, and a third of triple the number of the first, and crossed +them with safety, but as yet the Canadian was dallying with us. As we +crossed each successive bunch, the tramping of the cattle increasingly +agitated the sands, and when we had the herd about half over, we +bogged our first steer on the farther landing. As the water was so +shallow that drowning was out of the question, we went back and +trailed in the remainder of the herd, knowing the bogged steer would +be there when we were ready for him, The island was about two hundred +yards long by twenty wide, lying up and down the river, and in leaving +it for the farther bank, we always pushed off at the upper end. But +now, in trailing the remainder of the cattle over, we attempted to +force them into the water at the lower end, as the footing at that +point of this middle ground had not, as yet, been trampled up as had +the upper end. Everything worked nicely until the rear guard of the +last five or six hundred congested on the island, the outfit being +scattered on both sides of the river as well as in the middle, leaving +a scarcity of men at all points. When the final rear guard had reached +the river the cattle were striking out for the farther shore from +every quarter of the island at their own sweet will, stopping to drink +and loitering on the farther side, for there was no one to hustle them +out.</p> + +<p>All were over at last, and we were on the point of congratulating +ourselves,—for, although the herd had scattered badly, we had less +than a dozen bogged cattle, and those near the shore,—when suddenly +up the river over a mile, there began a rapid shooting. Satisfied that +it was by our own men, we separated, and, circling right and left, +began to throw the herd together. Some of us rode up the river bank +and soon located the trouble. We had not ridden a quarter of a mile +before we passed a number of our herd bogged, these having reentered +the river for their noonday drink, and on coming up with the men who +had done the shooting, we found them throwing the herd out from the +water. They reported that a large number of cattle were bogged farther +up the river.</p> + +<p>All hands rounded in the herd, and drifting them out nearly a mile +from the river, left them under two herders, when the remainder of us +returned to the bogged cattle. There were by actual count, including +those down at the crossing, over eighty bogged cattle that required +our attention, extending over a space of a mile or more above the +island ford.</p> + +<p>The outlook was anything but pleasing. Flood was almost speechless +over the situation, for it might have been guarded against. But +realizing the task before us, we recrossed the river for dinner, well +knowing the inner man needed fortifying for the work before us. No +sooner had we disposed of the meal and secured a change of mounts all +round, than we sent two men to relieve the men on herd. When they were +off, Flood divided up our forces for the afternoon work.</p> + +<p>“It will never do,” said he, “to get separated from our commissary. +So, Priest, you take the wagon and <i>remuda</i> and go back up to the +regular crossing and get our wagon over somehow. There will be the +cook and wrangler besides yourself, and you may have two other men. +You will have to lighten your load; and don’t attempt to cross those +mules hitched to the wagon; rely on your saddle horses for getting the +wagon over. Forrest, you and Bull, with the two men on herd, take the +cattle to the nearest creek and water them well. After watering, drift +them back, so they will be within a mile of these bogged cattle. Then +leave two men with them and return to the river. I’ll take the +remainder of the outfit and begin at the ford and work up the river. +Get the ropes and hobbles, boys, and come on.”</p> + +<p>John Officer and I were left with The Rebel to get the wagon across, +and while waiting for the men on herd to get in, we hooked up the +mules. Honeyman had the <i>remuda</i> in hand to start the minute our +herders returned, their change of mounts being already tied to the +wagon wheels. The need of haste was very imperative, for the river +might rise without an hour’s notice, and a two-foot rise would drown +every hoof in the river as well as cut us off from our wagon. The +South Canadian has its source in the Staked Plains and the mountains +of New Mexico, and freshets there would cause a rise here, local +conditions never affecting a river of such width. Several of us had +seen these Plains rivers,—when the mountain was sportive and dallying +with the plain,—under a clear sky and without any warning of falling +weather, rise with a rush of water like a tidal wave or the stream +from a broken dam. So when our men from herd galloped in, we stripped +their saddles from tired horses and cinched them to fresh ones, while +they, that there might be no loss of time, bolted their dinners. It +took us less than an hour to reach the ford, where we unloaded the +wagon of everything but the chuck-box, which was ironed fast. We had +an extra saddle in the wagon, and McCann was mounted on a good horse, +for he could ride as well as cook. Priest and I rode the river, +selecting a route; and on our return, all five of us tied our lariats +to the tongue and sides of the wagon. We took a running start, and +until we struck the farther bank we gave the wagon no time to sink, +but pulled it out of the river with a shout, our horses’ flanks +heaving. Then recrossing the river, we lashed all the bedding to four +gentle saddle horses and led them over. But to get our provisions +across was no easy matter, for we were heavily loaded, having taken on +a supply at Doan’s sufficient to last us until we reached Dodge, a +good month’s journey. Yet over it must go, and we kept a string of +horsemen crossing and recrossing for an hour, carrying everything from +pots and pans to axle grease, as well as the staples of life. When we +had got the contents of the wagon finally over and reloaded, there +remained nothing but crossing the saddle stock.</p> + +<p>The wagon mules had been turned loose, harnessed, while we were +crossing the wagon and other effects; and when we drove the <i>remuda</i> +into the river, one of the wheel mules turned back, and in spite of +every man, reached the bank again. Part of the boys hurried the others +across, but McCann and I turned back after our wheeler. We caught him +without any trouble, but our attempt to lead him across failed. In +spite of all the profanity addressed personally to him, he proved a +credit to his sire, and we lost ground in trying to force him into the +river. The boys across the river watched a few minutes, when all +recrossed to our assistance.</p> + +<p>“Time’s too valuable to monkey with a mule to-day,” said Priest, as he +rode up; “skin off that harness.”</p> + +<p>It was off at once, and we blindfolded and backed him up to the river +bank; then taking a rope around his forelegs, we threw him, hog-tied +him, and rolled him into the water. With a rope around his forelegs +and through the ring in the bridle bit, we asked no further favors, +but snaked him ignominiously over to the farther side and reharnessed +him into the team.</p> + +<p>The afternoon was more than half spent when we reached the first +bogged cattle, and by the time the wagon overtook us we had several +tied up and ready for the mule team to give us a lift. The herd had +been watered in the mean time and was grazing about in sight of the +river, and as we occasionally drifted a freed animal out to the herd, +we saw others being turned in down the river. About an hour before +sunset, Flood rode up to us and reported having cleared the island +ford, while a middle outfit under Forrest was working down towards it. +During the twilight hours of evening, the wagon and saddle horses +moved out to the herd and made ready to camp, but we remained until +dark, and with but three horses released a number of light cows. We +were the last outfit to reach the wagon, and as Honeyman had tied up +our night horses, there was nothing for us to do but eat and go to +bed, to which we required no coaxing, for we all knew that early +morning would find us once more working with bogged cattle.</p> + +<p>The night passed without incident, and the next morning in the +division of the forces, Priest was again allowed the wagon to do the +snaking out with, but only four men, counting McCann. The remainder of +the outfit was divided into several gangs, working near enough each +other to lend a hand in case an extra horse was needed on a pull. The +third animal we struck in the river that morning was the black steer +that had showed fight the day before. Knowing his temper would not be +improved by soaking in the quicksand overnight, we changed our +tactics. While we were tying up the steer’s tail and legs, McCann +secreted his team at a safe distance. Then he took a lariat, lashed +the tongue of the wagon to a cottonwood tree, and jacking up a hind +wheel, used it as a windlass. When all was ready, we tied the loose +end of our cable rope to a spoke, and allowing the rope to coil on the +hub, manned the windlass and drew him ashore. When the steer was +freed, McCann, having no horse at hand, climbed into the wagon, while +the rest of us sought safety in our saddles, and gave him a wide +berth. When he came to his feet he was sullen with rage and refused to +move out of his tracks. Priest rode out and baited him at a distance, +and McCann, from his safe position, attempted to give him a scare, +when he savagely charged the wagon. McCann reached down, and securing +a handful of flour, dashed it into his eyes, which made him back away; +and, kneeling, he fell to cutting the sand with his horns. Rising, he +charged the wagon a second time, and catching the wagon sheet with his +horns, tore two slits in it like slashes of a razor. By this time The +Rebel ventured a little nearer, and attracted the steer’s attention. +He started for Priest, who gave the quirt to his horse, and for the +first quarter mile had a close race. The steer, however, weakened by +the severe treatment he had been subjected to, soon fell to the rear, +and gave up the chase and continued on his way to the herd.</p> + +<p>After this incident we worked down the river until the outfits met. We +finished the work before noon, having lost three full days by the +quicksands of the Canadian. As we pulled into the trail that afternoon +near the first divide and looked back to take a parting glance at the +river, we saw a dust cloud across the Canadian which we knew must be +the Ellison herd under Nat Straw. Quince Forrest, noticing it at the +same time as I did, rode forward and said to me, “Well, old Nat will +get it in the neck this time, if that old girl dallies with him as she +did with us. I don’t wish him any bad luck, but I do hope he’ll bog +enough cattle to keep his hand in practice. It will be just about his +luck, though, to find it settled and solid enough to cross.” And the +next morning we saw his signal in the sky about the same distance +behind us, and knew he had forded without any serious trouble.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII<br><span class="small">THE NORTH FORK</span></h2></div> + +<p>There was never very much love lost between government soldiers and +our tribe, so we swept past Camp Supply in contempt a few days later, +and crossed the North Fork of the Canadian to camp for the night. +Flood and McCann went into the post, as our supply of flour and navy +beans was running rather low, and our foreman had hopes that he might +be able to get enough of these staples from the sutler to last until +we reached Dodge. He also hoped to receive some word from Lovell.</p> + +<p>The rest of us had no lack of occupation, as a result of a chance find +of mine that morning. Honeyman had stood my guard the night before, +and in return, I had got up when he was called to help rustle the +horses. We had every horse under hand before the sun peeped over the +eastern horizon, and when returning to camp with the <i>remuda</i>, as I +rode through a bunch of sumach bush, I found a wild turkey’s nest with +sixteen fresh eggs in it. Honeyman rode up, when I dismounted, and +putting them in my hat, handed them up to Billy until I could mount, +for they were beauties and as precious to us as gold. There was an egg +for each man in the outfit and one over, and McCann threw a heap of +swagger into the inquiry, “Gentlemen, how will you have your eggs this +morning?” just as though it was an everyday affair. They were issued +to us fried, and I naturally felt that the odd egg, by rights, ought +to fall to me, but the opposing majority was formidable,—fourteen to +one,—so I yielded. A number of ways were suggested to allot the odd +egg, but the gambling fever in us being rabid, raffling or playing +cards for it seemed to be the proper caper. Raffling had few +advocates.</p> + +<p>“It reflects on any man’s raising,” said Quince Forrest, +contemptuously, “to suggest the idea of raffling, when we’ve got cards +and all night to play for that egg. The very idea of raffling for it! +I’d like to see myself pulling straws or drawing numbers from a hat, +like some giggling girl at a church fair. Poker is a science; the +highest court in Texas has said so, and I want some little show for my +interest in that speckled egg. What have I spent twenty years learning +the game for, will some of you tell me? Why, it lets me out if you +raffle it.” The argument remained unanswered, and the play for it gave +interest to that night.</p> + +<p>As soon as supper was over and the first guard had taken the herd, the +poker game opened, each man being given ten beans for chips. We had +only one deck of cards, so one game was all that could be run at a +time, but there were six players, and when one was frozen out another +sat in and took his place. As wood was plentiful, we had a good fire, +and this with the aid of the cook’s lantern gave an abundance of +light. We unrolled a bed to serve as a table, sat down on it Indian +fashion, and as fast as one seat was vacated there was a man ready to +fill it, for we were impatient for our turns in the game. The talk +turned on an accident which had happened that afternoon. While we were +crossing the North Fork of the Canadian, Bob Blades attempted to ride +out of the river below the crossing, when his horse bogged down. He +instantly dismounted, and his horse after floundering around scrambled +out and up the bank, but with a broken leg. Our foreman had ridden up +and ordered the horse unsaddled and shot, to put him out of his +suffering.</p> + +<p>While waiting our turns, the accident to the horse was referred to +several times, and finally Blades, who was sitting in the game, turned +to us who were lounging around the fire, and asked, “Did you all +notice that look he gave me as I was uncinching the saddle? If he had +been human, he might have told what that look meant. Good thing he was +a horse and couldn’t realize.”</p> + +<p>From then on, the yarning and conversation was strictly <i>horse</i>.</p> + +<p>“It was always a mystery to me,” said Billy Honeyman, “how a Mexican +or Indian knows so much more about a horse than any of us. I have seen +them trail a horse across a country for miles, riding in a long lope, +with not a trace or sign visible to me. I was helping a horseman once +to drive a herd of horses to San Antonio from the lower Rio Grande +country. We were driving them to market, and as there were no +railroads south then, we had to take along saddle horses to ride home +on after disposing of the herd. We always took favorite horses which +we didn’t wish to sell, generally two apiece for that purpose. This +time, when we were at least a hundred miles from the ranch, a Mexican, +who had brought along a pet horse to ride home, thought he wouldn’t +hobble this pet one night, fancying the animal wouldn’t leave the +others. Well, next morning his pet was missing. We scoured the country +around and the trail we had come over for ten miles, but no horse. As +the country was all open, we felt positive he would go back to the +ranch.</p> + +<p>“Two days later and about forty miles higher up the road, the Mexican +was riding in the lead of the herd, when suddenly he reined in his +horse, throwing him back on his haunches, and waved for some of us to +come to him, never taking his eyes off what he saw in the road. The +owner was riding on one point of the herd and I on the other. We +hurried around to him and both rode up at the same time, when the +vaquero blurted out, ‘There’s my horse’s track.’</p> + +<p>“‘What horse?’ asked the owner.</p> + +<p>“‘My own; the horse we lost two days ago,’ replied the Mexican.</p> + +<p>“‘How do you know it’s your horse’s track from the thousands of others +that fill the road?’ demanded his employer.</p> + +<p>“‘Don Tomas,’ said the Aztec, lifting his hat, ‘how do I know your +step or voice from a thousand others?’</p> + +<p>“We laughed at him. He had been a peon, and that made him respect our +opinions—at least he avoided differing with us. But as we drove on +that afternoon, we could see him in the lead, watching for that +horse’s track. Several times he turned in his saddle and looked back, +pointed to some track in the road, and lifted his hat to us. At camp +that night we tried to draw him out, but he was silent.</p> + +<p>“But when we were nearing San Antonio, we overtook a number of wagons +loaded with wool, lying over, as it was Sunday, and there among their +horses and mules was our Mexican’s missing horse. The owner of the +wagons explained how he came to have the horse. The animal had come to +his camp one morning, back about twenty miles from where we had lost +him, while he was feeding grain to his work stock, and being a pet +insisted on being fed. Since then, I have always had a lot of respect +for a Greaser’s opinion regarding a horse.”</p> + +<p>“Turkey eggs is too rich for my blood,” said Bob Blades, rising from +the game. “I don’t care a continental who wins the egg now, for +whenever I get three queens pat beat by a four card draw, I have +misgivings about the deal. And old Quince thinks he can stack cards. +He couldn’t stack hay.”</p> + +<p>“Speaking about Mexicans and Indians,” said Wyatt Roundtree, “I’ve got +more use for a good horse than I have for either of those grades of +humanity. I had a little experience over east here, on the cut off +from the Chisholm trail, a few years ago, that gave me all the Injun I +want for some time to come. A band of renegade Cheyennes had hung +along the trail for several years, scaring or begging passing herds +into giving them a beef. Of course all the cattle herds had more or +less strays among them, so it was easier to cut out one of these than +to argue the matter. There was plenty of herds on the trail then, so +this band of Indians got bolder than bandits. In the year I’m speaking +of, I went up with a herd of horses belonging to a Texas man, who was +in charge with us. When we came along with our horses—only six men +all told—the chief of the band, called Running Bull Sheep, got on the +bluff bigger than a wolf and demanded six horses. Well, that Texan +wasn’t looking for any particular Injun that day to give six of his +own dear horses to. So we just drove on, paying no attention to Mr. +Bull Sheep. About half a mile farther up the trail, the chief overtook +us with all his bucks, and they were an ugly looking lot. Well, this +time he held up four fingers, meaning that four horses would be +acceptable. But the Texan wasn’t recognizing the Indian levy of +taxation that year. When he refused them, the Indians never parleyed a +moment, but set up a ‘ki yi’ and began circling round the herd on +their ponies, Bull Sheep in the lead.</p> + +<p>“As the chief passed the owner, his horse on a run, he gave a special +shrill ‘ki yi,’ whipped a short carbine out of its scabbard, and shot +twice into the rear of the herd. Never for a moment considering +consequences, the Texan brought his six-shooter into action. It was a +long, purty shot, and Mr. Bull Sheep threw his hands in the air and +came off his horse backward, hard hit. This shooting in the rear of +the horses gave them such a scare that we never checked them short of +a mile. While the other Indians were holding a little powwow over +their chief, we were making good time in the other direction, +considering that we had over eight hundred loose horses. Fortunately +our wagon and saddle horses had gone ahead that morning, but in the +run we overtook them. As soon as we checked the herd from its scare, +we turned them up the trail, stretched ropes from the wheels of the +wagon, ran the saddle horses in, and changed mounts just a little +quicker than I ever saw it done before or since. The cook had a saddle +in the wagon, so we caught him up a horse, clapped leather on him, and +tied him behind the wagon in case of an emergency. And you can just +bet we changed to our best horses. When we overtook the herd, we were +at least a mile and a half from where the shooting occurred, and there +was no Indian in sight, but we felt that they hadn’t given it up. We +hadn’t long to wait, though we would have waited willingly, before we +heard their yells and saw the dust rising in clouds behind us. We quit +the herd and wagon right there and rode for a swell of ground ahead +that would give us a rear view of the scenery. The first view we +caught of them was not very encouraging. They were riding after us +like fiends and kicking up a dust like a wind storm. We had nothing +but six-shooters, no good for long range. The owner of the horses +admitted that it was useless to try to save the herd now, and if our +scalps were worth saving it was high time to make ourselves scarce.</p> + +<p>“Cantonment was a government post about twenty-five miles away, so we +rode for it. Our horses were good Spanish stock, and the Indians’ +little bench-legged ponies were no match for them. But not satisfied +with the wagon and herd falling into their hands, they followed us +until we were within sight of the post. As hard luck would have it, +the cavalry stationed at this post were off on some escort duty, and +the infantry were useless in this case. When the cavalry returned a +few days later, they tried to round up those Indians, and the Indian +agent used his influence, but the horses were so divided up and +scattered that they were never recovered.”</p> + +<p>“And did the man lose his horses entirely?” asked Flood, who had +anteed up his last bean and joined us.</p> + +<p>“He did. There was, I remember, a tin horn lawyer up about Dodge who +thought he could recover their value, as these were agency Indians and +the government owed them money. But all I got for three months’ wages +due me was the horse I got away on.”</p> + +<p>McCann had been frozen out during Roundtree’s yarn, and had joined the +crowd of story-tellers on the other side of the fire. Forrest was +feeling quite gala, and took a special delight in taunting the +vanquished as they dropped out.</p> + +<p>“Is McCann there?” inquired he, well knowing he was. “I just wanted to +ask, would it be any trouble to poach that egg for my breakfast and +serve it with a bit of toast; I’m feeling a little bit dainty. You’ll +poach it for me, won’t you, please?”</p> + +<p>McCann never moved a muscle as he replied, “Will you please go to +hell?”</p> + +<p>The story-telling continued for some time, and while Fox Quarternight +was regaling us with the history of a little black mare that a +neighbor of theirs in Kentucky owned, a dispute arose in the card game +regarding the rules of discard and draw.</p> + +<p>“I’m too old a girl,” said The Rebel, angrily, to Forrest, “to allow a +pullet like you to teach me this game. When it’s my deal, I’ll discard +just when I please, and it’s none of your business so long as I keep +within the rules of the game;” which sounded final, and the game +continued.</p> + +<p>Quarternight picked up the broken thread of his narrative, and the +first warning we had of the lateness of the hour was Bull Durham +calling to us from the game, “One of you fellows can have my place, +just as soon as we play this jack pot. I’ve got to saddle my horse and +get ready for our guard. Oh, I’m on velvet, anyhow, and before this +game ends, I’ll make old Quince curl his tail; I’ve got him going +south now.”</p> + +<p>It took me only a few minutes to lose my chance at the turkey egg, and +I sought my blankets. At one A.M., when our guard was called, the +beans were almost equally divided among Priest, Stallings, and Durham; +and in view of the fact that Forrest, whom we all wanted to see +beaten, had met defeat, they agreed to cut the cards for the egg, +Stallings winning. We mounted our horses and rode out into the night, +and the second guard rode back to our camp-fire, singing:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1">“Two little niggers upstairs in bed,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">One turned ober to de oder an’ said,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">‘How ’bout dat short’nin’ bread,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">How ’bout dat short’nin’ bread?’”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII<br><span class="small">DODGE</span></h2></div> + +<p>At Camp Supply, Flood received a letter from Lovell, requesting him to +come on into Dodge ahead of the cattle. So after the first night’s +camp above the Cimarron, Flood caught up a favorite horse, informed +the outfit that he was going to quit us for a few days, and designated +Quince Forrest as the <i>segundo</i> during his absence.</p> + +<p>“You have a wide, open country from here into Dodge,” said he, when +ready to start, “and I’ll make inquiry for you daily from men coming +in, or from the buckboard which carries the mail to Supply. I’ll try +to meet you at Mulberry Creek, which is about ten miles south of +Dodge. I’ll make that town to-night, and you ought to make the +Mulberry in two days. You will see the smoke of passing trains to the +north of the Arkansaw, from the first divide south of Mulberry. When +you reach that creek, in case I don’t meet you, hold the herd there +and three or four of you can come on into town. But I’m almost certain +to meet you,” he called back as he rode away.</p> + +<p>“Priest,” said Quince, when our foreman had gone, “I reckon you didn’t +handle your herd to suit the old man when he left us that time at +Buffalo Gap. But I think he used rare judgment this time in selecting +a <i>segundo</i>. The only thing that frets me is, I’m afraid he’ll meet us +before we reach the Mulberry, and that won’t give me any chance to go +in ahead like a sure enough foreman. Fact is I have business there; I +deposited a few months’ wages at the Long Branch gambling house last +year when I was in Dodge, and failed to take a receipt. I just want to +drop in and make inquiry if they gave me credit, and if the account is +drawing interest. I think it’s all right, for the man I deposited it +with was a clever fellow and asked me to have a drink with him just as +I was leaving. Still, I’d like to step in and see him again.”</p> + +<p>Early in the afternoon of the second day after our foreman left us, we +sighted the smoke of passing trains, though they were at least fifteen +miles distant, and long before we reached the Mulberry, a livery rig +came down the trail to meet us. To Forrest’s chagrin, Flood, all +dressed up and with a white collar on, was the driver, while on a back +seat sat Don Lovell and another cowman by the name of McNulta. Every +rascal of us gave old man Don the glad hand as they drove around the +herd, while he, liberal and delighted as a bridegroom, passed out the +cigars by the handful. The cattle were looking fine, which put the old +man in high spirits, and he inquired of each of us if our health was +good and if Flood had fed us well. They loitered around the herd the +rest of the evening, until we threw off the trail to graze and camp +for the night, when Lovell declared his intention of staying all night +with the outfit.</p> + +<p>While we were catching horses during the evening, Lovell came up to me +where I was saddling my night horse, and recognizing me gave me news +of my brother Bob. “I had a letter yesterday from him,” he said, +“written from Red Fork, which is just north of the Cimarron River over +on the Chisholm route. He reports everything going along nicely, and +I’m expecting him to show up here within a week. His herd are all beef +steers, and are contracted for delivery at the Crow Indian Agency. +He’s not driving as fast as Flood, but we’ve got to have our beef for +that delivery in better condition, as they have a new agent there this +year, and he may be one of these knowing fellows. Sorry you couldn’t +see your brother, but if you have any word to send him, I’ll deliver +it.”</p> + +<p>I thanked him for the interest he had taken in me, and assured him +that I had no news for Robert; but took advantage of the opportunity +to inquire if our middle brother, Zack Quirk, was on the trail with +any of his herds. Lovell knew him, but felt positive he was not with +any of his outfits.</p> + +<p>We had an easy night with the cattle. Lovell insisted on standing a +guard, so he took Rod Wheat’s horse and stood the first watch, and +after returning to the wagon, he and McNulta, to our great interest, +argued the merits of the different trails until near midnight. McNulta +had two herds coming in on the Chisholm trail, while Lovell had two +herds on the Western and only one on the Chisholm.</p> + +<p>The next morning Forrest, who was again in charge, received orders to +cross the Arkansaw River shortly after noon, and then let half the +outfit come into town. The old trail crossed the river about a mile +above the present town of Dodge City, Kansas, so when we changed +horses at noon, the first and second guards caught up their top +horses, ransacked their war bags, and donned their best toggery. We +crossed the river about one o’clock in order to give the boys a good +holiday, the stage of water making the river easily fordable. McCann, +after dinner was over, drove down on the south side for the benefit of +a bridge which spanned the river opposite the town. It was the first +bridge he had been able to take advantage of in over a thousand miles +of travel, and to-day he spurned the cattle ford as though he had +never crossed at one. Once safely over the river, and with the +understanding that the herd would camp for the night about six miles +north on Duck Creek, six of our men quit us and rode for the town in a +long gallop. Before the rig left us in the morning, McNulta, who was +thoroughly familiar with Dodge, and an older man than Lovell, in a +friendly and fatherly spirit, seeing that many of us were youngsters, +had given us an earnest talk and plenty of good advice.</p> + +<p>“I’ve been in Dodge every summer since ’77,” said the old cowman, “and +I can give you boys some points. Dodge is one town where the average +bad man of the West not only finds his equal, but finds himself badly +handicapped. The buffalo hunters and range men have protested against +the iron rule of Dodge’s peace officers, and nearly every protest has +cost human life. Don’t ever get the impression that you can ride your +horses into a saloon, or shoot out the lights in Dodge; it may go +somewhere else, but it don’t go there. So I want to warn you to behave +yourselves. You can wear your six-shooters into town, but you’d better +leave them at the first place you stop, hotel, livery, or business +house. And when you leave town, call for your pistols, but don’t ride +out shooting; omit that. Most cowboys think it’s an infringement on +their rights to give up shooting in town, and if it is, it stands, for +your six-shooters are no match for Winchesters and buckshot; and +Dodge’s officers are as game a set of men as ever faced danger.”</p> + +<p>Nearly a generation has passed since McNulta, the Texan cattle drover, +gave our outfit this advice one June morning on the Mulberry, and in +setting down this record, I have only to scan the roster of the peace +officials of Dodge City to admit its correctness. Among the names that +graced the official roster, during the brief span of the trail days, +were the brothers Ed, Jim, and “Bat” Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Jack +Bridges, “Doc” Holliday, Charles Bassett, William Tillman, “Shotgun” +Collins, Joshua Webb, Mayor A.B. Webster, and “Mysterious” Dave +Mather. The puppets of no romance ever written can compare with these +officers in fearlessness. And let it be understood, there were plenty +to protest against their rule; almost daily during the range season +some equally fearless individual defied them.</p> + +<p>“Throw up your hands and surrender,” said an officer to a Texas +cowboy, who had spurred an excitable horse until it was rearing and +plunging in the street, leveling meanwhile a double-barreled shotgun +at the horseman.</p> + +<p>“Not to you, you white-livered s—— of a b——,” was the instant +reply, accompanied by a shot.</p> + +<p>The officer staggered back mortally wounded, but recovered himself, +and the next instant the cowboy reeled from his saddle, a load of +buckshot through his breast.</p> + +<p>After the boys left us for town, the remainder of us, belonging to the +third and fourth guard, grazed the cattle forward leisurely during the +afternoon. Through cattle herds were in sight both up and down the +river on either side, and on crossing the Mulberry the day before, we +learned that several herds were holding out as far south as that +stream, while McNulta had reported over forty herds as having already +passed northward on the trail. Dodge was the meeting point for buyers +from every quarter. Often herds would sell at Dodge whose destination +for delivery was beyond the Yellowstone in Montana. Herds frequently +changed owners when the buyer never saw the cattle. A yearling was a +yearling and a two year old was a two year old, and the seller’s word, +that they were “as good or better than the string I sold you last +year,” was sufficient. Cattle were classified as northern, central, +and southern animals, and, except in case of severe drouth in the +preceding years, were pretty nearly uniform in size throughout each +section. The prairie section of the State left its indelible imprint +on the cattle bred in the open country, while the coast, as well as +the piney woods and black-jack sections, did the same, thus making +classification easy.</p> + +<p>McCann overtook us early in the evening, and, being an obliging +fellow, was induced by Forrest to stand the first guard with Honeyman +so as to make up the proper number of watches, though with only two +men on guard at a time, for it was hardly possible that any of the +others would return before daybreak. There was much to be seen in +Dodge, and as losing a night’s sleep on duty was considered nothing, +in hilarious recreation sleep would be entirely forgotten. McCann had +not forgotten us, but had smuggled out a quart bottle to cut the +alkali in our drinking water. But a quart amongst eight of us was not +dangerous, so the night passed without incident, though we felt a +growing impatience to get into town. As we expected, about sunrise the +next morning our men off on holiday rode into camp, having never +closed an eye during the entire night. They brought word from Flood +that the herd would only graze over to Saw Log Creek that day, so as +to let the remainder of us have a day and night in town. Lovell would +only advance half a month’s wages—twenty-five dollars—to the man. It +was ample for any personal needs, though we had nearly three months’ +wages due, and no one protested, for the old man was generally right +in his decisions. According to their report the boys had had a +hog-killing time, old man Don having been out with them all night. It +seems that McNulta stood in well with a class of practical jokers +which included the officials of the town, and whenever there was +anything on the tapis, he always got the word for himself and friends. +During breakfast Fox Quarternight told this incident of the evening.</p> + +<p>“Some professor, a professor in the occult sciences I think he called +himself, had written to the mayor to know what kind of a point Dodge +would be for a lecture. The lecture was to be free, but he also +intimated that he had a card or two on the side up his sleeve, by +which he expected to graft onto some of the coin of the realm from the +wayfaring man as well as the citizen. The mayor turned the letter over +to Bat Masterson, the city marshal, who answered it, and invited the +professor to come on, assuring him that he was deeply interested in +the occult sciences, personally, and would take pleasure in securing +him a hall and a date, besides announcing his coming through the +papers.</p> + +<p>“Well, he was billed to deliver his lecture last night. Those old long +horns, McNulta and Lovell, got us in with the crowd, and while they +didn’t know exactly what was coming, they assured us that we couldn’t +afford to miss it. Well, at the appointed hour in the evening, the +hall was packed, not over half being able to find seats. It is safe to +say there were over five hundred men present, as it was announced for +‘men only.’ Every gambler in town was there, with a fair sprinkling of +cowmen and our tribe. At the appointed hour, Masterson, as chairman, +rapped for order, and in a neat little speech announced the object of +the meeting. Bat mentioned the lack of interest in the West in the +higher arts and sciences, and bespoke our careful attention to the +subject under consideration for the evening. He said he felt it hardly +necessary to urge the importance of good order, but if any one had +come out of idle curiosity or bent on mischief, as chairman of the +meeting and a peace officer of the city, he would certainly brook no +interruption. After a few other appropriate remarks, he introduced the +speaker as Dr. J. Graves-Brown, the noted scientist.</p> + +<p>“The professor was an oily-tongued fellow, and led off on the prelude +to his lecture, while the audience was as quiet as mice and as grave +as owls. After he had spoken about five minutes and was getting warmed +up to his subject, he made an assertion which sounded a little fishy, +and some one back in the audience blurted out, ‘That’s a damned lie.’ +The speaker halted in his discourse and looked at Masterson, who +arose, and, drawing two six-shooters, looked the audience over as if +trying to locate the offender. Laying the guns down on the table, he +informed the meeting that another interruption would cost the offender +his life, if he had to follow him to the Rio Grande or the British +possessions. He then asked the professor, as there would be no further +interruptions, to proceed with his lecture. The professor hesitated +about going on, when Masterson assured him that it was evident that +his audience, with the exception of one skulking coyote, was deeply +interested in the subject, but that no one man could interfere with +the freedom of speech in Dodge as long as it was a free country and he +was city marshal. After this little talk, the speaker braced up and +launched out again on his lecture. When he was once more under good +headway, he had occasion to relate an exhibition which he had +witnessed while studying his profession in India. The incident related +was a trifle rank for any one to swallow raw, when the same party who +had interrupted before sang out, ‘That’s another damn lie.’</p> + +<p>“Masterson came to his feet like a flash, a gun in each hand, saying, +‘Stand up, you measly skunk, so I can see you.’ Half a dozen men rose +in different parts of the house and cut loose at him, and as they did +so the lights went out and the room filled with smoke. Masterson was +blazing away with two guns, which so lighted up the rostrum that we +could see the professor crouching under the table. Of course they were +using blank cartridges, but the audience raised the long yell and +poured out through the windows and doors, and the lecture was over. A +couple of police came in later, so McNulta said, escorted the +professor to his room in the hotel, and quietly advised him that Dodge +was hardly capable of appreciating anything so advanced as a lecture +on the occult sciences.”</p> + +<p>Breakfast over, Honeyman ran in the <i>remuda</i>, and we caught the best +horses in our mounts, on which to pay our respects to Dodge. Forrest +detailed Rod Wheat to wrangle the horses, for we intended to take +Honeyman with us. As it was only about six miles over to the Saw Log, +Quince advised that they graze along Duck Creek until after dinner, +and then graze over to the former stream during the afternoon. Before +leaving, we rode over and looked out the trail after it left Duck, for +it was quite possible that we might return during the night; and we +requested McCann to hang out the lantern, elevated on the end of the +wagon tongue, as a beacon. After taking our bearings, we reined +southward over the divide to Dodge.</p> + +<p>“The very first thing I do,” said Quince Forrest, as we rode leisurely +along, “after I get a shave and hair-cut and buy what few tricks I +need, is to hunt up that gambler in the Long Branch, and ask him to +take a drink with me—I took the parting one on him. Then I’ll simply +set in and win back every dollar I lost there last year. There’s +something in this northern air that I breathe in this morning that +tells me that this is my lucky day. You other kids had better let the +games alone and save your money to buy red silk handkerchiefs and soda +water and such harmless jimcracks.” The fact that The Rebel was ten +years his senior never entered his mind as he gave us this fatherly +advice, though to be sure the majority of us were his juniors in +years.</p> + +<p>On reaching Dodge, we rode up to the Wright House, where Flood met us +and directed our cavalcade across the railroad to a livery stable, the +proprietor of which was a friend of Lovell’s. We unsaddled and turned +our horses into a large corral, and while we were in the office of the +livery, surrendering our artillery, Flood came in and handed each of +us twenty-five dollars in gold, warning us that when that was gone no +more would be advanced. On receipt of the money, we scattered like +partridges before a gunner. Within an hour or two, we began to return +to the stable by ones and twos, and were stowing into our saddle +pockets our purchases, which ran from needles and thread to .45 +cartridges, every mother’s son reflecting the art of the barber, while +John Officer had his blond mustaches blackened, waxed, and curled like +a French dancing master. “If some of you boys will hold him,” said +Moss Strayhorn, commenting on Officer’s appearance, “I’d like to take +a good smell of him, just to see if he took oil up there where the end +of his neck’s haired over.” As Officer already had several drinks +comfortably stowed away under his belt, and stood up strong six feet +two, none of us volunteered.</p> + +<p>After packing away our plunder, we sauntered around town, drinking +moderately, and visiting the various saloons and gambling houses. I +clung to my bunkie, The Rebel, during the rounds, for I had learned to +like him, and had confidence he would lead me into no indiscretions. +At the Long Branch, we found Quince Forrest and Wyatt Roundtree +playing the faro bank, the former keeping cases. They never recognized +us, but were answering a great many questions, asked by the dealer and +lookout, regarding the possible volume of the cattle drive that year. +Down at another gambling house, The Rebel met Ben Thompson, a faro +dealer not on duty and an old cavalry comrade, and the two cronied +around for over an hour like long lost brothers, pledging anew their +friendship over several social glasses, in which I was always +included. There was no telling how long this reunion would have +lasted, but happily for my sake, Lovell—who had been asleep all the +morning—started out to round us up for dinner with him at the Wright +House, which was at that day a famous hostelry, patronized almost +exclusively by the Texas cowmen and cattle buyers.</p> + +<p>We made the rounds of the gambling houses, looking for our crowd. We +ran across three of the boys piking at a monte game, who came with us +reluctantly; then, guided by Lovell, we started for the Long Branch, +where we felt certain we would find Forrest and Roundtree, if they had +any money left. Forrest was broke, which made him ready to come, and +Roundtree, though quite a winner, out of deference to our employer’s +wishes, cashed in and joined us. Old man Don could hardly do enough +for us; and before we could reach the Wright House, had lined us up +against three different bars; and while I had confidence in my +navigable capacity, I found they were coming just a little too fast +and free, seeing I had scarcely drunk anything in three months but +branch water. As we lined up at the Wright House bar for the final +before dinner, The Rebel, who was standing next to me, entered a +waiver and took a cigar, which I understood to be a hint, and I did +likewise.</p> + +<p>We had a splendid dinner. Our outfit, with McNulta, occupied a +ten-chair table, while on the opposite side of the room was another +large table, occupied principally by drovers who were waiting for +their herds to arrive. Among those at the latter table, whom I now +remember, was “Uncle” Henry Stevens, Jesse Ellison, “Lum” Slaughter, +John Blocker, Ike Pryor, “Dun” Houston, and last but not least, +Colonel “Shanghai” Pierce. The latter was possibly the most widely +known cowman between the Rio Grande and the British possessions. He +stood six feet four in his stockings, was gaunt and raw-boned, and the +possessor of a voice which, even in ordinary conversation, could be +distinctly heard across the street.</p> + +<p>“No, I’ll not ship any more cattle to your town,” said Pierce to a +cattle solicitor during the dinner, his voice in righteous indignation +resounding like a foghorn through the dining-room, “until you adjust +your yardage charges. Listen! I can go right up into the heart of your +city and get a room for myself, with a nice clean bed in it, plenty of +soap, water, and towels, and I can occupy that room for twenty-four +hours for two bits. And your stockyards, away out in the suburbs, want +to charge me twenty cents a head and let my steer stand out in the +weather.”</p> + +<p>After dinner, all the boys, with the exception of Priest and myself, +returned to the gambling houses as though anxious to work overtime. +Before leaving the hotel, Forrest effected the loan of ten from +Roundtree, and the two returned to the Long Branch, while the others +as eagerly sought out a monte game. But I was fascinated with the +conversation of these old cowmen, and sat around for several hours +listening to their yarns and cattle talk.</p> + +<p>“I was selling a thousand beef steers one time to some Yankee army +contractors,” Pierce was narrating to a circle of listeners, “and I +got the idea that they were not up to snuff in receiving cattle out on +the prairie. I was holding a herd of about three thousand, and they +had agreed to take a running cut, which showed that they had the +receiving agent fixed. Well, my foreman and I were counting the cattle +as they came between us. But the steers were wild, long-legged +coasters, and came through between us like scared wolves. I had lost +the count several times, but guessed at them and started over, the +cattle still coming like a whirlwind; and when I thought about nine +hundred had passed us, I cut them off and sang out, ‘Here they come +and there they go; just an even thousand, by gatlins! What do you make +it, Bill?’</p> + +<p>“‘Just an even thousand, Colonel,’ replied my foreman. Of course the +contractors were counting at the same time, and I suppose didn’t like +to admit they couldn’t count a thousand cattle where anybody else +could, and never asked for a recount, but accepted and paid for them. +They had hired an outfit, and held the cattle outside that night, but +the next day, when they cut them into car lots and shipped them, they +were a hundred and eighteen short. They wanted to come back on me to +make them good, but, shucks! I wasn’t responsible if their Jim Crow +outfit lost the cattle.”</p> + +<p>Along early in the evening, Flood advised us boys to return to the +herd with him, but all the crowd wanted to stay in town and see the +sights. Lovell interceded in our behalf, and promised to see that we +left town in good time to be in camp before the herd was ready to move +the next morning. On this assurance, Flood saddled up and started for +the Saw Log, having ample time to make the ride before dark. By this +time most of the boys had worn off the wire edge for gambling and were +comparing notes. Three of them were broke, but Quince Forrest had +turned the tables and was over a clean hundred winner for the day. +Those who had no money fortunately had good credit with those of us +who had, for there was yet much to be seen, and in Dodge in ’82 it +took money to see the elephant. There were several variety theatres, a +number of dance halls, and other resorts which, like the wicked, +flourish best under darkness. After supper, just about dusk, we went +over to the stable, caught our horses, saddled them, and tied them up +for the night. We fully expected to leave town by ten o’clock, for it +was a good twelve mile ride to the Saw Log. In making the rounds of +the variety theatres and dance halls, we hung together. Lovell excused +himself early in the evening, and at parting we assured him that the +outfit would leave for camp before midnight. We were enjoying +ourselves immensely over at the Lone Star dance hall, when an incident +occurred in which we entirely neglected the good advice of McNulta, +and had the sensation of hearing lead whistle and cry around our ears +before we got away from town.</p> + +<p>Quince Forrest was spending his winnings as well as drinking freely, +and at the end of a quadrille gave vent to his hilarity in an +old-fashioned Comanche yell. The bouncer of the dance hall of course +had his eye on our crowd, and at the end of a change, took Quince to +task. He was a surly brute, and instead of couching his request in +appropriate language, threatened to throw him out of the house. +Forrest stood like one absent-minded and took the abuse, for +physically he was no match for the bouncer, who was armed, moreover, +and wore an officer’s star. I was dancing in the same set with a +red-headed, freckled-faced girl, who clutched my arm and wished to +know if my friend was armed. I assured her that he was not, or we +would have had notice of it before the bouncer’s invective was ended. +At the conclusion of the dance, Quince and The Rebel passed out, +giving the rest of us the word to remain as though nothing was wrong. +In the course of half an hour, Priest returned and asked us to take +our leave one at a time without attracting any attention, and meet at +the stable. I remained until the last, and noticed The Rebel and the +bouncer taking a drink together at the bar,—the former apparently in +a most amiable mood. We passed out together shortly afterward, and +found the other boys mounted and awaiting our return, it being now +about midnight. It took but a moment to secure our guns, and once in +the saddle, we rode through the town in the direction of the herd. On +the outskirts of the town, we halted. “I’m going back to that dance +hall,” said Forrest, “and have one round at least with that +whore-herder. No man who walks this old earth can insult me, as he +did, not if he has a hundred stars on him. If any of you don’t want to +go along, ride right on to camp, but I’d like to have you all go. And +when I take his measure, it will be the signal to the rest of you to +put out the lights. All that’s going, come on.” There were no +dissenters to the programme. I saw at a glance that my bunkie was +heart and soul in the play, and took my cue and kept my mouth shut. We +circled round the town to a vacant lot within a block of the rear of +the dance hall. Honeyman was left to hold the horses; then, taking off +our belts and hanging them on the pommels of our saddles, we secreted +our six-shooters inside the waistbands of our trousers. The hall was +still crowded with the revelers when we entered, a few at a time, +Forrest and Priest being the last to arrive. Forrest had changed hats +with The Rebel, who always wore a black one, and as the bouncer +circulated around, Quince stepped squarely in front of him. There was +no waste of words, but a gun-barrel flashed in the lamplight, and the +bouncer, struck with the six-shooter, fell like a beef. Before the +bewildered spectators could raise a hand, five six-shooters were +turned into the ceiling. The lights went out at the first fire, and +amidst the rush of men and the screaming of women, we reached the +outside, and within a minute were in our saddles. All would have gone +well had we returned by the same route and avoided the town; but after +crossing the railroad track, anger and pride having not been properly +satisfied, we must ride through the town.</p> + +<p>On entering the main street, leading north and opposite the bridge on +the river, somebody of our party in the rear turned his gun loose into +the air. The Rebel and I were riding in the lead, and at the +clattering of hoofs and shooting behind us, our horses started on the +run, the shooting by this time having become general. At the second +street crossing, I noticed a rope of fire belching from a Winchester +in the doorway of a store building. There was no doubt in my mind but +we were the object of the manipulator of that carbine, and as we +reached the next cross street, a man kneeling in the shadow of a +building opened fire on us with a six-shooter. Priest reined in his +horse, and not having wasted cartridges in the open-air shooting, +returned the compliment until he emptied his gun. By this time every +officer in the town was throwing lead after us, some of which cried a +little too close for comfort. When there was no longer any shooting on +our flanks, we turned into a cross street and soon left the lead +behind us. At the outskirts of the town we slowed up our horses and +took it leisurely for a mile or so, when Quince Forrest halted us and +said, “I’m going to drop out here and see if any one follows us. I +want to be alone, so that if any officers try to follow us up, I can +have it out with them.”</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img005"> +<img src="images/005.jpg" class="w50" alt="CELEBRATING IN DODGE"> +</span></p> +<p class="center caption">CELEBRATING IN DODGE</p> + +<p>As there was no time to lose in parleying, and as he had a good horse, +we rode away and left him. On reaching camp, we secured a few hours’ +sleep, but the next morning, to our surprise, Forrest failed to +appear. We explained the situation to Flood, who said if he did not +show up by noon, he would go back and look for him. We all felt +positive that he would not dare to go back to town; and if he was +lost, as soon as the sun arose he would be able to get his bearings. +While we were nooning about seven miles north of the Saw Log, some one +noticed a buggy coming up the trail. As it came nearer we saw that +there were two other occupants of the rig besides the driver. When it +drew up old Quince, still wearing The Rebel’s hat, stepped out of the +rig, dragged out his saddle from under the seat, and invited his +companions to dinner. They both declined, when Forrest, taking out his +purse, handed a twenty-dollar gold piece to the driver with an oath. +He then asked the other man what he owed him, but the latter very +haughtily declined any recompense, and the conveyance drove away.</p> + +<p>“I suppose you fellows don’t know what all this means,” said Quince, +as he filled a plate and sat down in the shade of the wagon. “Well, +that horse of mine got a bullet plugged into him last night as we were +leaving town, and before I could get him to Duck Creek, he died on me. +I carried my saddle and blankets until daylight, when I hid in a draw +and waited for something to turn up. I thought some of you would come +back and look for me sometime, for I knew you wouldn’t understand it, +when all of a sudden here comes this livery rig along with that +drummer—going out to Jetmore, I believe he said. I explained what I +wanted, but he decided that his business was more important than mine, +and refused me. I referred the matter to Judge Colt, and the judge +decided that it was more important that I overtake this herd. I’d have +made him take pay, too, only he acted so mean about it.”</p> + +<p>After dinner, fearing arrest, Forrest took a horse and rode on ahead +to the Solomon River. We were a glum outfit that afternoon, but after +a good night’s rest were again as fresh as daisies. When McCann +started to get breakfast, he hung his coat on the end of the wagon +rod, while he went for a bucket of water. During his absence, John +Officer was noticed slipping something into Barney’s coat pocket, and +after breakfast when our cook went to his coat for his tobacco, he +unearthed a lady’s cambric handkerchief, nicely embroidered, and a +silver mounted garter. He looked at the articles a moment, and, +grasping the situation at a glance, ran his eye over the outfit for +the culprit. But there was not a word or a smile. He walked over and +threw the articles into the fire, remarking, “Good whiskey and bad +women will be the ruin of you varmints yet.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV<br><span class="small">SLAUGHTER’S BRIDGE</span></h2></div> + +<p>Herds bound for points beyond the Yellowstone, in Montana, always +considered Dodge as the halfway landmark on the trail, though we had +hardly covered half the distance to the destination of our Circle +Dots. But with Dodge in our rear, all felt that the backbone of the +drive was broken, and it was only the middle of June. In order to +divide the night work more equitably, for the remainder of the trip +the first and fourth guards changed, the second and third remaining as +they were. We had begun to feel the scarcity of wood for cooking +purposes some time past, and while crossing the plains of western +Kansas, we were frequently forced to resort to the old bed grounds of +a year or two previous for cattle chips. These chips were a poor +substitute, and we swung a cowskin under the reach of the wagon, so +that when we encountered wood on creeks and rivers we could lay in a +supply. Whenever our wagon was in the rear, the riders on either side +of the herd were always on the skirmish for fuel, which they left +alongside the wagon track, and our cook was sure to stow it away +underneath on the cowskin.</p> + +<p>In spite of any effort on our part, the length of the days made long +drives the rule. The cattle could be depended on to leave the bed +ground at dawn, and before the outfit could breakfast, secure mounts, +and overtake the herd, they would often have grazed forward two or +three miles. Often we never threw them on the trail at all, yet when +it came time to bed them at night, we had covered twenty miles. They +were long, monotonous days; for we were always sixteen to eighteen +hours in the saddle, while in emergencies we got the benefit of the +limit. We frequently saw mirages, though we were never led astray by +shady groves of timber or tempting lakes of water, but always kept +within a mile or two of the trail. The evening of the third day after +Forrest left us, he returned as we were bedding down the cattle at +dusk, and on being assured that no officers had followed us, resumed +his place with the herd. He had not even reached the Solomon River, +but had stopped with a herd of Millet’s on Big Boggy. This creek he +reported as bottomless, and the Millet herd as having lost between +forty and fifty head of cattle in attempting to force it at the +regular crossing the day before his arrival. They had scouted the +creek both up and down since without finding a safe crossing. It +seemed that there had been unusually heavy June rains through that +section, which accounted for Boggy being in its dangerous condition. +Millet’s foreman had not considered it necessary to test such an +insignificant stream until he got a couple of hundred head of cattle +floundering in the mire. They had saved the greater portion of the +mired cattle, but quite a number were trampled to death by the others, +and now the regular crossing was not approachable for the stench of +dead cattle. Flood knew the stream, and so did a number of our outfit, +but none of them had any idea that it could get into such an +impassable condition as Forrest reported.</p> + +<p>The next morning Flood started to the east and Priest to the west to +look out a crossing, for we were then within half a day’s drive of the +creek. Big Boggy paralleled the Solomon River in our front, the two +not being more than five miles apart. The confluence was far below in +some settlements, and we must keep to the westward of all immigration, +on account of the growing crops in the fertile valley of the Solomon. +On the westward, had a favorable crossing been found, we would almost +have had to turn our herd backward, for we were already within the +half circle which this creek described in our front. So after the two +men left us, we allowed the herd to graze forward, keeping several +miles to the westward of the trail in order to get the benefit of the +best grazing. Our herd, when left to itself, would graze from a mile +to a mile and a half an hour, and by the middle of the forenoon the +timber on Big Boggy and the Solomon beyond was sighted. On reaching +this last divide, some one sighted a herd about five or six miles to +the eastward and nearly parallel with us. As they were three or four +miles beyond the trail, we could easily see that they were grazing +along like ourselves, and Forrest was appealed to to know if it was +the Millet herd. He said not, and pointed out to the northeast about +the location of the Millet cattle, probably five miles in advance of +the stranger on our right. When we overtook our wagon at noon, McCann, +who had never left the trail, reported having seen the herd. They +looked to him like heavy beef cattle, and had two yoke of oxen to +their chuck wagon, which served further to proclaim them as strangers.</p> + +<p>Neither Priest nor Flood returned during the noon hour, and when the +herd refused to lie down and rest longer, we grazed them forward till +the fringe of timber which grew along the stream loomed up not a mile +distant in our front. From the course we were traveling, we would +strike the creek several miles above the regular crossing, and as +Forrest reported that Millet was holding below the old crossing on a +small rivulet, all we could do was to hold our wagon in the rear, and +await the return of our men out on scout for a ford. Priest was the +first to return, with word that he had ridden the creek out for +twenty-five miles and had found no crossing that would be safe for a +mud turtle. On hearing this, we left two men with the herd, and the +rest of the outfit took the wagon, went on to Boggy, and made camp. It +was a deceptive-looking stream, not over fifty or sixty feet wide. In +places the current barely moved, shallowing and deepening, from a few +inches in places to several feet in others, with an occasional pool +that would swim a horse. We probed it with poles until we were +satisfied that we were up against a proposition different from +anything we had yet encountered. While we were discussing the +situation, a stranger rode up on a fine roan horse, and inquired for +our foreman. Forrest informed him that our boss was away looking for a +crossing, but we were expecting his return at any time; and invited +the stranger to dismount. He did so, and threw himself down in the +shade of our wagon. He was a small, boyish-looking fellow, of sandy +complexion, not much, if any, over twenty years old, and smiled +continuously.</p> + +<p>“My name is Pete Slaughter,” said he, by way of introduction, “and +I’ve got a herd of twenty-eight hundred beef steers, beyond the trail +and a few miles back. I’ve been riding since daybreak down the creek, +and I’m prepared to state that the chance of crossing is as good right +here as anywhere. I wanted to see your foreman, and if he’ll help, +we’ll bridge her. I’ve been down to see this other outfit, but they +ridicule the idea, though I think they’ll come around all right. I +borrowed their axe, and to-morrow morning you’ll see me with my outfit +cutting timber to bridge Big Boggy. That’s right, boys; it’s the only +thing to do. The trouble is I’ve only got eight men all told. I don’t +aim to travel over eight or ten miles a day, so I don’t need a big +outfit. You say your foreman’s name is Flood? Well, if he don’t return +before I go, some of you tell him that he’s wasting good time looking +for a ford, for there ain’t none.”</p> + +<p>In the conversation which followed, we learned that Slaughter was +driving for his brother Lum, a widely known cowman and drover, whom we +had seen in Dodge. He had started with the grass from north Texas, and +by the time he reached the Platte, many of his herd would be fit to +ship to market, and what were not would be in good demand as feeders +in the corn belt of eastern Nebraska. He asked if we had seen his herd +during the morning, and on hearing we had, got up and asked McCann to +let him see our axe. This he gave a critical examination, before he +mounted his horse to go, and on leaving said,—</p> + +<p>“If your foreman don’t want to help build a bridge, I want to borrow +that axe of yours. But you fellows talk to him. If any of you boys has +ever been over on the Chisholm trail, you will remember the bridge on +Rush Creek, south of the Washita River. I built that bridge in a day +with an outfit of ten men. Why, shucks! if these outfits would pull +together, we could cross to-morrow evening. Lots of these old foremen +don’t like to listen to a cub like me, but, holy snakes! I’ve been +over the trail oftener than any of them. Why, when I wasn’t big enough +to make a hand with the herd,—only ten years old,—in the days when +we drove to Abilene, they used to send me in the lead with an old +cylinder gun to shoot at the buffalo and scare them off the trail. And +I’ve made the trip every year since. So you tell Flood when he comes +in, that Pete Slaughter was here, and that he’s going to build a +bridge, and would like to have him and his outfit help.”</p> + +<p>Had it not been for his youth and perpetual smile, we might have taken +young Slaughter more seriously, for both Quince Forrest and The Rebel +remembered the bridge on Rush Creek over on the Chisholm. Still there +was an air of confident assurance in the young fellow; and the fact +that he was the trusted foreman of Lum Slaughter, in charge of a +valuable herd of cattle, carried weight with those who knew that +drover. The most unwelcome thought in the project was that it required +the swinging of an axe to fell trees and to cut them into the +necessary lengths, and, as I have said before, the Texan never took +kindly to manual labor. But Priest looked favorably on the suggestion, +and so enlisted my support, and even pointed out a spot where timber +was most abundant as a suitable place to build the bridge.</p> + +<p>“Hell’s fire,” said Joe Stallings, with infinite contempt, “there’s +thousands of places to build a bridge, and the timber’s there, but the +idea is to cut it.” And his sentiments found a hearty approval in the +majority of the outfit.</p> + +<p>Flood returned late that evening, having ridden as far down the creek +as the first settlement. The Rebel, somewhat antagonized by the +attitude of the majority, reported the visit and message left for him +by young Slaughter. Our foreman knew him by general reputation amongst +trail bosses, and when Priest vouched for him as the builder of the +Rush Creek bridge on the Chisholm trail, Flood said, “Why, I crossed my +herd four years ago on that Rush Creek bridge within a week after it +was built, and wondered who it could be that had the nerve to undertake +that task. Rush isn’t over half as wide a bayou as Boggy, but she’s a +true little sister to this miry slough. So he’s going to build a bridge +anyhow, is he?”</p> + +<p>The next morning young Slaughter was at our camp before sunrise, and +never once mentioning his business or waiting for the formality of an +invitation, proceeded to pour out a tin cup of coffee and otherwise +provide himself with a substantial breakfast. There was something +amusing in the audacity of the fellow which all of us liked, though +he was fifteen years the junior of our foreman. McCann pointed out +Flood to him, and taking his well-loaded plate, he went over and sat +down by our foreman, and while he ate talked rapidly, to enlist our +outfit in the building of the bridge. During breakfast, the outfit +listened to the two bosses as they discussed the feasibility of the +project,—Slaughter enthusiastic, Flood reserved, and asking all sorts +of questions as to the mode of procedure. Young Pete met every question +with promptness, and assured our foreman that the building of bridges +was his long suit. After breakfast, the two foremen rode off down the +creek together, and within half an hour Slaughter’s wagon and <i>remuda</i> +pulled up within sight of the regular crossing, and shortly afterwards +our foreman returned, and ordered our wagon to pull down to a clump of +cotton woods which grew about half a mile below our camp. Two men were +detailed to look after our herd during the day, and the remainder of us +returned with our foreman to the site selected for the bridge. On our +arrival three axes were swinging against as many cottonwoods, and there +was no doubt in any one’s mind that we were going to be under a new +foreman for that day at least. Slaughter had a big negro cook who swung +an axe in a manner which bespoke him a job for the day, and McCann was +instructed to provide dinner for the extra outfit.</p> + +<p>The site chosen for the bridge was a miry bottom over which oozed +three or four inches of water, where the width of the stream was about +sixty feet, with solid banks on either side. To get a good foundation +was the most important matter, but the brush from the trees would +supply the material for that; and within an hour, brush began to +arrive, dragged from the pommels of saddles, and was piled into the +stream. About this time a call went out for a volunteer who could +drive oxen, for the darky was too good an axeman to be recalled. As I +had driven oxen as a boy, I was going to offer my services, when Joe +Stallings eagerly volunteered in order to avoid using an axe. +Slaughter had some extra chain, and our four mules were pressed into +service as an extra team in snaking logs. As McCann was to provide for +the inner man, the mule team fell to me; and putting my saddle on the +nigh wheeler, I rode jauntily past Mr. Stallings as he trudged +alongside his two yoke of oxen.</p> + +<p>About ten o’clock in the morning, George Jacklin, the foreman of the +Millet herd, rode up with several of his men, and seeing the bridge +taking shape, turned in and assisted in dragging brush for the +foundation. By the time all hands knocked off for dinner, we had a +foundation of brush twenty feet wide and four feet high, to say +nothing about what had sunk in the mire. The logs were cut about +fourteen feet long, and old Joe and I had snaked them up as fast as +the axemen could get them ready. Jacklin returned to his wagon for +dinner and a change of horses, though Slaughter, with plenty of +assurance, had invited him to eat with us, and when he declined had +remarked, with no less confidence, “Well, then, you’ll be back right +after dinner. And say, bring all the men you can spare; and if you’ve +got any gunny sacks or old tarpaulins, bring them; and by all means +don’t forget your spade.”</p> + +<p>Pete Slaughter was a harsh master, considering he was working +volunteer labor; but then we all felt a common interest in the bridge, +for if Slaughter’s beeves could cross, ours could, and so could +Millet’s. All the men dragging brush changed horses during dinner, for +there was to be no pause in piling in a good foundation as long as the +material was at hand. Jacklin and his outfit returned, ten strong, and +with thirty men at work, the bridge grew. They began laying the logs +on the brush after dinner, and the work of sodding the bridge went +forward at the same time. The bridge stood about two feet above the +water in the creek, but when near the middle of the stream was +reached, the foundation gave way, and for an hour ten horses were kept +busy dragging brush to fill that sink hole until it would bear the +weight of the logs. We had used all the acceptable timber on our side +of the stream for half a mile either way, and yet there were not +enough logs to complete the bridge. When we lacked only some ten or +twelve logs, Slaughter had the boys sod a narrow strip across the +remaining brush, and the horsemen led their mounts across to the +farther side. Then the axemen crossed, felled the nearest trees, and +the last logs were dragged up from the pommels of our saddles.</p> + +<p>It now only remained to sod over and dirt the bridge thoroughly. With +only three spades the work was slow, but we cut sod with axes, and +after several hours’ work had it finished. The two yoke of oxen were +driven across and back for a test, and the bridge stood it nobly. +Slaughter then brought up his <i>remuda</i>, and while the work of dirting +the bridge was still going on, crossed and recrossed his band of +saddle horses twenty times. When the bridge looked completed to every +one else, young Pete advised laying stringers across on either side; +so a number of small trees were felled and guard rails strung across +the ends of the logs and staked. Then more dirt was carried in on +tarpaulins and in gunny sacks, and every chink and crevice filled with +sod and dirt. It was now getting rather late in the afternoon, but +during the finishing touches, young Slaughter had dispatched his +outfit to bring up his herd; and at the same time Flood had sent a +number of our outfit to bring up our cattle. Now Slaughter and the +rest of us took the oxen, which we had unyoked, and went out about a +quarter of a mile to meet his herd coming up. Turning the oxen in the +lead, young Pete took one point and Flood the other, and pointed in +the lead cattle for the bridge. On reaching it the cattle hesitated +for a moment, and it looked as though they were going to balk, but +finally one of the oxen took the lead, and they began to cross in +almost Indian file. They were big four and five year old beeves, and +too many of them on the bridge at one time might have sunk it, but +Slaughter rode back down the line of cattle and called to the men to +hold them back.</p> + +<p>“Don’t crowd the cattle,” he shouted. “Give them all the time they +want. We’re in no hurry now; there’s lots of time.”</p> + +<p>They were a full half hour in crossing, the chain of cattle taking the +bridge never for a moment being broken. Once all were over, his men +rode to the lead and turned the herd up Boggy, in order to have it +well out of the way of ours, which were then looming up in sight. +Slaughter asked Flood if he wanted the oxen; and as our cattle had +never seen a bridge in their lives, the foreman decided to use them; +so we brought them back and met the herd, now strung out nearly a +mile. Our cattle were naturally wild, but we turned the oxen in the +lead, and the two bosses again taking the points, moved the herd up to +the bridge. The oxen were again slow to lead out in crossing, and +several hundred head of cattle had congested in front of the new +bridge, making us all rather nervous, when a big white ox led off, his +mate following, and the herd began timidly to follow. Our cattle +required careful handling, and not a word was spoken as we nursed them +forward, or rode through them to scatter large bunches. A number of +times we cut the train of cattle off entirely, as they were congesting +at the bridge entrance, and, in crossing, shied and crowded so that +several were forced off the bridge into the mire. Our herd crossed in +considerably less time than did Slaughter’s beeves, but we had five +head to pull out; this, however, was considered nothing, as they were +light, and the mire was as thin as soup. Our wagon and saddle horses +crossed while we were pulling out the bogged cattle, and about half +the outfit, taking the herd, drifted them forward towards the Solomon. +Since Millet intended crossing that evening, herds were likely to be +too thick for safety at night. The sun was hardly an hour high when +the last herd came up to cross. The oxen were put in the lead, as with +ours, and all four of the oxen took the bridge, but when the cattle +reached the bridge, they made a decided balk and refused to follow the +oxen. Not a hoof of the herd would even set foot on the bridge. The +oxen were brought back several times, but in spite of all coaxing and +nursing, and our best endeavors and devices, they would not risk it. +We worked with them until dusk, when all three of the foremen decided +it was useless to try longer, but both Slaughter and Flood promised to +bring back part of their outfits in the morning and make another +effort.</p> + +<p>McCann’s camp-fire piloted us to our wagon, at least three miles from +the bridge, for he had laid in a good supply of wood during the day; +and on our arrival our night horses were tied up, and everything made +ready for the night. The next morning we started the herd, but Flood +took four of us with him and went back to Big Boggy. The Millet herd +was nearly two miles back from the bridge, where we found Slaughter at +Jacklin’s wagon; and several more of his men were, we learned, coming +over with the oxen at about ten o’clock. That hour was considered soon +enough by the bosses, as the heat of the day would be on the herd by +that time, which would make them lazy. When the oxen arrived at the +bridge, we rode out twenty strong and lined the cattle up for another +trial. They had grazed until they were full and sleepy, but the memory +of some of them was too vivid of the hours they had spent in the slimy +ooze of Big Boggy once on a time, and they began milling on sight of +the stream. We took them back and brought them up a second time with +the same results. We then brought them around in a circle a mile in +diameter, and as the rear end of the herd was passing, we turned the +last hundred, and throwing the oxen into their lead, started them for +the bridge; but they too sulked and would have none of it. It was now +high noon, so we turned the herd and allowed them to graze back while +we went to dinner. Millet’s foreman was rather discouraged with the +outlook, but Slaughter said they must be crossed if he had to lay over +a week and help. After dinner, Jacklin asked us if we wanted a change +of horses, and as we could see a twenty mile ride ahead of us in +overtaking our herd, Flood accepted.</p> + +<p>When all was ready to start, Slaughter made a suggestion. “Let’s go +out,” he said, “and bring them up slowly in a solid body, and when we +get them opposite the bridge, round them in gradually as if we were +going to bed them down. I’ll take a long lariat to my white wheeler, +and when they have quieted down perfectly, I’ll lead old Blanco +through them and across the bridge, and possibly they’ll follow. +There’s no use crowding them, for that only excites them, and if you +ever start them milling, the jig’s up. They’re nice, gentle cattle, +but they’ve been balked once and they haven’t forgotten it.”</p> + +<p>What we needed right then was a leader, for we were all ready to catch +at a straw, and Slaughter’s suggestion was welcome, for he had +established himself in our good graces until we preferred him to +either of the other foremen as a leader. Riding out to the herd, which +were lying down, we roused and started them back towards Boggy. While +drifting them back, we covered a front a quarter of a mile in width, +and as we neared the bridge we gave them perfect freedom. Slaughter +had caught out his white ox, and we gradually worked them into a body, +covering perhaps ten acres, in front of the bridge. Several small +bunches attempted to mill, but some of us rode in and split them up, +and after about half an hour’s wait, they quieted down. Then Slaughter +rode in whistling and leading his white ox at the end of a thirty-five +foot lariat, and as he rode through them they were so logy that he had +to quirt them out of the way. When he came to the bridge, he stopped +the white wheeler until everything had quieted down; then he led old +Blanco on again, but giving him all the time he needed and stopping +every few feet. We held our breath, as one or two of the herd started +to follow him, but they shied and turned back, and our hopes of the +moment were crushed. Slaughter detained the ox on the bridge for +several minutes, but seeing it was useless, he dismounted and drove +him back into the herd. Again and again he tried the same ruse, but it +was of no avail. Then we threw the herd back about half a mile, and on +Flood’s suggestion cut off possibly two hundred head, a bunch which +with our numbers we ought to handle readily in spite of their will, +and by putting their <i>remuda</i> of over a hundred saddle horses in the +immediate lead, made the experiment of forcing them. We took the +saddle horses down and crossed and recrossed the bridge several times +with them, and as the cattle came up turned the horses into the lead +and headed for the bridge. With a cordon of twenty riders around them, +no animal could turn back, and the horses crossed the bridge on a +trot, but the cattle turned tail and positively refused to have +anything to do with it. We held them like a block in a vise, so +compactly that they could not even mill, but they would not cross the +bridge.</p> + +<p>When it became evident that it was a fruitless effort, Jacklin, +usually a very quiet man, gave vent to a fit of profanity which would +have put the army in Flanders to shame. Slaughter, somewhat to our +amusement, reproved him: “Don’t fret, man; this is nothing,—I balked +a herd once in crossing a railroad track, and after trying for two +days to cross them, had to drive ten miles and put them under a +culvert. You want to cultivate patience, young fellow, when you’re +handling dumb brutes.”</p> + +<p>If Slaughter’s darky cook had been thereabouts then, and suggested a +means of getting that herd to take the bridge, his suggestion would +have been welcomed, for the bosses were at their wits’ ends. Jacklin +swore that he would bed that herd at the entrance, and hold them there +until they starved to death or crossed, before he would let an animal +turn back. But cooler heads were present, and The Rebel mentioned a +certain adage, to the effect that when a bird or a girl, he didn’t +know which, could sing and wouldn’t, she or it ought to be made to +sing. He suggested that we hold the four oxen on the bridge, cut off +fifteen head of cattle, and give them such a running start, they +wouldn’t know which end their heads were on when they reached the +bridge. Millet’s foreman approved of the idea, for he was nursing his +wrath. The four oxen were accordingly cut out, and Slaughter and one +of his men, taking them, started for the bridge with instructions to +hold them on the middle. The rest of us took about a dozen head of +light cattle, brought them within a hundred yards of the bridge, then +with a yell started them on a run from which they could not turn back. +They struck the entrance squarely, and we had our first cattle on the +bridge. Two men held the entrance, and we brought up another bunch in +the same manner, which filled the bridge. Now, we thought, if the herd +could be brought up slowly, and this bridgeful let off in their lead, +they might follow. To June a herd of cattle across in this manner +would have been shameful, and the foreman of the herd knew it as well +as any one present; but no one protested, so we left men to hold the +entrance securely and went back after the herd. When we got them +within a quarter of a mile of the creek, we cut off about two hundred +head of the leaders and brought them around to the rear, for amongst +these leaders were certain to be the ones which had been bogged, and +we wanted to have new leaders in this trial. Slaughter was on the +farther end of the bridge, and could be depended on to let the oxen +lead off at the opportune moment. We brought them up cautiously, and +when the herd came within a few rods of the creek the cattle on the +bridge lowed to their mates in the herd, and Slaughter, considering +the time favorable, opened out and allowed them to leave the bridge on +the farther side. As soon as the cattle started leaving on the farther +side, we dropped back, and the leaders of the herd to the number of a +dozen, after smelling the fresh dirt and seeing the others crossing, +walked cautiously up on the bridge. It was a moment of extreme +anxiety. None of us spoke a word, but the cattle crowding off the +bridge at the farther end set it vibrating. That was enough: they +turned as if panic-stricken and rushed back to the body of the herd. I +was almost afraid to look at Jacklin. He could scarcely speak, but he +rode over to me, ashen with rage, and kept repeating, “Well, wouldn’t +that beat hell!”</p> + +<p>Slaughter rode back across the bridge, and the men came up and +gathered around Jacklin. We seemed to have run the full length of our +rope. No one even had a suggestion to offer, and if any one had had, +it needed to be a plausible one to find approval, for hope seemed to +have vanished. While discussing the situation, a one-eyed, pox-marked +fellow belonging to Slaughter’s outfit galloped up from the rear, and +said almost breathlessly, “Say, fellows, I see a cow and calf in the +herd. Let’s rope the calf, and the cow is sure to follow. Get the rope +around the calf’s neck, and when it chokes him, he’s liable to bellow, +and that will call the steers. And if you never let up on the choking +till you get on the other side of the bridge, I think it’ll work. +Let’s try it, anyhow.”</p> + +<p>We all approved, for we knew that next to the smell of blood, nothing +will stir range cattle like the bellowing of a calf. At the mere +suggestion, Jacklin’s men scattered into the herd, and within a few +minutes we had a rope round the neck of the calf. As the roper came +through the herd leading the calf, the frantic mother followed, with a +train of excited steers at her heels. And as the calf was dragged +bellowing across the bridge, it was followed by excited, struggling +steers who never knew whether they were walking on a bridge or on +<i>terra firma</i>. The excitement spread through the herd, and they +thickened around the entrance until it was necessary to hold them +back, and only let enough pass to keep the chain unbroken.</p> + +<p>They were nearly a half hour in crossing, for it was fully as large a +herd as ours; and when the last animal had crossed, Pete Slaughter +stood up in his stirrups and led the long yell. The sun went down that +day on nobody’s wrath, for Jacklin was so tickled that he offered to +kill the fattest beef in his herd if we would stay overnight with him. +All three of the herds were now over, but had not this herd balked on +us the evening before, over nine thousand cattle would have crossed +Slaughter’s bridge the day it was built.</p> + +<p>It was now late in the evening, and as we had to wait some little time +to get our own horses, we stayed for supper. It was dark before we set +out to overtake the herd, but the trail was plain, and letting our +horses take their own time, we jollied along until after midnight. We +might have missed the camp, but, by the merest chance, Priest sighted +our camp-fire a mile off the trail, though it had burned to embers. On +reaching camp, we changed saddles to our night horses, and, calling +Officer, were ready for our watch. We were expecting the men on guard +to call us any minute, and while Priest was explaining to Officer the +trouble we had had in crossing the Millet herd, I dozed off to sleep +there as I sat by the rekindled embers. In that minute’s sleep my mind +wandered in a dream to my home on the San Antonio River, but the next +moment I was aroused to the demands of the hour by The Rebel shaking +me and saying,—“Wake up, Tom, and take a new hold. They’re calling us +on guard. If you expect to follow the trail, son, you must learn to do +your sleeping in the winter.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV<br><span class="small">THE BEAVER</span></h2></div> + +<p>After leaving the country tributary to the Solomon River, we crossed a +wide tableland for nearly a hundred miles, and with the exception of +the Kansas Pacific Railroad, without a landmark worthy of a name. +Western Kansas was then classified, worthily too, as belonging to the +Great American Desert, and most of the country for the last five +hundred miles of our course was entitled to a similar description. +Once the freshness of spring had passed, the plain took on her natural +sunburnt color, and day after day, as far as the eye could reach, the +monotony was unbroken, save by the variations of the mirages on every +hand. Except at morning and evening, we were never out of sight of +these optical illusions, sometimes miles away, and then again close +up, when an antelope standing half a mile distant looked as tall as a +giraffe. Frequently the lead of the herd would be in eclipse from +these illusions, when to the men in the rear the horsemen and cattle +in the lead would appear like giants in an old fairy story. If the +monotony of the sea can be charged with dulling men’s sensibilities +until they become pirates, surely this desolate, arid plain might be +equally charged with the wrongdoing of not a few of our craft.</p> + +<p>On crossing the railroad at Grinnell, our foreman received a letter +from Lovell, directing him to go to Culbertson, Nebraska, and there +meet a man who was buying horses for a Montana ranch. Our employer had +his business eye open for a possible purchaser for our <i>remuda</i>, and +if the horses could be sold for delivery after the herd had reached +its destination, the opportunity was not to be overlooked. +Accordingly, on reaching Beaver Creek, where we encamped, Flood left +us to ride through to the Republican River during the night. The trail +crossed this river about twenty miles west of Culbertson, and if the +Montana horse buyer were yet there, it would be no trouble to come up +to the trail crossing and look at our horses.</p> + +<p>So after supper, and while we were catching up our night horses, Flood +said to us, “Now, boys, I’m going to leave the outfit and herd under +Joe Stallings as <i>segundo</i>. It’s hardly necessary to leave you under +any one as foreman, for you all know your places. But some one must be +made responsible, and one bad boss will do less harm than half a dozen +that mightn’t agree. So you can put Honeyman on guard in your place at +night, Joe, if you don’t want to stand your own watch. Now behave +yourselves, and when I meet you on the Republican, I’ll bring out a +box of cigars and have it charged up as axle grease when we get +supplies at Ogalalla. And don’t sit up all night telling fool +stories.”</p> + +<p>“Now, that’s what I call a good cow boss,” said Joe Stallings, as our +foreman rode away in the twilight; “besides, he used passable good +judgment in selecting a <i>segundo</i>. Now, Honeyman, you heard what he +said. Billy dear, I won’t rob you of this chance to stand a guard. +McCann, have you got on your next list of supplies any jam and jelly +for Sundays? You have? That’s right, son—that saves you from standing +a guard tonight. Officer, when you come off guard at 3.30 in the +morning, build the cook up a good fire. Let me see; yes, and I’ll +detail young Tom Quirk and The Rebel to grease the wagon and harness +your mules before starting in the morning. I want to impress it on +your mind, McCann, that I can appreciate a thoughtful cook. What’s +that, Honeyman? No, indeed, you can’t ride my night horse. Love me, +love my dog; my horse shares this snap. Now, I don’t want to be under +the necessity of speaking to any of you first guard, but flop into +your saddles ready to take the herd. My turnip says it’s eight o’clock +now.”</p> + +<p>“Why, you’ve missed your calling—you’d make a fine second mate on a +river steamboat, driving niggers,” called back Quince Forrest, as the +first guard rode away.</p> + +<p>When our guard returned, Officer intentionally walked across +Stallings’s bed, and catching his spur in the tarpaulin, fell heavily +across our <i>segundo</i>.</p> + +<p>“Excuse me,” said John, rising, “but I was just nosing around looking +for the foreman. Oh, it’s you, is it? I just wanted to ask if 4.30 +wouldn’t be plenty early to build up the fire. Wood’s a little scarce, +but I’ll burn the prairies if you say so. That’s all I wanted to know; +you may lay down now and go to sleep.”</p> + +<p>Our camp-fire that night was a good one, and in the absence of Flood, +no one felt like going to bed until drowsiness compelled us. So we +lounged around the fire smoking the hours away, and in spite of the +admonition of our foreman, told stories far into the night. During the +early portion of the evening, dog stories occupied the boards. As the +evening wore on, the subject of revisiting the old States came up for +discussion.</p> + +<p>“You all talk about going back to the old States,” said Joe Stallings, +“but I don’t take very friendly to the idea. I felt that way once and +went home to Tennessee; but I want to tell you that after you live a +few years in the sunny Southwest and get onto her ways, you can’t +stand it back there like you think you can. Now, when I went back, and +I reckon my relations will average up pretty well,—fought in the +Confederate army, vote the Democratic ticket, and belong to the +Methodist church,—they all seemed to be rapidly getting locoed. Why, +my uncles, when they think of planting the old buck field or the +widow’s acre into any crop, they first go projecting around in the +soil, and, as they say, analyze it, to see what kind of a fertilizer +it will require to produce the best results. Back there if one man +raises ten acres of corn and his neighbor raises twelve, the one +raising twelve is sure to look upon the other as though he lacked +enterprise or had modest ambitions. Now, up around that old cow town, +Abilene, Kansas, it’s a common sight to see the cornfields stretch out +like an ocean.</p> + +<p>“And then their stock—they are all locoed about that. Why, I know +people who will pay a hundred dollars for siring a colt, and if +there’s one drop of mongrel blood in that sire’s veins for ten +generations back on either side of his ancestral tree, it condemns +him, though he may be a good horse otherwise. They are strong on +standard bred horses; but as for me, my mount is all right. I wouldn’t +trade with any man in this outfit, without it would be Flood, and +there’s none of them standard bred either. Why, shucks! if you had the +pick of all the standard bred horses in Tennessee, you couldn’t handle +a herd of cattle like ours with them, without carrying a commissary +with you to feed them. No; they would never fit here—it takes a +range-raised horse to run cattle; one that can rustle and live on +grass.”</p> + + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img006"> +<img src="images/006.jpg" class="w50" alt="STORY TELLING"> +</span></p> +<p class="center caption">STORY TELLING</p> + +<p>“Another thing about those people back in those old States: Not one in +ten, I’ll gamble, knows the teacher he sends his children to school +to. But when he has a promising colt to be shod, the owner goes to the +blacksmith shop himself, and he and the smith will sit on the back +sill of the shop, and they will discuss how to shoe that filly so as +to give her certain knee action which she seems to need. Probably, +says one, a little weight on her toe would give her reach. And there +they will sit and powwow and make medicine for an hour or two. And +while the blacksmith is shoeing her, the owner will tell him in +confidence what a wonderful burst of speed she developed yesterday, +while he was speeding her on the back stretch. And then just as he +turned her into the home stretch, she threw a shoe and he had to check +her in; but if there’d been any one to catch her time, he was certain +it was better than a two-ten clip. And that same colt, you couldn’t +cut a lame cow out of the shade of a tree on her. A man back +there—he’s rich, too, though his father made it—gave a thousand +dollars for a pair of dogs before they were born. The terms were one +half cash and the balance when they were old enough to ship to him. +And for fear they were not the proper mustard, he had that dog man sue +him in court for the balance, so as to make him prove the pedigree. +Now Bob, there, thinks that old hound of his is the real stuff, but he +wouldn’t do now; almost every year the style changes in dogs back in +the old States. One year maybe it’s a little white dog with red eyes, +and the very next it’s a long bench-legged, black dog with a Dutch +name that right now I disremember. Common old pot hounds and everyday +yellow dogs have gone out of style entirely. No, you can all go back +that want to, but as long as I can hold a job with Lovell and Flood, +I’ll try and worry along in my own way.”</p> + +<p>On finishing his little yarn, Stallings arose, saying, “I must take a +listen to my men on herd. It always frets me for fear my men will ride +too near the cattle.”</p> + +<p>A minute later he called us, and when several of us walked out to +where he was listening, we recognized Roundtree’s voice, singing:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1">“Little black bull came down the hillside,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Down the hillside, down the hillside,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Little black bull came down the hillside,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Long time ago.”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>“Whenever my men sing that song on guard, it tells me that everything +is amply serene,” remarked our <i>segundo</i>, with the air of a +field-marshal, as we walked back to the fire.</p> + +<p>The evening had passed so rapidly it was now almost time for the +second guard to be called, and when the lateness of the hour was +announced, we skurried to our blankets like rabbits to their warrens. +The second guard usually got an hour or two of sleep before being +called, but in the absence of our regular foreman, the mice would +play. When our guard was called at one o’clock, as usual, Officer +delayed us several minutes looking for his spurs, and I took the +chance to ask The Rebel why it was that he never wore spurs.</p> + +<p>“It’s because I’m superstitious, son,” he answered. “I own a fine pair +of silver-plated spurs that have a history, and if you’re ever at +Lovell’s ranch I’ll show them to you. They were given to me by a +mortally wounded Federal officer the day the battle of Lookout +Mountain was fought. I was an orderly, carrying dispatches, and in +passing through a wood from which the Union army had been recently +driven, this officer was sitting at the root of a tree, fatally +wounded. He motioned me to him, and when I dismounted, he said, +‘Johnny Reb, please give a dying man a drink.’ I gave him my canteen, +and after drinking from it he continued, ‘I want you to have my spurs. +Take them off. Listen to their history: as you have taken them off me +to-day, so I took them off a Mexican general the day the American army +entered the capital of Mexico.’”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI<br><span class="small">THE REPUBLICAN</span></h2></div> + +<p>The outfit were awakened out of sleep the next morning by shouts of +“Whoa, <i>mula</i>! Whoa, you mongrel outcasts! Catch them blankety blank +mules!” accompanied by a rattle of chain harness, and Quince Forrest +dashed across our <i>segundo’s</i> bed, shaking a harness in each hand. We +kicked the blankets off, and came to our feet in time to see the +offender disappear behind the wagon, while Stallings sat up and +yawningly inquired “what other locoed fool had got funny.” But the +camp was awake, for the cattle were leisurely leaving the bed ground, +while Honeyman, who had been excused from the herd with the first sign +of dawn, was rustling up the horses in the valley of the Beaver below +camp. With the understanding that the Republican River was a short +three days’ drive from our present camp, the herd trailed out the +first day with not an incident to break the monotony of eating and +sleeping, grazing and guarding. But near noon of the second day, we +were overtaken by an old, long-whiskered man and a boy of possibly +fifteen. They were riding in a light, rickety vehicle, drawn by a +small Spanish mule and a rough but clean-limbed bay mare. The +strangers appealed to our sympathy, for they were guileless in +appearance, and asked so many questions, indicating that ours might +have been the first herd of trail cattle they had ever seen. The old +man was a free talker, and innocently allowed us to inveigle it out of +him that he had been down on the North Beaver, looking up land to +homestead, and was then on his way up to take a look at the lands +along the Republican. We invited him and the boy to remain for dinner, +for in that monotonous waste, we would have been only too glad to +entertain a bandit, or an angel for that matter, provided he would +talk about something else than cattle. In our guest, however, we found +a good conversationalist, meaty with stories not eligible to the +retired list; and in return, the hospitality of our wagon was his and +welcome. The travel-stained old rascal proved to be a good mixer, and +before dinner was over he had won us to a man, though Stallings, in +the capacity of foreman, felt it incumbent on him to act the host in +behalf of the outfit. In the course of conversation, the old man +managed to unearth the fact that our acting foreman was a native of +Tennessee, and when he had got it down to town and county, claimed +acquaintanceship with a family of men in that locality who were famed +as breeders of racehorses. Our guest admitted that he himself was a +native of that State, and in his younger days had been a devotee of +the racecourse, with the name of every horseman in that commonwealth +as well as the bluegrass regions of Kentucky on his tongue’s end. But +adversity had come upon him, and now he was looking out a new country +in which to begin life over again.</p> + +<p>After dinner, when our <i>remuda</i> was corralled to catch fresh mounts, +our guest bubbled over with admiration of our horses, and pointed out +several as promising speed and action. We took his praise of our +horseflesh as quite a compliment, never suspecting flattery at the +hands of this nomadic patriarch. He innocently inquired which was +considered the fastest horse in the <i>remuda</i>, when Stallings pointed +out a brown, belonging to Flood’s mount, as the best quarter horse in +the band. He gave him a critical examination, and confessed he would +never have picked him for a horse possessing speed, though he admitted +that he was unfamiliar with range-raised horses, this being his first +visit in the West. Stallings offered to loan him a horse out of his +mount, and as the old man had no saddle, our <i>segundo</i> prevailed on +McCann to loan his for the afternoon. I am inclined to think there was +a little jealousy amongst us that afternoon, as to who was best +entitled to entertain our company; and while he showed no partiality, +Stallings seemed to monopolize his countryman to our disadvantage. The +two jollied along from point to rear and back again, and as they +passed us riders in the swing, Stallings ignored us entirely, though +the old man always had a pleasant word as he rode by.</p> + +<p>“If we don’t do something to wean our <i>segundo</i> from that old man,” +said Fox Quarternight, as he rode up and overtook me, “he’s liable to +quit the herd and follow that old fossil back to Tennessee or some +other port. Just look at the two now, will you? Old Joe’s putting on +as much dog as though he was asking the Colonel for his daughter. +Between me and you and the gatepost, Quirk, I’m a little dubious +about the old varmint—he talks too much.”</p> + +<p>But I had warmed up to our guest, and gave Fox’s criticism very little +weight, well knowing if any one of us had been left in charge, he +would have shown the old man similar courtesies. In this view I was +correct, for when Stallings had ridden on ahead to look up water that +afternoon, the very man that entirely monopolized our guest for an +hour was Mr. John Fox Quarternight. Nor did he jar loose until we +reached water, when Stallings cut him off by sending all the men on +the right of the herd to hold the cattle from grazing away until every +hoof had had ample time to drink. During this rest, the old man +circulated around, asking questions as usual, and when I informed him +that, with a half mile of water front, it would take a full hour to +water the herd properly, he expressed an innocent amazement which +seemed as simple as sincere. When the wagon and <i>remuda</i> came up, I +noticed the boy had tied his team behind our wagon, and was riding one +of Honeyman’s horses bareback, assisting the wrangler in driving the +saddle stock. After the wagon had crossed the creek, and the kegs had +been filled and the teams watered, Stallings took the old man with him +and the two rode away in the lead of the wagon and <i>remuda</i> to select +a camp and a bed ground for the night. The rest of us grazed the +cattle, now thoroughly watered, forward until the wagon was sighted, +when, leaving two men as usual to nurse them up to bed, the remainder +of us struck out for camp. As I rode in, I sought out my bunkie to get +his opinion regarding our guest. But The Rebel was reticent, as usual, +of his opinions of people, so my inquiries remained unanswered, which +only served to increase my confidence in the old man.</p> + +<p>On arriving at camp we found Stallings and Honeyman entertaining our +visitor in a little game of freeze-out for a dollar a corner, while +McCann looked wistfully on, as if regretting that his culinary duties +prevented his joining in. Our arrival should have been the signal to +our wrangler for rounding in the <i>remuda</i> for night horses, but +Stallings was too absorbed in the game even to notice the lateness of +the hour and order in the saddle stock. Quarternight, however, had a +few dollars burning holes in his pocket, and he called our horse +rustler’s attention to the approaching twilight; not that he was in +any hurry, but if Honeyman vacated, he saw an opportunity to get into +the game. The foreman gave the necessary order, and Quarternight at +once bargained for the wrangler’s remaining beans, and sat into the +game. While we were catching up our night horses, Honeyman told us +that the old man had been joking Stallings about the speed of Flood’s +brown, even going so far as to intimate that he didn’t believe that +the gelding could outrun that old bay harness mare which he was +driving. He had confessed that he was too hard up to wager much on it, +but he would risk a few dollars on his judgment on a running horse any +day. He also said that Stallings had come back at him, more in earnest +than in jest, that if he really thought his harness mare could outrun +the brown, he could win every dollar the outfit had. They had codded +one another until Joe had shown some spirit, when the old man +suggested they play a little game of cards for fun, but Stallings had +insisted on stakes to make it interesting, and on the old homesteader +pleading poverty, they had agreed to make it for a dollar on the +corner. After supper our <i>segundo</i> wanted to renew the game; the old +man protested that he was too unlucky and could not afford to lose, +but was finally persuaded to play one more game, “just to pass away +the evening.” Well, the evening passed, and within the short space of +two hours, there also passed to the supposed lean purse of our guest +some twenty dollars from the feverish pockets of the outfit. Then the +old man felt too sleepy to play any longer, but loitered around some +time, and casually inquired of his boy if he had picketed their mare +where she would get a good bait of grass. This naturally brought up +the proposed race for discussion.</p> + +<p>“If you really think that that old bay palfrey of yours can outrun any +horse in our <i>remuda</i>,” said Stallings, tauntingly, “you’re missing +the chance of your life not to pick up a few honest dollars as you +journey along. You stay with us to-morrow, and when we meet our +foreman at the Republican, if he’ll loan me the horse, I’ll give you a +race for any sum you name, just to show you that I’ve got a few drops +of sporting blood in me. And if your mare can outrun a cow, you stand +an easy chance to win some money.”</p> + +<p>Our visitor met Joe’s bantering in a timid manner. Before turning in, +however, he informed us that he appreciated our hospitality, but that +he expected to make an early drive in the morning to the Republican, +where he might camp several days. With this the old man and the boy +unrolled their blankets, and both were soon sound asleep. Then our +<i>segundo</i> quietly took Fox Quarternight off to one side, and I heard +the latter agree to call him when the third guard was aroused. Having +notified Honeyman that he would stand his own watch that night, +Stallings, with the rest of the outfit, soon joined the old man in the +land of dreams. Instead of the rough shaking which was customary on +arousing a guard, when we of the third watch were called, we were +awakened in a manner so cautious as to betoken something unusual in +the air. The atmosphere of mystery soon cleared after reaching the +herd, when Bob Blades informed us that it was the intention of +Stallings and Quarternight to steal the old man’s harness mare off the +picket rope, and run her against their night horses in a trial race. +Like love and war, everything is fair in horse racing, but the +audacity of this proposition almost passed belief. Both Blades and +Durham remained on guard with us, and before we had circled the herd +half a dozen times, the two conspirators came riding up to the bed +ground, leading the bay mare. There was a good moon that night; +Quarternight exchanged mounts with John Officer, as the latter had a +splendid night horse that had outstripped the outfit in every stampede +so far, and our <i>segundo</i> and the second guard rode out of hearing of +both herd and camp to try out the horses.</p> + +<p>After an hour, the quartette returned, and under solemn pledges of +secrecy Stallings said, “Why, that old bay harness mare can’t run fast +enough to keep up with a funeral. I rode her myself, and if she’s got +any run in her, rowel and quirt won’t bring it out. That chestnut of +John’s ran away from her as if she was hobbled and side-lined, while +this coyote of mine threw dust in her face every jump in the road from +the word ‘go.’ If the old man isn’t bluffing and will hack his mare, +we’ll get back our freeze-out money with good interest. Mind you, now, +we must keep it a dead secret from Flood—that we’ve tried the mare; +he might get funny and tip the old man.”</p> + +<p>We all swore great oaths that Flood should never hear a breath of it. +The conspirators and their accomplices rode into camp, and we resumed +our sentinel rounds. I had some money, and figured that betting in a +cinch like this would be like finding money in the road.</p> + +<p>But The Rebel, when we were returning from guard, said, “Tom, you keep +out of this race the boys are trying to jump up. I’ve met a good many +innocent men in my life, and there’s something about this old man that +reminds me of people who have an axe to grind. Let the other fellows +run on the rope if they want to, but you keep your money in your +pocket. Take an older man’s advice this once. And I’m going to round +up John in the morning, and try and beat a little sense into his head, +for he thinks it’s a dead immortal cinch.”</p> + +<p>I had made it a rule, during our brief acquaintance, never to argue +matters with my bunkie, well knowing that his years and experience in +the ways of the world entitled his advice to my earnest consideration. +So I kept silent, though secretly wishing he had not taken the trouble +to throw cold water on my hopes, for I had built several air castles +with the money which seemed within my grasp. We had been out then over +four months, and I, like many of the other boys, was getting ragged, +and with Ogalalla within a week’s drive, a town which it took money to +see properly, I thought it a burning shame to let this opportunity +pass. When I awoke the next morning the camp was astir, and my first +look was in the direction of the harness mare, grazing peacefully on +the picket rope where she had been tethered the night before.</p> + +<p>Breakfast over, our venerable visitor harnessed in his team, +preparatory to starting. Stallings had made it a point to return to +the herd for a parting word.</p> + +<p>“Well, if you must go on ahead,” said Joe to the old man, as the +latter was ready to depart, “remember that you can get action on your +money, if you still think that your bay mare can outrun that brown cow +horse which I pointed out to you yesterday. You needn’t let your +poverty interfere, for we’ll run you to suit your purse, light or +heavy. The herd will reach the river by the middle of the afternoon, +or a little later, and you be sure and stay overnight there,—stay +with us if you want to,—and we’ll make up a little race for any sum +you say, from marbles and chalk to a hundred dollars. I may be as +badly deceived in your mare as I think you are in my horse; but if +you’re a Tennesseean, here’s your chance.”</p> + +<p>But beyond giving Stallings his word that he would see him again +during the afternoon or evening, the old man would make no definite +proposition, and drove away. There was a difference of opinion amongst +the outfit, some asserting that we would never see him again, while +the larger portion of us were at least hopeful that we would. After +our guest was well out of sight, and before the wagon started, +Stallings corralled the <i>remuda</i> a second time, and taking out Flood’s +brown and Officer’s chestnut, tried the two horses for a short dash of +about a hundred yards. The trial confirmed the general opinion of the +outfit, for the brown outran the chestnut over four lengths, starting +half a neck in the rear. A general canvass of the outfit was taken, +and to my surprise there was over three hundred dollars amongst us. I +had over forty dollars, but I only promised to loan mine if it was +needed, while Priest refused flat-footed either to lend or bet his. I +wanted to bet, and it would grieve me to the quick if there was any +chance and I didn’t take it—but I was young then.</p> + +<p>Flood met us at noon about seven miles out from the Republican with +the superintendent of a cattle company in Montana, and, before we +started the herd after dinner, had sold our <i>remuda</i>, wagon, and mules +for delivery at the nearest railroad point to the Blackfoot Agency +sometime during September. This cattle company, so we afterwards +learned from Flood, had headquarters at Helena, while their ranges +were somewhere on the headwaters of the Missouri. But the sale of the +horses seemed to us an insignificant matter, compared with the race +which was on the tapis; and when Stallings had made the ablest talk of +his life for the loan of the brown, Flood asked the new owner, a Texan +himself, if he had any objections.</p> + +<p>“Certainly not,” said he; “let the boys have a little fun. I’m glad to +know that the <i>remuda</i> has fast horses in it. Why didn’t you tell me, +Flood?—I might have paid you extra if I had known I was buying +racehorses. Be sure and have the race come off this evening, for I +want to see it.”</p> + +<p>And he was not only good enough to give his consent, but added a word +of advice. “There’s a deadfall down here on the river,” said he, “that +robs a man going and coming. They’ve got booze to sell you that would +make a pet rabbit fight a wolf. And if you can’t stand the whiskey, +why, they have skin games running to fleece you as fast as you can get +your money to the centre. Be sure, lads, and let both their whiskey +and cards alone.”</p> + +<p>While changing mounts after dinner, Stallings caught out the brown +horse and tied him behind the wagon, while Flood and the horse buyer +returned to the river in the conveyance, our foreman having left his +horse at the ford. When we reached the Republican with the herd about +two hours before sundown, and while we were crossing and watering, who +should ride up on the Spanish mule but our Tennessee friend. If +anything, he was a trifle more talkative and boastful than before, +which was easily accounted for, as it was evident that he was +drinking; and producing a large bottle which had but a few drinks left +in it, insisted on every one taking a drink with him. He said he was +encamped half a mile down the river, and that he would race his mare +against our horse for fifty dollars; that if we were in earnest, and +would go back with him and post our money at the tent, he would cover +it. Then Stallings in turn became crafty and diplomatic, and after +asking a number of unimportant questions regarding conditions, +returned to the joint with the old man, taking Fox Quarternight. To +the rest of us it looked as though there was going to be no chance to +bet a dollar even. But after the herd had been watered and we had +grazed out some distance from the river, the two worthies returned. +They had posted their money, and all the conditions were agreed upon; +the race was to take place at sundown over at the saloon and gambling +joint. In reply to an earnest inquiry by Bob Blades, the outfit were +informed that we might get some side bets with the gamblers, but the +money already posted was theirs, win or lose. This selfishness was not +looked upon very favorably, and some harsh comments were made, but +Stallings and Quarternight were immovable.</p> + +<p>We had an early supper, and pressing in McCann to assist The Rebel in +grazing the herd until our return, the cavalcade set out, Flood and +the horse buyer with us. My bunkie urged me to let him keep my money, +but under the pretense of some of the outfit wanting to borrow it, I +took it with me. The race was to be catch weights, and as Rod Wheat +was the lightest in our outfit, the riding fell to him. On the way +over I worked Bull Durham out to one side, and after explaining the +jacketing I had got from Priest, and the partial promise I had made +not to bet, gave him my forty dollars to wager for me if he got a +chance. Bull and I were good friends, and on the understanding that it +was to be a secret, I intimated that some of the velvet would line his +purse. On reaching the tent, we found about half a dozen men loitering +around, among them the old man, who promptly invited us all to have a +drink with him. A number of us accepted and took a chance against the +vintage of this canvas roadhouse, though the warnings of the Montana +horse buyer were fully justified by the quality of the goods +dispensed. While taking the drink, the old man was lamenting his +poverty, which kept him from betting more money, and after we had gone +outside, the saloonkeeper came and said to him, in a burst of generous +feeling,—</p> + +<p>“Old sport, you’re a stranger to me, but I can see at a glance that +you’re a dead game man. Now, if you need any more money, just give me +a bill of sale of your mare and mule, and I’ll advance you a hundred. +Of course I know nothing about the merits of the two horses, but I +noticed your team as you drove up to-day, and if you can use any more +money, just ask for it.”</p> + +<p>The old man jumped at the proposition in delighted surprise; the two +reentered the tent, and after killing considerable time in writing out +a bill of sale, the old graybeard came out shaking a roll of bills at +us. He was promptly accommodated, Bull Durham making the first bet of +fifty; and as I caught his eye, I walked away, shaking hands with +myself over my crafty scheme. When the old man’s money was all taken, +the hangers-on of the place became enthusiastic over the betting, and +took every bet while there was a dollar in sight amongst our crowd, +the horse buyer even making a wager. When we were out of money they +offered to bet against our saddles, six-shooters, and watches. Flood +warned us not to bet our saddles, but Quarternight and Stallings had +already wagered theirs, and were stripping them from their horses to +turn them over to the saloonkeeper as stakeholder. I managed to get a +ten-dollar bet on my six-shooter, though it was worth double the +money, and a similar amount on my watch. When the betting ended, every +watch and six-shooter in the outfit was in the hands of the +stakeholder, and had it not been for Flood our saddles would have been +in the same hands.</p> + +<p>It was to be a three hundred yard race, with an ask and answer start +between the riders. Stallings and the old man stepped off the course +parallel with the river, and laid a rope on the ground to mark the +start and the finish. The sun had already set and twilight was +deepening when the old man signaled to his boy in the distance to +bring up the mare. Wheat was slowly walking the brown horse over the +course, when the boy came up, cantering the mare, blanketed with an +old government blanket, over the imaginary track also. These +preliminaries thrilled us like the tuning of a fiddle for a dance. +Stallings and the old homesteader went out to the starting point to +give the riders the terms of the race, while the remainder of us +congregated at the finish. It was getting dusk when the blanket was +stripped from the mare and the riders began jockeying for a start. In +that twilight stillness we could hear the question, “Are you ready?” +and the answer “No,” as the two jockeys came up to the starting rope. +But finally there was an affirmative answer, and the two horses were +coming through like arrows in their flight. My heart stood still for +the time being, and when the bay mare crossed the rope at the outcome +an easy winner, I was speechless. Such a crestfallen-looking lot of +men as we were would be hard to conceive. We had been beaten, and not +only felt it but looked it. Flood brought us to our senses by calling +our attention to the approaching darkness, and setting off in a gallop +toward the herd. The rest of us trailed along silently after him in +threes and fours. After the herd had been bedded and we had gone in to +the wagon my spirits were slightly lightened at the sight of the two +arch conspirators, Stallings and Quarternight, meekly riding in +bareback. I enjoyed the laughter of The Rebel and McCann at their +plight; but when my bunkie noticed my six-shooter missing, and I +admitted having bet it, he turned the laugh on me.</p> + +<p>“That’s right, son,” he said; “don’t you take anybody’s advice. You’re +young yet, but you’ll learn. And when you learn it for yourself, +you’ll remember it that much better.”</p> + +<p>That night when we were on guard together, I eased my conscience by +making a clean breast of the whole affair to my bunkie, which resulted +in his loaning me ten dollars with which to redeem, my six-shooter in +the morning. But the other boys, with the exception of Officer, had no +banker to call on as we had, and when Quarternight and Stallings asked +the foreman what they were to do for saddles, the latter suggested +that one of them could use the cook’s, while the other could take it +bareback or ride in the wagon. But the Montana man interceded in their +behalf, and Flood finally gave in and advanced them enough to redeem +their saddles. Our foreman had no great amount of money with him, but +McCann and the horse buyer came to the rescue for what they had, and +the guns were redeemed; not that they were needed, but we would have +been so lonesome without them. I had worn one so long I didn’t trim +well without it, but toppled forward and couldn’t maintain my balance. +But the most cruel exposure of the whole affair occurred when Nat +Straw, riding in ahead of his herd, overtook us one day out from +Ogalalla.</p> + +<p>“I met old ‘Says I’ Littlefield,” said Nat, “back at the ford of the +Republican, and he tells me that they won over five hundred dollars +off this Circle Dot outfit on a horse race. He showed me a whole +basketful of your watches. I used to meet old ‘Says I’ over on the +Chisholm trail, and he’s a foxy old innocent. He told me that he put +tar on his harness mare’s back to see if you fellows had stolen the +nag off the picket rope at night, and when he found you had, he robbed +you to a finish. He knew you fool Texans would bet your last dollar on +such a cinch. That’s one of his tricks. You see the mare you tried +wasn’t the one you ran the race against. I’ve seen them both, and they +look as much alike as two pint bottles. My, but you fellows are easy +fish!”</p> + +<p>And then Jim Flood lay down on the grass and laughed until the tears +came into his eyes, and we understood that there were tricks in other +trades than ours.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII<br><span class="small">OGALALLA</span></h2></div> + +<p>From the head of Stinking Water to the South Platte was a waterless +stretch of forty miles. But by watering the herd about the middle of +one forenoon, after grazing, we could get to water again the following +evening. With the exception of the meeting with Nat Straw, the drive +was featureless, but the night that Nat stayed with us, he regaled us +with his experiences, in which he was as lucky as ever. Where we had +lost three days on the Canadian with bogged cattle, he had crossed it +within fifteen minutes after reaching it. His herd was sold before +reaching Dodge, so that he lost no time there, and on reaching +Slaughter’s bridge, he was only two days behind our herd. His cattle +were then en route for delivery on the Crazy Woman in Wyoming, and, as +he put it, “any herd was liable to travel faster when it had a new +owner.”</p> + +<p>Flood had heard from our employer at Culbertson, learning that he +would not meet us at Ogalalla, as his last herd was due in Dodge about +that time. My brother Bob’s herd had crossed the Arkansaw a week +behind us, and was then possibly a hundred and fifty miles in our +rear.</p> + +<p>We all regretted not being able to see old man Don, for he believed +that nothing was too good for his men, and we all remembered the good +time he had shown us in Dodge. The smoke of passing trains hung for +hours in signal clouds in our front, during the afternoon of the +second day’s dry drive, but we finally scaled the last divide, and +there, below us in the valley of the South Platte, nestled Ogalalla, +the Gomorrah of the cattle trail. From amongst its half hundred +buildings, no church spire pointed upward, but instead three fourths +of its business houses were dance halls, gambling houses, and saloons. +We all knew the town by reputation, while the larger part of our +outfit had been in it before. It was there that Joel Collins and his +outfit rendezvoused when they robbed the Union Pacific train in +October, ’77. Collins had driven a herd of cattle for his father and +brother, and after selling them in the Black Hills, gambled away the +proceeds. Some five or six of his outfit returned to Ogalalla with +him, and being moneyless, concluded to recoup their losses at the +expense of the railway company. Going eighteen miles up the river to +Big Springs, seven of them robbed the express and passengers, the +former yielding sixty thousand dollars in gold. The next morning they +were in Ogalalla, paying debts, and getting their horses shod. In +Collins’s outfit was Sam Bass, and under his leadership, until he met +his death the following spring at the hands of Texas Rangers, the +course of the outfit southward was marked by a series of daring bank +and train robberies.</p> + +<p>We reached the river late that evening, and after watering, grazed +until dark and camped for the night. But it was not to be a night of +rest and sleep, for the lights were twinkling across the river in +town; and cook, horse wrangler, and all, with the exception of the +first guard, rode across the river after the herd had been bedded. +Flood had quit us while we were watering the herd and gone in ahead to +get a draft cashed, for he was as moneyless as the rest of us. But his +letter of credit was good anywhere on the trail where money was to be +had, and on reaching town, he took us into a general outfitting store +and paid us twenty-five dollars apiece. After warning us to be on hand +at the wagon to stand our watches, he left us, and we scattered like +lost sheep. Officer and I paid our loans to The Rebel, and the three +of us wandered around for several hours in company with Nat Straw. +When we were in Dodge, my bunkie had shown no inclination to gamble, +but now he was the first one to suggest that we make up a “cow,” and +let him try his luck at monte. Straw and Officer were both willing, +and though in rags, I willingly consented and contributed my five to +the general fund.</p> + +<p>Every gambling house ran from two to three monte layouts, as it was a +favorite game of cowmen, especially when they were from the far +southern country. Priest soon found a game to his liking, and after +watching his play through several deals, Officer and I left him with +the understanding that he would start for camp promptly at midnight. +There was much to be seen, though it was a small place, for the ends +of the earth’s iniquity had gathered in Ogalalla. We wandered through +the various gambling houses, drinking moderately, meeting an +occasional acquaintance from Texas, and in the course of our rounds +landed in the Dew-Drop-In dance hall. Here might be seen the frailty +of women in every grade and condition. From girls in their teens, +launching out on a life of shame, to the adventuress who had once had +youth and beauty in her favor, but was now discarded and ready for the +final dose of opium and the coroner’s verdict,—all were there in +tinsel and paint, practicing a careless exposure of their charms. In a +town which has no night, the hours pass rapidly; and before we were +aware, midnight was upon us. Returning to the gambling house where we +had left Priest, we found him over a hundred dollars winner, and, +calling his attention to the hour, persuaded him to cash in and join +us. We felt positively rich, as he counted out to each partner his +share of the winnings! Straw was missing to receive his, but we knew +he could be found on the morrow, and after a round of drinks, we +forded the river. As we rode along, my bunkie said,—“I’m +superstitious, and I can’t help it. But I’ve felt for a day or so that +I was in luck, and I wanted you lads in with me if my warning was +true. I never was afraid to go into battle but once, and just as we +were ordered into action, a shell killed my horse under me and I was +left behind. I’ve had lots of such warnings, good and bad, and I’m +influenced by them. If we get off to-morrow, and I’m in the mood, I’ll +go back there and make some monte bank look sick.”</p> + +<p>We reached the wagon in good time to be called on our guard, and after +it was over secured a few hours’ sleep before the foreman aroused us +in the morning. With herds above and below us, we would either have to +graze contrary to our course or cross the river. The South Platte was +a wide, sandy river with numerous channels, and as easily crossed as +an alkali flat of equal width, so far as water was concerned. The sun +was not an hour high when we crossed, passing within two hundred yards +of the business section of the town, which lay under a hill. The +valley on the north side of the river, and beyond the railroad, was +not over half a mile wide, and as we angled across it, the town seemed +as dead as those that slept in the graveyard on the first hill beside +the trail.</p> + +<p>Finding good grass about a mile farther on, we threw the herd off the +trail, and leaving orders to graze until noon, the foreman with the +first and second guard returned to town. It was only about ten miles +over to the North Platte, where water was certain; and in the hope +that we would be permitted to revisit the village during the +afternoon, we who were on guard threw riders in the lead of the +grazing cattle, in order not to be too far away should permission be +granted us. That was a long morning for us of the third and fourth +guards, with nothing to do but let the cattle feed, while easy money +itched in our pockets. Behind us lay Ogalalla—and our craft did +dearly love to break the monotony of our work by getting into town. +But by the middle of the forenoon, the wagon and saddle horses +overtook us, and ordering McCann into camp a scant mile in our lead, +we allowed the cattle to lie down, they having grazed to contentment. +Leaving two men on guard, the remainder of us rode in to the wagon, +and lightened with an hour’s sleep in its shade the time which hung +heavy on our hands. We were aroused by our horse wrangler, who had +sighted a cavalcade down the trail, which, from the color of their +horses, he knew to be our outfit returning. As they came nearer and +their numbers could be made out, it was evident that our foreman was +not with them, and our hopes rose. On coming up, they informed us that +we were to have a half holiday, while they would take the herd over to +the North River during the afternoon. Then emergency orders rang out +to Honeyman and McCann, and as soon as a change of mounts could be +secured, our dinners bolted, and the herders relieved, we were ready +to go. Two of the six who returned had shed their rags and swaggered +about in new, cheap suits; the rest, although they had money, simply +had not had the time to buy clothes in a place with so many +attractions.</p> + +<p>When the herders came in deft hands transferred their saddles to +waiting mounts while they swallowed a hasty dinner, and we set out for +Ogalalla, happy as city urchins in an orchard. We were less than five +miles from the burg, and struck a free gait in riding in, where we +found several hundred of our craft holding high jinks. A number of +herds had paid off their outfits and were sending them home, while +from the herds for sale, holding along the river, every man not on day +herd was paying his respects to the town. We had not been there five +minutes when a horse race was run through the main street, Nat Straw +and Jim Flood acting as judges on the outcome. The officers of +Ogalalla were a different crowd from what we had encountered at Dodge, +and everything went. The place suited us. Straw had entirely forgotten +our “cow” of the night before, and when The Rebel handed him his share +of the winnings, he tucked it away in the watch pocket of his trousers +without counting. But he had arranged a fiddling match between a darky +cook of one of the returning outfits and a locoed white man, a +mendicant of the place, and invited us to be present. Straw knew the +foreman of the outfit to which the darky belonged, and the two had +fixed it up to pit the two in a contest, under the pretense that a +large wager had been made on which was the better fiddler. The contest +was to take place at once in the corral of the Lone Star livery +stable, and promised to be humorous if nothing more. So after the race +was over, the next number on the programme was the fiddling match, and +we followed the crowd. The Rebel had given us the slip during the +race, though none of us cared, as we knew he was hungering for a monte +game. It was a motley crowd which had gathered in the corral, and all +seemed to know of the farce to be enacted, though the Texas outfit to +which the darky belonged were flashing their money on their dusky +cook, “as the best fiddler that ever crossed Red River with a cow +herd.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I don’t know that your man is such an Ole Bull as all that,” said +Nat Straw. “I just got a hundred posted which says he can’t even play +a decent second to my man. And if we can get a competent set of judges +to decide the contest, I’ll wager a little more on the white against +the black, though I know your man is a cracker-jack.”</p> + +<p>A canvass of the crowd was made for judges, but as nearly every one +claimed to be interested in the result, having made wagers, or was +incompetent to sit in judgment on a musical contest, there was some +little delay. Finally, Joe Stallings went to Nat Straw and told him +that I was a fiddler, whereupon he instantly appointed me as judge, +and the other side selected a redheaded fellow belonging to one of +Dillard Fant’s herds. Between the two of us we selected as the third +judge a bartender whom I had met the night before. The conditions +governing the contest were given us, and two chuck wagons were drawn +up alongside each other, in one of which were seated the contestants +and in the other the judges. The gravity of the crowd was only broken +as some enthusiast cheered his favorite or defiantly offered to wager +on the man of his choice. Numerous sham bets were being made, when the +redheaded judge arose and announced the conditions, and urged the +crowd to remain quiet, that the contestants might have equal justice. +Each fiddler selected his own piece. The first number was a waltz, on +the conclusion of which partisanship ran high, each faction cheering +its favorite to the echo. The second number was a jig, and as the +darky drew his bow several times across the strings tentatively, his +foreman, who stood six inches taller than any man in a crowd of tall +men, tapped himself on the breast with one forefinger, and with the +other pointed at his dusky champion, saying, “Keep your eye on me, +Price. We’re going home together, remember. You black rascal, you can +make a mocking bird ashamed of itself if you try. You know I’ve swore +by you through thick and thin; now win this money. Pay no attention to +any one else. Keep your eye on me.”</p> + +<p>Straw, not to be outdone in encouragement, cheered his man with +promises of reward, and his faction of supporters raised such a din +that Fant’s man arose, and demanded quiet so the contest could +proceed. Though boisterous, the crowd was good-tempered, and after the +second number was disposed of, the final test was announced, which was +to be in sacred music. On this announcement, the tall foreman waded +through the crowd, and drawing the darky to him, whispered something +in his ear, and then fell back to his former position. The dusky +artist’s countenance brightened, and with a few preliminaries he +struck into “The Arkansaw Traveler,” throwing so many contortions into +its execution that it seemed as if life and liberty depended on his +exertions. The usual applause greeted him on its conclusion, when Nat +Straw climbed up on the wagon wheel, and likewise whispered something +to his champion. The little, old, weazened mendicant took his cue, and +cut into “The Irish Washerwoman” with a great flourish, and in the +refrain chanted an unintelligible gibberish like the yelping of a +coyote, which the audience so cheered that he repeated it several +times. The crowd now gathered around the wagons and clamored for the +decision, and after consulting among ourselves some little time, and +knowing that a neutral or indefinite verdict was desired, we delegated +the bartender to announce our conclusions. Taking off his hat, he +arose, and after requesting quietness, pretended to read our decision.</p> + +<p>“Gentlemen,” he began, “your judges feel a delicacy in passing on the +merits of such distinguished artists, but in the first number the +decision is unanimously in favor of the darky, while the second is +clearly in favor of the white contestant. In regard to the last test, +your judges cannot reach any decision, as the selections rendered fail +to qualify under the head of”—</p> + +<p>But two shots rang out in rapid succession across the street, and the +crowd, including the judges and fiddlers, rushed away to witness the +new excitement. The shooting had occurred in a restaurant, and quite a +mob gathered around the door, when the sheriff emerged from the +building.</p> + +<p>“It’s nothing,” said he; “just a couple of punchers, who had been +drinking a little, were eating a snack, and one of them asked for a +second dish of prunes, when the waiter got gay and told him that he +couldn’t have them,—‘that he was full of prunes now.’ So the lad took +a couple of shots at him, just to learn him to be more courteous to +strangers. There was no harm done, as the puncher was too unsteady.”</p> + +<p>As the crowd dispersed from the restaurant, I returned to the livery +stable, where Straw and several of our outfit were explaining to the +old mendicant that he had simply outplayed his opponent, and it was +too bad that they were not better posted in sacred music. Under +Straw’s leadership, a purse was being made up amongst them, and the +old man’s eyes brightened as he received several crisp bills and a +handful of silver. Straw was urging the old fiddler to post himself in +regard to sacred music, and he would get up another match for the next +day, when Rod Wheat came up and breathlessly informed Officer and +myself that The Rebel wanted us over at the Black Elephant gambling +hall. As we turned to accompany him, we eagerly inquired if there were +any trouble. Wheat informed us there was not, but that Priest was +playing in one of the biggest streaks of luck that ever happened. +“Why, the old man is just wallowing in velvet,” said Rod, as we +hurried along, “and the dealer has lowered the limit from a hundred to +fifty, for old Paul is playing them as high as a cat’s tack. He isn’t +drinking a drop, and is as cool as a cucumber. I don’t know what he +wants with you fellows, but he begged me to hunt you up and send you +to him.”</p> + +<p>The Black Elephant was about a block from the livery, and as we +entered, a large crowd of bystanders were watching the playing around +one of the three monte games which were running. Elbowing our way +through the crowd, we reached my bunkie, whom Officer slapped on the +back and inquired what he wanted.</p> + +<p>“Why, I want you and Quirk to bet a little money for me,” he replied. +“My luck is with me to-day, and when I try to crowd it, this layout +gets foxy and pinches the limit down to fifty. Here, take this money +and cover both those other games. Call out as they fall the layouts, +and I’ll pick the card to bet the money on. And bet her carelessly, +boys, for she’s velvet.”</p> + +<p>As he spoke he gave Officer and myself each a handful of uncounted +money, and we proceeded to carry out his instructions. I knew the game +perfectly, having spent several years’ earnings on my tuition, and was +past master in the technical Spanish terms of the game, while Officer +was equally informed. John took the table to the right, while I took +the one on the left, and waiting for a new deal, called the cards as +they fell. I inquired the limit of the dealer, and was politely +informed that it was fifty to-day. At first our director ordered a +number of small bets made, as though feeling his way, for cards will +turn; but as he found the old luck was still with him, he gradually +increased them to the limit. After the first few deals, I caught on to +his favorite cards, which were the queen and seven, and on these we +bet the limit. Aces and a “face against an ace” were also favorite +bets of The Rebel’s, but for a smaller sum. During the first hour of +my playing—to show the luck of cards—the queen won five consecutive +times, once against a favorite at the conclusion of a deal. My +judgment was to take up this bet, but Priest ordered otherwise, for it +was one of his principles never to doubt a card as long as it won for +you.</p> + +<p>The play had run along some time, and as I was absorbed with watching, +some one behind me laid a friendly hand on my shoulder. Having every +card in the layout covered with a bet at the time, and supposing it to +be some of our outfit, I never looked around, when there came a slap +on my back which nearly loosened my teeth. Turning to see who was +making so free with me when I was absorbed, my eye fell on my brother +Zack, but I had not time even to shake hands with him, for two cards +won in succession and the dealer was paying me, while the queen and +seven were covered to the limit and were yet to be drawn for. When the +deal ended and while the dealer was shuffling, I managed to get a few +words with my brother, and learned that he had come through with a +herd belonging to one-armed Jim Reed, and that they were holding about +ten miles up the river. He had met Flood, who told him that I was in +town; but as he was working on first guard with their herd, it was +high time he was riding. The dealer was waiting for me to cut the +cards, and stopping only to wring Zack’s hand in farewell, I turned +again to the monte layout.</p> + +<p>Officer was not so fortunate as I was, partly by reason of delays, the +dealer in his game changing decks on almost every deal, and under +Priest’s orders, we counted the cards with every change of the deck. A +gambler would rather burn money than lose to a citizen, and every +hoodoo which the superstition of the craft could invoke to turn the +run of the cards was used to check us. Several hours passed and the +lamps were lighted, but we constantly added to the good—to the +discomfiture of the owners of the games. Dealers changed, but our +vigilance never relaxed for a moment. Suddenly an altercation sprang +up between Officer and the dealer of his game. The seven had proved +the most lucky card to John, which fact was as plain to dealer as to +player, but the dealer, by slipping one seven out of the pack after it +had been counted, which was possible in the hands of an adept in spite +of all vigilance, threw the percentage against the favorite card and +in favor of the bank. Officer had suspected something wrong, for the +seven had been loser during several deals, when with a seven-king +layout, and two cards of each class yet in the pack, the dealer drew +down until there were less than a dozen cards left, when the king +came, which lost a fifty dollar bet on the seven. Officer laid his +hand on the money, and, as was his privilege, said to the dealer, “Let +me look over the remainder of those cards. If there’s two sevens +there, you have won. If there isn’t, don’t offer to touch this bet.”</p> + +<p>But the gambler declined the request, and Officer repeated his demand, +laying a blue-barreled six-shooter across the bet with the remark, +“Well, if you expect to rake in this bet you have my terms.”</p> + +<p>Evidently the demand would not have stood the test, for the dealer +bunched the deck among the passed cards, and Officer quietly raked in +the money. “When I want a skin game,” said John, as he arose, “I’ll +come back and see you. You saw me take this money, did you? Well, if +you’ve got anything to say, now’s your time to spit it out.”</p> + +<p>But his calling had made the gambler discreet, and he deigned no reply +to the lank Texan, who, chafing under the attempt to cheat him, slowly +returned his six-shooter to its holster. Although holding my own in my +game, I was anxious to have it come to a close, but neither of us +cared to suggest it to The Rebel; it was his money. But Officer passed +outside the house shortly afterward, and soon returned with Jim Flood +and Nat Straw.</p> + +<p>As our foreman approached the table at which Priest was playing, he +laid his hand on The Rebel’s shoulder and said, “Come on, Paul, we’re +all ready to go to camp. Where’s Quirk?”</p> + +<p>Priest looked up in innocent amazement,—as though he had been +awakened out of a deep sleep, for, in the absorption of the game, he +had taken no note of the passing hours and did not know that the lamps +were burning. My bunkie obeyed as promptly as though the orders had +been given by Don Lovell in person, and, delighted with the turn of +affairs, I withdrew with him. Once in the street, Nat Straw threw an +arm around The Rebel’s neck and said to him, “My dear sir, the secret +of successful gambling is to quit when you’re winner, and before luck +turns. You may think this is a low down trick, but we’re your friends, +and when we heard that you were a big winner, we were determined to +get you out of there if we had to rope and drag you out. How much are +you winner?”</p> + +<p>Before the question could be correctly answered, we sat down on the +sidewalk and the three of us disgorged our winnings, so that Flood and +Straw could count. Priest was the largest winner, Officer the +smallest, while I never will know the amount of mine, as I had no idea +what I started with. But the tellers’ report showed over fourteen +hundred dollars among the three of us. My bunkie consented to allow +Flood to keep it for him, and the latter attempted to hurrah us off to +camp, but John Officer protested.</p> + +<p>“Hold on a minute, Jim,” said Officer. “We’re in rags; we need some +clothes. We’ve been in town long enough, and we’ve got the price, but +it’s been such a busy afternoon with us that we simply haven’t had the +time.”</p> + +<p>Straw took our part, and Flood giving in, we entered a general +outfitting store, from which we emerged within a quarter of an hour, +wearing cheap new suits, the color of which we never knew until the +next day. Then bidding Straw a hearty farewell, we rode for the North +Platte, on which the herd would encamp. As we scaled the bluffs, we +halted for our last glimpse of the lights of Ogalalla, and The Rebel +remarked, “Boys, I’ve traveled some in my life, but that little hole +back there could give Natchez-under-the-hill cards and spades, and +then outhold her as a tough town.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII<br><span class="small">THE NORTH PLATTE</span></h2></div> + +<p>It was now July. We had taken on new supplies at Ogalalla, and a week +afterwards the herd was snailing along the North Platte on its way to +the land of the Blackfeet. It was always hard to get a herd past a +supply point. We had the same trouble when we passed Dodge. Our long +hours in the saddle, coupled with the monotony of our work, made these +supply points of such interest to us that they were like oases in +desert lands to devotees on pilgrimage to some consecrated shrine. We +could have spent a week in Ogalalla and enjoyed our visit every +blessed moment of the time. But now, a week later, most of the +headaches had disappeared and we had settled down to our daily work.</p> + +<p>At Horse Creek, the last stream of water before entering Wyoming, a +lad who cut the trail at that point for some cattle companies, after +trimming us up, rode along for half a day through their range, and +told us of an accident which happened about a week before. The horse +of some peeler, working with one of Shanghai Pierce’s herds, acted up +one morning, and fell backward with him so that his gun accidentally +discharged. The outfit lay over a day and gave him as decent a burial +as they could. We would find the new-made grave ahead on Squaw Creek, +beyond the crossing, to the right hand side in a clump of cottonwoods. +The next day, while watering the herd at this creek, we all rode over +and looked at the grave. The outfit had fixed things up quite nicely. +They had built a square pen of rough cottonwood logs around the grave, +and had marked the head and foot with a big flat stone, edged up, +heaping up quite a mound of stones to keep the animals away. In a tree +his name was cut—sounded natural, too, though none of us knew him, as +Pierce always drove from the east coast country. There was nothing +different about this grave from the hundreds of others which made +landmarks on the Old Western Trail, except it was the latest.</p> + +<p>That night around the camp-fire some of the boys were moved to tell +their experiences. This accident might happen to any of us, and it +seemed rather short notice to a man enjoying life, even though his +calling was rough.</p> + +<p>“As for myself,” said Rod Wheat, “I’m not going to fret. You can’t +avoid it when it comes, and every now and then you miss it by a hair. +I had an uncle who served four years in the Confederate army, went +through thirty engagements, was wounded half a dozen times, and came +home well and sound. Within a month after his return, a plough handle +kicked him in the side and we buried him within a week.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, well,” said Fox, commenting on the sudden call of the man whose +grave we had seen, “it won’t make much difference to this fellow back +here when the horn toots and the graves give up their dead. He might +just as well start from there as anywhere. I don’t envy him none, +though; but if I had any pity to offer now, it would be for a mother +or sister who might wish that he slept nearer home.”</p> + +<p>This last remark carried our minds far away from their present +surroundings to other graves which were not on the trail. There was a +long silence. We lay around the camp-fire and gazed into its depths, +while its flickering light threw our shadows out beyond the circle. +Our reverie was finally broken by Ash Borrowstone, who was by all odds +the most impressionable and emotional one in the outfit, a man who +always argued the moral side of every question, yet could not be +credited with possessing an iota of moral stamina. Gloomy as we were, +he added to our depression by relating a pathetic incident which +occurred at a child’s funeral, when Flood reproved him, saying,—</p> + +<p>“Well, neither that one you mention, nor this one of Pierce’s man is +any of our funeral. We’re on the trail with Lovell’s cattle. You +should keep nearer the earth.”</p> + +<p>There was a long silence after this reproof of the foreman. It was +evident there was a gloom settling over the outfit. Our thoughts were +ranging wide. At last Rod Wheat spoke up and said that in order to get +the benefit of all the variations, the blues were not a bad thing to +have.</p> + +<p>But the depression of our spirits was not so easily dismissed. In +order to avoid listening to the gloomy tales that were being narrated +around the camp-fire, a number of us got up and went out as if to look +up the night horses on picket. The Rebel and I pulled our picket pins +and changed our horses to fresh grazing, and after lying down among +the horses, out of hearing of the camp, for over an hour, returned to +the wagon expecting to retire. A number of the boys were making down +their beds, as it was already late; but on our arrival at the fire one +of the boys had just concluded a story, as gloomy as the others which +had preceded it.</p> + +<p>“These stories you are all telling to-night,” said Flood, “remind me +of what Lige Link said to the book agent when he was shearing sheep. +‘I reckon,’ said Lige, ‘that book of yours has a heap sight more +poetry in it than there is in shearing sheep.’ I wish I had gone on +guard to-night, so I could have missed these stories.”</p> + +<p>At this juncture the first guard rode in, having been relieved, and +John Officer, who had exchanged places on guard that night with Moss +Strayhorn, remarked that the cattle were uneasy.</p> + +<p>“This outfit,” said he, “didn’t half water the herd to-day. One third +of them hasn’t bedded down yet, and they don’t act as if they aim to, +either. There’s no excuse for it in a well-watered country like this. +I’ll leave the saddle on my horse, anyhow.”</p> + +<p>“Now that’s the result,” said our foreman, “of the hour we spent +around that grave to-day, when we ought to have been tending to our +job. This outfit,” he continued, when Officer returned from picketing +his horse, “have been trying to hold funeral services over that Pierce +man’s grave back there. You’d think so, anyway, from the tales they’ve +been telling. I hope you won’t get the sniffles and tell any.”</p> + +<p>“This letting yourself get gloomy,” said Officer, “reminds me of a +time we once had at the ‘J.H.’ camp in the Cherokee Strip. It was near +Christmas, and the work was all done up. The boys had blowed in their +summer’s wages and were feeling glum all over. One or two of the boys +were lamenting that they hadn’t gone home to see the old folks. This +gloomy feeling kept spreading until they actually wouldn’t speak to +each other. One of them would go out and sit on the wood pile for +hours, all by himself, and make a new set of good resolutions. Another +would go out and sit on the ground, on the sunny side of the corrals, +and dig holes in the frozen earth with his knife. They wouldn’t come +to meals when the cook called them.</p> + +<p>“Now, Miller, the foreman, didn’t have any sympathy for them; in fact +he delighted to see them in that condition. He hadn’t any use for a +man who wasn’t dead tough under any condition. I’ve known him to camp +his outfit on alkali water, so the men would get out in the morning, +and every rascal beg leave to ride on the outside circle on the +morning roundup.</p> + +<p>“Well, three days before Christmas, just when things were looking +gloomiest, there drifted up from the Cheyenne country one of the old +timers. None of them had seen him in four years, though he had worked +on that range before, and with the exception of myself, they all knew +him. He was riding the chuckline all right, but Miller gave him a +welcome, as he was the real thing. He had been working out in the +Pan-handle country, New Mexico, and the devil knows where, since he +had left that range. He was meaty with news and scarey stories. The +boys would sit around and listen to him yarn, and now and then a smile +would come on their faces. Miller was delighted with his guest. He had +shown no signs of letting up at eleven o’clock the first night, when +he happened to mention where he was the Christmas before.</p> + +<p>“‘There was a little woman at the ranch,’ said he, ‘wife of the owner, +and I was helping her get up dinner, as we had quite a number of folks +at the ranch. She asked me to make the bear sign—doughnuts, she +called them—and I did, though she had to show me how some little. +Well, fellows, you ought to have seen them—just sweet enough, browned +to a turn, and enough to last a week. All the folks at dinner that day +praised them. Since then, I’ve had a chance to try my hand several +times, and you may not tumble to the diversity of all my +accomplishments, but I’m an artist on bear sign.’</p> + +<p>“Miller arose, took him by the hand, and said, ‘That’s straight, now, +is it?’</p> + +<p>“‘That’s straight. Making bear sign is my long suit.’</p> + +<p>“‘Mouse,’ said Miller to one of the boys, ‘go out and bring in his +saddle from the stable and put it under my bed. Throw his horse in the +big pasture in the morning. He stays here until spring; and the first +spear of green grass I see, his name goes on the pay roll. This outfit +is shy on men who can make bear sign. Now, I was thinking that you +could spread down your blankets on the hearth, but you can sleep with +me to-night. You go to work on this specialty of yours right after +breakfast in the morning, and show us what you can do in that line.’</p> + +<p>“They talked quite a while longer, and then turned in for the night. +The next morning after breakfast was over, he got the needed articles +together and went to work. But there was a surprise in store for him. +There was nearly a dozen men lying around, all able eaters. By ten +o’clock he began to turn them out as he said he could. When the +regular cook had to have the stove to get dinner, the taste which we +had had made us ravenous for more. Dinner over, he went at them again +in earnest. A boy riding towards the railroad with an important letter +dropped in, and as he claimed he could only stop for a moment, we +stood aside until he had had a taste, though he filled himself like a +poisoned pup. After eating a solid hour, he filled his pockets and +rode away. One of our regular men called after him, ‘Don’t tell +anybody what we got.’</p> + +<p>“We didn’t get any supper that night. Not a man could have eaten a +bite. Miller made him knock off along in the shank of the evening, as +he had done enough for any one day. The next morning after breakfast +he fell to at the bear sign once more. Miller rolled a barrel of flour +into the kitchen from the storehouse, and told him to fly at them. +‘About how many do you think you’ll want?’ asked our bear sign man.</p> + +<p>“‘That big tub full won’t be any too many,’ answered Miller. ‘Some of +these fellows haven’t had any of this kind of truck since they were +little boys. If this gets out, I look for men from other camps.’</p> + +<p>“The fellow fell to his work like a thoroughbred, which he surely was. +About ten o’clock two men rode up from a camp to the north, which the +boy had passed the day before with the letter. They never went near +the dug-out, but straight to the kitchen. That movement showed that +they were on to the racket. An hour later old Tom Cave rode in, his +horse all in a lather, all the way from Garretson’s camp, twenty-five +miles to the east. The old sinner said that he had been on the +frontier some little time, and that there were the best bear sign he +had tasted in forty years. He refused to take a stool and sit down +like civilized folks, but stood up by the tub and picked out the ones +which were a pale brown.</p> + +<p>“After dinner our man threw off his overshirt, unbuttoned his red +undershirt and turned it in until you could see the hair on his +breast. Rolling up his sleeves, he flew at his job once more. He was +getting his work reduced to a science by this time. He rolled his +dough, cut his dough, and turned out the fine brown bear sign to the +satisfaction of all.</p> + +<p>“His capacity, however, was limited. About two o’clock Doc Langford +and two of his peelers were seen riding up. When he came into the +kitchen, Doc swore by all that was good and holy that he hadn’t heard +that our artist had come back to that country. But any one that was +noticing could see him edge around to the tub. It was easy to see that +he was lying. This luck of ours was circulating faster than a secret +amongst women. Our man, though, stood at his post like the boy on the +burning deck. When night came on, he hadn’t covered the bottom of the +tub. When he knocked off, Doc Langford and his men gobbled up what was +left. We gave them a mean look as they rode off, but they came back +the next day, five strong. Our regular men around camp didn’t like it, +the way things were going. They tried to act polite to”—</p> + +<p>“Calling bear sign doughnuts,” interrupted Quince Forrest, “reminds me +what”—</p> + +<p>“Will you kindly hobble your lip,” said Officer; “I have the floor at +present. As I was saying, they tried to act polite to company that +way, but we hadn’t got a smell the second day. Our man showed no signs +of fatigue, and told several good stories that night. He was tough. +The next day was Christmas, but he had no respect for a holiday, and +made up a large batch of dough before breakfast. It was a good thing +he did, for early that morning ‘Original’ John Smith and four of his +peelers rode in from the west, their horses all covered with frost. +They must have started at daybreak—it was a good twenty-two mile +ride. They wanted us to believe that they had simply come over to +spend Christmas with us. Company that way, you can’t say anything. But +the easy manner in which they gravitated around that tub—not even +waiting to be invited—told a different tale. They were not nearly +satisfied by noon.</p> + +<p>“Then who should come drifting in as we were sitting down to dinner, +but Billy Dunlap and Jim Hale from Quinlin’s camp, thirty miles south +on the Cimarron. Dunlap always holed up like a bear in the winter, and +several of the boys spilled their coffee at sight of him. He put up a +thin excuse just like the rest. Any one could see through it. But +there it was again—he was company. Lots of us had eaten at his camp +and complained of his chuck; therefore, we were nice to him. Miller +called our man out behind the kitchen and told him to knock off if he +wanted to. But he wouldn’t do it. He was clean strain—I’m not +talking. Dunlap ate hardly any dinner, we noticed, and the very first +batch of bear sign turned out, he loads up a tin plate and goes out +and sits behind the storehouse in the sun, all alone in his glory. He +satisfied himself out of the tub after that.</p> + +<p>“He and Hale stayed all night, and Dunlap kept every one awake with +the nightmare. Yes, kept fighting the demons all night. The next +morning Miller told him that he was surprised that an old gray-haired +man like him didn’t know when he had enough, but must gorge himself +like some silly kid. Miller told him that he was welcome to stay a +week if he wanted to, but he would have to sleep in the stable. It was +cruel to the horses, but the men were entitled to a little sleep, at +least in the winter. Miller tempered his remarks with all kindness, +and Dunlap acted as if he was sorry, and as good as admitted that his +years were telling on him. That day our man filled his tub. He was +simply an artist on bear sign.”</p> + +<p>“Calling bear sign doughnuts,” cut in Quince Forrest again, as soon as +he saw an opening, “reminds me what the little boy said who went”—</p> + +<p>But there came a rumbling of many hoofs from the bed ground. “There’s +hell for you,” said half a dozen men in a chorus, and every man in +camp ran for his horse but the cook, and he climbed into the wagon. +The roar of the running cattle was like approaching thunder, but the +flash from the six-shooters of the men on guard indicated they were +quartering by camp, heading out towards the hills. Horses became so +excited they were difficult to bridle. There was plenty of earnest and +sincere swearing done that night. All the fine sentiment and +melancholy of the hour previous vanished in a moment, as the men threw +themselves into their saddles, riding deep, for it was uncertain +footing to horses.</p> + +<p>Within two minutes from the time the herd left the bed ground, +fourteen of us rode on their left point and across their front, firing +our six-shooters in their faces. By the time the herd had covered a +scant mile, we had thrown them into a mill. They had run so compactly +that there were no stragglers, so we loosened out and gave them room; +but it was a long time before they relaxed any, but continued going +round and round like a water wheel or an endless chain. The foreman +ordered three men on the heaviest horses to split them. The men rode +out a short distance to get the required momentum, wheeled their +horses, and, wedge-shaped, struck this sea of cattle and entered, but +it instantly closed in their wake as though it had been water. For an +hour they rode through the herd, back and forth, now from this +quarter, now from that, and finally the mill was broken. After +midnight, as luck would have it, heavy dark clouds banked in the +northwest, and lightning flashed, and before a single animal had lain +down, a drizzling rain set in. That settled it; it was an all-night +job now. We drifted about hither and yon. Horses, men, and cattle +turned their backs to the wind and rain and waited for morning. We +were so familiar with the signs of coming day that we turned them +loose half an hour before dawn, leaving herders, and rode for camp.</p> + +<p>As we groped our way in that dark hour before dawn, hungry, drenched, +and bedraggled, there was nothing gleeful about us, while Bob Blades +expressed his disgust over our occupation. “If ever I get home again,” +said he, and the tones of his voice were an able second to his +remarks, “you all can go up the trail that want to, but here’s one +chicken that won’t. There isn’t a cowman in Texas who has money enough +to hire me again.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, hell, now,” said Bull, “you oughtn’t to let a little rain ruffle +your feathers that way. Cheer up, sonny; you may be rich some day yet +and walk on brussels and velvet.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX<br><span class="small">FORTY ISLANDS FORD</span></h2></div> + +<p>After securing a count on the herd that morning and finding nothing +short, we trailed out up the North Platte River. It was an easy +country in which to handle a herd; the trail in places would run back +from the river as far as ten miles, and again follow close in near the +river bottoms. There was an abundance of small creeks putting into +this fork of the Platte from the south, which afforded water for the +herd and good camp grounds at night. Only twice after leaving Ogalalla +had we been compelled to go to the river for water for the herd, and +with the exception of thunderstorms and occasional summer rains, the +weather had been all one could wish. For the past week as we trailed +up the North Platte, some one of us visited the river daily to note +its stage of water, for we were due to cross at Forty Islands, about +twelve miles south of old Fort Laramie. The North Platte was very +similar to the South Canadian,—a wide sandy stream without banks; and +our experience with the latter was fresh in our memories. The stage of +water had not been favorable, for this river also had its source in +the mountains, and as now midsummer was upon us, the season of heavy +rainfall in the mountains, augmented by the melting snows, the +prospect of finding a fordable stage of water at Forty Islands was not +very encouraging.</p> + +<p>We reached this well-known crossing late in the afternoon the third +day after leaving the Wyoming line, and found one of the Prairie +Cattle Company’s herds water-bound. This herd had been wintered on one +of that company’s ranges on the Arkansaw River in southern Colorado, +and their destination was in the Bad Lands near the mouth of the +Yellowstone, where the same company had a northern range. Flood knew +the foreman, Wade Scholar, who reported having been waterbound over a +week already with no prospect of crossing without swimming. Scholar +knew the country thoroughly, and had decided to lie over until the +river was fordable at Forty Islands, as it was much the easiest +crossing on the North Platte, though there was a wagon ferry at Fort +Laramie. He returned with Flood to our camp, and the two talked over +the prospect of swimming it on the morrow.</p> + +<p>“Let’s send the wagons up to the ferry in the morning,” said Flood, +“and swim the herds. If you wait until this river falls, you are +liable to have an experience like we had on the South Canadian,—lost +three days and bogged over a hundred cattle. When one of these sandy +rivers has had a big freshet, look out for quicksands; but you know +that as well as I do. Why, we’ve swum over half a dozen rivers +already, and I’d much rather swim this one than attempt to ford it +just after it has fallen. We can double our outfits and be safely +across before noon. I’ve got nearly a thousand miles yet to make, and +have just <i>got</i> to get over. Think it over to-night, and have your +wagon ready to start with ours.”</p> + +<p>Scholar rode away without giving our foreman any definite answer as to +what he would do, though earlier in the evening he had offered to +throw his herd well out of the way at the ford, and lend us any +assistance at his command. But when it came to the question of +crossing his own herd, he seemed to dread the idea of swimming the +river, and could not be induced to say what he would do, but said that +we were welcome to the lead. The next morning Flood and I accompanied +our wagon up to his camp, when it was plainly evident that he did not +intend to send his wagon with ours, and McCann started on alone, +though our foreman renewed his efforts to convince Scholar of the +feasibility of swimming the herds. Their cattle were thrown well away +from the ford, and Scholar assured us that his outfit would be on hand +whenever we were ready to cross, and even invited all hands of us to +come to his wagon for dinner. When returning to our herd, Flood told +me that Scholar was considered one of the best foremen on the trail, +and why he should refuse to swim his cattle was unexplainable. He must +have time to burn, but that didn’t seem reasonable, for the earlier +through cattle were turned loose on their winter range the better. We +were in no hurry to cross, as our wagon would be gone all day, and it +was nearly high noon when we trailed up to the ford.</p> + +<p>With the addition to our force of Scholar and nine or ten of his men, +we had an abundance of help, and put the cattle into the water +opposite two islands, our saddle horses in the lead as usual. There +was no swimming water between the south shore and the first island, +though it wet our saddle skirts for some considerable distance, this +channel being nearly two hundred yards wide. Most of our outfit took +the water, while Scholar’s men fed our herd in from the south bank, a +number of their men coming over as far as the first island. The second +island lay down the stream some little distance; and as we pushed the +cattle off the first one we were in swimming water in no time, but the +saddle horses were already landing on the second island, and our lead +cattle struck out, and, breasting the water, swam as proudly as swans. +The middle channel was nearly a hundred yards wide, the greater +portion of which was swimming, though the last channel was much wider. +But our saddle horses had already taken it, and when within fifty +yards of the farther shore, struck solid footing. With our own outfit +we crowded the leaders to keep the chain of cattle unbroken, and +before Honeyman could hustle his horses out of the river, our lead +cattle had caught a foothold, were heading up stream and edging out +for the farther shore.</p> + +<p>I had one of the best swimming horses in our outfit, and Flood put me +in the lead on the point. As my horse came out on the farther bank, I +am certain I never have seen a herd of cattle, before or since, which +presented a prettier sight when swimming than ours did that day. There +was fully four hundred yards of water on the angle by which we +crossed, nearly half of which was swimming, but with the two islands +which gave them a breathing spell, our Circle Dots were taking the +water as steadily as a herd leaving their bed ground. Scholar and his +men were feeding them in, while half a dozen of our men on each island +were keeping them moving. Honeyman and I pointed them out of the +river; and as they grazed away from the shore, they spread out +fan-like, many of them kicking up their heels after they left the +water in healthy enjoyment of their bath. Long before they were half +over, the usual shouting had ceased, and we simply sat in our saddles +and waited for the long train of cattle to come up and cross. Within +less than half an hour from the time our saddle horses entered the +North Platte, the tail end of our herd had landed safely on the +farther bank.</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img007"> +<img src="images/007.jpg" class="w50" alt="SWIMMING THE PLATTE"> +</span></p> +<p class="center caption">SWIMMING THE PLATTE</p> + +<p>As Honeyman and I were the only ones of our outfit on the north side +of the river during the passage, Flood called to us from across the +last channel to graze the herd until relieved, when the remainder of +the outfit returned to the south side to recover their discarded +effects and to get dinner with Scholar’s wagon. I had imitated +Honeyman, and tied my boots to my cantle strings, so that my effects +were on the right side of the river; and as far as dinner was +concerned,—well, I’d much rather miss it than swim the Platte twice +in its then stage of water. There is a difference in daring in one’s +duty and in daring out of pure venturesomeness, and if we missed our +dinners it would not be the first time, so we were quite willing to +make the sacrifice. If the Quirk family never achieve fame for daring +by field and flood, until this one of the old man’s boys brings the +family name into prominence, it will be hopelessly lost to posterity.</p> + +<p>We allowed the cattle to graze of their own free will, and merely +turned in the sides and rear, but on reaching the second bottom of the +river, where they caught a good breeze, they lay down for their +noonday siesta, which relieved us of all work but keeping watch over +them. The saddle horses were grazing about in plain view on the first +bottom, so Honeyman and I dismounted on a little elevation overlooking +our charges. We were expecting the outfit to return promptly after +dinner was over, for it was early enough in the day to have trailed +eight or ten miles farther. It would have been no trouble to send some +one up the river to meet our wagon and pilot McCann to the herd, for +the trail left on a line due north from the river. We had been +lounging about for an hour while the cattle were resting, when our +attention was attracted by our saddle horses in the bottom. They were +looking at the ford, to which we supposed their attention had been +attracted by the swimming of the outfit, but instead only two of the +boys showed up, and on sighting us nearly a mile away, they rode +forward very leisurely. Before their arrival we recognized them by +their horses as Ash Borrowstone and Rod Wheat, and on their riding up +the latter said as he dismounted,—</p> + +<p>“Well, they’re going to cross the other herd, and they want you to +come back and point the cattle with that famous swimming horse of +yours. You’ll learn after a while not to blow so much about your +mount, and your cutting horses, and your night horses, and your +swimming horses. I wish every horse of mine had a nigger brand on him, +and I had to ride in the wagon, when it comes to swimming these +rivers. And I’m not the only one that has a distaste for a wet +proposition, for I wouldn’t have to guess twice as to what’s the +matter with Scholar. But Flood has pounded him on the back ever since +he met him yesterday evening to swim his cattle, until it’s either +swim or say he’s afraid to,—it’s ‘Shoot, Luke, or give up the gun’ +with him. Scholar’s a nice fellow, but I’ll bet my interest in goose +heaven that I know what’s the matter with him. And I’m not blaming +him, either; but I can’t understand why our boss should take such an +interest in having him swim. It’s none of his business if he swims +now, or fords a month hence, or waits until the river freezes over in +the winter and crosses on the ice. But let the big augers wrangle it +out; you noticed, Ash, that not one of Scholar’s outfit ever said a +word one way or the other, but Flood poured it into him until he +consented to swim. So fork that swimming horse of yours and wet your +big toe again in the North Platte.”</p> + +<p>As the orders had come from the foreman, there was nothing to do but +obey. Honeyman rode as far as the river with me, where after shedding +my boots and surplus clothing and secreting them, I rode up above the +island and plunged in. I was riding the gray which I had tried in the +Rio Grande the day we received the herd, and now that I understood +handling him better, I preferred him to Nigger Boy, my night horse. We +took the first and second islands with but a blowing spell between, +and when I reached the farther shore, I turned in my saddle and saw +Honeyman wave his hat to me in congratulation. On reaching their +wagon, I found the herd was swinging around about a mile out from the +river, in order to get a straight shoot for the entrance at the ford. +I hurriedly swallowed my dinner, and as we rode out to meet the herd, +asked Flood if Scholar were not going to send his wagon up to the +ferry to cross, for there was as yet no indication of it. Flood +replied that Scholar expected to go with the wagon, as he needed some +supplies which he thought he could get from the sutler at Fort +Laramie.</p> + +<p>Flood ordered me to take the lower point again, and I rode across the +trail and took my place when the herd came within a quarter of a mile +of the river, while the remainder of the outfit took positions near +the lead on the lower side. It was a slightly larger herd than +ours,—all steers, three-year-olds that reflected in their glossy +coats the benefits of a northern winter. As we came up to the water’s +edge, it required two of their men to force their <i>remuda</i> into the +water, though it was much smaller than ours,—six horses to the man, +but better ones than ours, being northern wintered. The cattle were +well trail-broken, and followed the leadership of the saddle horses +nicely to the first island, but they would have balked at this second +channel, had it not been for the amount of help at hand. We lined them +out, however, and they breasted the current, and landed on the second +island. The saddle horses gave some little trouble on leaving for the +farther shore, and before they were got off, several hundred head of +cattle had landed on the island. But they handled obediently and were +soon trailing out upon terra firma, the herd following across without +a broken link in the chain. There was nothing now to do but keep the +train moving into the water on the south bank, see that they did not +congest on the islands, and that they left the river on reaching the +farther shore. When the saddle horses reached the farther bank, they +were thrown up the river and turned loose, so that the two men would +be available to hold the herd after it left the water. I had crossed +with the first lead cattle to the farther shore, and was turning them +up the river as fast as they struck solid footing on that side. But +several times I was compelled to swim back to the nearest island, and +return with large bunches which had hesitated to take the last +channel.</p> + +<p>The two outfits were working promiscuously together, and I never knew +who was the directing spirit in the work; but when the last two or +three hundred of the tail-enders were leaving the first island for the +second, and the men working in the rear started to swim the channel, +amid the general hilarity I recognized a shout that was born of fear +and terror. A hushed silence fell over the riotous riders in the +river, and I saw those on the sand bar nearest my side rush down the +narrow island and plunge back into the middle channel. Then it dawned +on my mind in a flash that some one had lost his seat, and that +terrified cry was for help. I plunged my gray into the river and swam +to the first bar, and from thence to the scene of the trouble. Horses +and men were drifting with the current down the channel, and as I +appealed to the men I could get no answer but their blanched faces, +though it was plain in every countenance that one of our number was +under water if not drowned. There were not less than twenty horsemen +drifting in the middle channel in the hope that whoever it was would +come to the surface, and a hand could be stretched out in succor.</p> + +<p>About two hundred yards down the river was an island near the middle +of the stream. The current carried us near it, and, on landing, I +learned that the unfortunate man was none other than Wade Scholar, the +foreman of the herd. We scattered up and down this middle island and +watched every ripple and floating bit of flotsam in the hope that he +would come to the surface, but nothing but his hat was seen. In the +disorder into which the outfits were thrown by this accident, Flood +first regained his thinking faculties, and ordered a few of us to +cross to either bank, and ride down the river and take up positions on +the other islands, from which that part of the river took its name. A +hundred conjectures were offered as to how it occurred; but no one saw +either horse or rider after sinking. A free horse would be hard to +drown, and on the nonappearance of Scholar’s mount it was concluded +that he must have become entangled in the reins or that Scholar had +clutched them in his death grip, and horse and man thus met death +together. It was believed by his own outfit that Scholar had no +intention until the last moment to risk swimming the river, but when +he saw all the others plunge into the channel, his better judgment was +overcome, and rather than remain behind and cause comment, he had +followed and lost his life.</p> + +<p>We patrolled the river until darkness without result, the two herds in +the mean time having been so neglected that they had mixed. Our wagon +returned along the north bank early in the evening, and Flood ordered +Priest to go in and make up a guard from the two outfits and hold the +herd for the night. Some one of Scholar’s outfit went back and moved +their wagon up to the crossing, within hailing distance of ours. It +was a night of muffled conversation, and every voice of the night or +cry of waterfowl in the river sent creepy sensations over us. The long +night passed, however, and the sun rose in Sabbath benediction, for it +was Sunday, and found groups of men huddled around two wagons in +silent contemplation of what the day before had brought. A more broken +and disconsolate set of men than Scholar’s would be hard to imagine.</p> + +<p>Flood inquired of their outfit if there was any sub-foreman, or +<i>segundo</i> as they were generally called. It seemed there was not, but +their outfit was unanimous that the leadership should fall to a +boyhood acquaintance of Scholar’s by the name of Campbell, who was +generally addressed as “Black” Jim. Flood at once advised Campbell to +send their wagon up to Laramie and cross it, promising that we would +lie over that day and make an effort to recover the body of the +drowned foreman. Campbell accordingly started his wagon up to the +ferry, and all the remainder of the outfits, with the exception of a +few men on herd, started out in search of the drowned man. Within a +mile and a half below the ford, there were located over thirty of the +forty islands, and at the lower end of this chain of sand bars we +began and searched both shores, while three or four men swam to each +island and made a vigorous search.</p> + +<p>The water in the river was not very clear, which called for a close +inspection; but with a force of twenty-five men in the hunt, we +covered island and shore rapidly in our search. It was about eight in +the morning, and we had already searched half of the islands, when Joe +Stallings and two of Scholar’s men swam to an island in the river +which had a growth of small cottonwoods covering it, while on the +upper end was a heavy lodgment of driftwood. John Officer, The Rebel, +and I had taken the next island above, and as we were riding the +shallows surrounding it we heard a shot in our rear that told us the +body had been found. As we turned in the direction of the signal, +Stallings was standing on a large driftwood log, and signaling. We +started back to him, partly wading and partly swimming, while from +both sides of the river men were swimming their horses for the brushy +island. Our squad, on nearing the lower bar, was compelled to swim +around the driftwood, and some twelve or fifteen men from either shore +reached the scene before us. The body was lying face upward, in about +eighteen inches of eddy water. Flood and Campbell waded out, and +taking a lariat, fastened it around his chest under the arms. Then +Flood, noticing I was riding my black, asked me to tow the body +ashore. Forcing a passage through the driftwood, I took the loose end +of the lariat and started for the north bank, the double outfit +following. On reaching the shore, the body was carried out of the +water by willing hands, and one of our outfit was sent to the wagon +for a tarpaulin to be used as a stretcher.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Campbell took possession of the drowned foreman’s watch, +six-shooter, purse, and papers. The watch was as good as ruined, but +the leather holster had shrunk and securely held the gun from being +lost in the river. On the arrival of the tarpaulin, the body was laid +upon it, and four mounted men, taking the four corners of the sheet, +wrapped them on the pommels of their saddles and started for our +wagon. When the corpse had been lowered to the ground at our camp, a +look of inquiry passed from face to face which seemed to ask, “What +next?” But the inquiry was answered a moment later by Black Jim +Campbell, the friend of the dead man. Memory may have dimmed the +lesser details of that Sunday morning on the North Platte, for over +two decades have since gone, but his words and manliness have lived, +not only in my mind, but in the memory of every other survivor of +those present. “This accident,” said he in perfect composure, as he +gazed into the calm, still face of his dead friend, “will impose on me +a very sad duty. I expect to meet his mother some day. She will want +to know everything. I must tell her the truth, and I’d hate to tell +her we buried him like a dog, for she’s a Christian woman. And what +makes it all the harder, I know that this is the third boy she has +lost by drowning. Some of you may not have understood him, but among +those papers which you saw me take from his pockets was a letter from +his mother, in which she warned him to guard against just what has +happened. Situated as we are, I’m going to ask you all to help me give +him the best burial we can. No doubt it will be crude, but it will be +some solace to her to know we did the best we could.”</p> + +<p>Every one of us was eager to lend his assistance. Within five minutes +Priest was galloping up the north bank of the river to intercept the +wagon at the ferry, a well-filled purse in his pocket with which to +secure a coffin at Fort Laramie. Flood and Campbell selected a burial +place, and with our wagon spade a grave was being dug on a near-by +grassy mound, where there were two other graves.</p> + +<p>There was not a man among us who was hypocrite enough to attempt to +conduct a Christian burial service, but when the subject came up, +McCann said as he came down the river the evening before he noticed an +emigrant train of about thirty wagons going into camp at a grove about +five miles up the river. In a conversation which he had had with one +of the party, he learned that they expected to rest over Sunday. Their +respect for the Sabbath day caused Campbell to suggest that there +might be some one in the emigrant camp who could conduct a Christian +burial, and he at once mounted his horse and rode away to learn.</p> + +<p>In preparing the body for its last resting-place we were badly +handicapped, but by tearing a new wagon sheet into strips about a foot +in width and wrapping the body, we gave it a humble bier in the shade +of our wagon, pending the arrival of the coffin. The features were so +ashened by having been submerged in the river for over eighteen hours, +that we wrapped the face also, as we preferred to remember him as we +had seen him the day before, strong, healthy, and buoyant. During the +interim, awaiting the return of Campbell from the emigrant camp and of +the wagon, we sat around in groups and discussed the incident. There +was a sense of guilt expressed by a number of our outfit over their +hasty decision regarding the courage of the dead man. When we +understood that two of his brothers had met a similar fate in Red +River within the past five years, every guilty thought or hasty word +spoken came back to us with tenfold weight. Priest and Campbell +returned together; the former reported having secured a coffin which +would arrive within an hour, while the latter had met in the emigrant +camp a superannuated minister who gladly volunteered his services. He +had given the old minister such data as he had, and two of the +minister’s granddaughters had expressed a willingness to assist by +singing at the burial services. Campbell had set the hour for four, +and several conveyances would be down from the emigrant camp. The +wagon arriving shortly afterward, we had barely time to lay the corpse +in the coffin before the emigrants drove up. The minister was a tall, +homely man, with a flowing beard, which the frosts of many a winter +had whitened, and as he mingled amongst us in the final preparations, +he had a kind word for every one. There were ten in his party; and +when the coffin had been carried out to the grave, the two +granddaughters of the old man opened the simple service by singing +very impressively the first three verses of the Portuguese Hymn. I had +heard the old hymn sung often before, but the impression of the last +verse rang in my ears for days afterward.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1">“When through the deep waters I call thee to go,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;</div> + <div class="verse indent1">For I will be with thee thy troubles to bless,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>As the notes of the hymn died away, there was for a few moments +profound stillness, and not a move was made by any one. The touching +words of the old hymn expressed quite vividly the disaster of the +previous day, and awakened in us many memories of home. For a time we +were silent, while eyes unused to weeping filled with tears. I do not +know how long we remained so. It may have been only for a moment, it +probably was; but I do know the silence was not broken till the aged +minister, who stood at the head of the coffin, began his discourse. We +stood with uncovered heads during the service, and when the old +minister addressed us he spoke as though he might have been holding +family worship and we had been his children. He invoked Heaven to +comfort and sustain the mother when the news of her son’s death +reached her, as she would need more than human aid in that hour; he +prayed that her faith might not falter and that she might again meet +and be with her loved ones forever in the great beyond. He then took +up the subject of life,—spoke of its brevity, its many hopes that are +never realized, and the disappointments from which no prudence or +foresight can shield us. He dwelt at some length on the strange +mingling of sunshine and shadow that seemed to belong to every life; +on the mystery everywhere, and nowhere more impressively than in +ourselves. With his long bony finger he pointed to the cold, mute form +that lay in the coffin before us, and said, “But this, my friends, is +the mystery of all mysteries.” The fact that life terminated in death, +he said, only emphasized its reality; that the death of our companion +was not an accident, though it was sudden and unexpected; that the +difficulties of life are such that it would be worse than folly in us +to try to meet them in our own strength. Death, he said, might change, +but it did not destroy; that the soul still lived and would live +forever; that death was simply the gateway out of time into eternity; +and if we were to realize the high aim of our being, we could do so by +casting our burdens on Him who was able and willing to carry them for +us. He spoke feelingly of the Great Teacher, the lowly Nazarene, who +also suffered and died, and he concluded with an eloquent description +of the blessed life, the immortality of the soul, and the resurrection +of the body. After the discourse was ended and a brief and earnest +prayer was covered, the two young girls sang the hymn, “Shall we meet +beyond the river?” The services being at an end, the coffin was +lowered into the grave.</p> + +<p>Campbell thanked the old minister and his two granddaughters on their +taking leave, for their presence and assistance; and a number of us +boys also shook hands with the old man at parting.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX<br><span class="small">A MOONLIGHT DRIVE</span></h2></div> + +<p>The two herds were held together a second night, but after they had +grazed a few hours the next morning, the cattle were thrown together, +and the work of cutting out ours commenced. With a double outfit of +men available, about twenty men were turned into the herd to do the +cutting, the remainder holding the main herd and looking after the +cut. The morning was cool, every one worked with a vim, and in about +two hours the herds were again separated and ready for the final +trimming. Campbell did not expect to move out until he could +communicate with the head office of the company, and would go up to +Fort Laramie for that purpose during the day, hoping to be able to get +a message over the military wire. When his outfit had finished +retrimming our herd, and we had looked over his cattle for the last +time, the two outfits bade each other farewell, and our herd started +on its journey.</p> + +<p>The unfortunate accident at the ford had depressed our feelings to +such an extent that there was an entire absence of hilarity by the +way. This morning the farewell songs generally used in parting with a +river which had defied us were omitted. The herd trailed out like an +immense serpent, and was guided and controlled by our men as if by +mutes. Long before the noon hour, we passed out of sight of Forty +Islands, and in the next few days, with the change of scene, the gloom +gradually lifted. We were bearing almost due north, and passing +through a delightful country. To our left ran a range of mountains, +while on the other hand sloped off the apparently limitless plain. The +scarcity of water was beginning to be felt, for the streams which had +not a source in the mountains on our left had dried up weeks before +our arrival. There was a gradual change of air noticeable too, for we +were rapidly gaining altitude, the heat of summer being now confined +to a few hours at noonday, while the nights were almost too cool for +our comfort.</p> + +<p>When about three days out from the North Platte, the mountains +disappeared on our left, while on the other hand appeared a +rugged-looking country, which we knew must be the approaches of the +Black Hills. Another day’s drive brought us into the main stage road +connecting the railroad on the south with the mining camps which +nestled somewhere in those rocky hills to our right. The stage road +followed the trail some ten or fifteen miles before we parted company +with it on a dry fork of the Big Cheyenne River. There was a road +house and stage stand where these two thoroughfares separated, the one +to the mining camp of Deadwood, while ours of the Montana cattle trail +bore off for the Powder River to the northwest. At this stage stand we +learned that some twenty herds had already passed by to the northern +ranges, and that after passing the next fork of the Big Cheyenne we +should find no water until we struck the Powder River,—a stretch of +eighty miles. The keeper of the road house, a genial host, informed us +that this drouthy stretch in our front was something unusual, this +being one of the dryest summers that he had experienced since the +discovery of gold in the Black Hills.</p> + +<p>Here was a new situation to be met, an eighty-mile dry drive; and with +our experience of a few months before at Indian Lakes fresh in our +memories, we set our house in order for the undertaking before us. It +was yet fifteen miles to the next and last water from the stage stand. +There were several dry forks of the Cheyenne beyond, but as they had +their source in the tablelands of Wyoming, we could not hope for water +in their dry bottoms. The situation was serious, with only this +encouragement: other herds had crossed this arid belt since the +streams had dried up, and our Circle Dots could walk with any herd +that ever left Texas. The wisdom of mounting us well for just such an +emergency reflected the good cow sense of our employer; and we felt +easy in regard to our mounts, though there was not a horse or a man +too many. In summing up the situation, Flood said, “We’ve got this +advantage over the Indian Lake drive: there is a good moon, and the +days are cool. We’ll make twenty-five miles a day covering this +stretch, as this herd has never been put to a test yet to see how far +they could walk in a day. They’ll have to do their sleeping at noon; +at least cut it into two shifts, and if we get any sleep we’ll have to +do the same. Let her come as she will; every day’s drive is a day +nearer the Blackfoot agency.”</p> + +<p>We made a dry camp that night on the divide between the road house and +the last water, and the next forenoon reached the South Fork of the +Big Cheyenne. The water was not even running in it, but there were +several long pools, and we held the cattle around them for over an +hour, until every hoof had been thoroughly watered. McCann had filled +every keg and canteen in advance of the arrival of the herd, and Flood +had exercised sufficient caution, in view of what lay before us, to +buy an extra keg and a bull’s-eye lantern at the road house. After +watering, we trailed out some four or five miles and camped for noon, +but the herd were allowed to graze forward until they lay down for +their noonday rest. As the herd passed opposite the wagon, we cut a +fat two-year-old stray heifer and killed her for beef, for the inner +man must be fortified for the journey before us. After a two hours’ +siesta, we threw the herd on the trail and started on our way. The +wagon and saddle horses were held in our immediate rear, for there was +no telling when or where we would make our next halt of any +consequence. We trailed and grazed the herd alternately until near +evening, when the wagon was sent on ahead about three miles to get +supper, while half the outfit went along to change mounts and catch up +horses for those remaining behind with the herd. A half hour before +the usual bedding time, the relieved men returned and took the grazing +herd, and the others rode in to the wagon for supper and a change of +mounts. While we shifted our saddles, we smelled the savory odor of +fresh beef frying.</p> + +<p>“Listen to that good old beef talking, will you?” said Joe Stallings, +as he was bridling his horse. “McCann, I’ll take my <i>carne fresco</i> a +trifle rare to-night, garnished with a sprig of parsley and a wee bit +of lemon.”</p> + +<p>Before we had finished supper, Honeyman had rehooked the mules to the +wagon, while the <i>remuda</i> was at hand to follow. Before we left the +wagon, a full moon was rising on the eastern horizon, and as we were +starting out Flood gave us these general directions: “I’m going to +take the lead with the cook’s lantern, and one of you rear men take +the new bull’s-eye. We’ll throw the herd on the trail; and between the +lead and rear light, you swing men want to ride well outside, and you +point men want to hold the lead cattle so the rear will never be more +than a half a mile behind. I’ll admit that this is somewhat of an +experiment with me, but I don’t see any good reason why she won’t +work. After the moon gets another hour high we can see a quarter of a +mile, and the cattle are so well trail broke they’ll never try to +scatter. If it works all right, we’ll never bed them short of +midnight, and that will put us ten miles farther. Let’s ride, lads.”</p> + +<p>By the time the herd was eased back on the trail, our evening +camp-fire had been passed, while the cattle led out as if walking on a +wager. After the first mile on the trail, the men on the point were +compelled to ride in the lead if we were to hold them within the +desired half mile. The men on the other side, or the swing, were +gradually widening, until the herd must have reached fully a mile in +length; yet we swing riders were never out of sight of each other, and +it would have been impossible for any cattle to leave the herd +unnoticed. In that moonlight the trail was as plain as day, and after +an hour, Flood turned his lantern over to one of the point men, and +rode back around the herd to the rear. From my position that first +night near the middle of the swing, the lanterns both rear and forward +being always in sight, I was as much at sea as any one as to the +length of the herd, knowing the deceitfulness of distance of campfires +and other lights by night. The foreman appealed to me as he rode down +the column, to know the length of the herd, but I could give him no +more than a simple guess. I could assure him, however, that the cattle +had made no effort to drop out and leave the trail. But a short time +after he passed me I noticed a horseman galloping up the column on the +opposite side of the herd, and knew it must be the foreman. Within a +short time, some one in the lead wig-wagged his lantern; it was +answered by the light in the rear, and the next minute the old rear +song,—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1">“Ip-e-la-ago, go ’long little doggie,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">You’ll make a beef-steer by-and-by,”—</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="p0">reached us riders in the swing, and we knew the rear guard of cattle +was being pushed forward. The distance between the swing men gradually +narrowed in our lead, from which we could tell the leaders were being +held in, until several times cattle grazed out from the herd, due to +the checking in front. At this juncture Flood galloped around the herd +a second time, and as he passed us riding along our side, I appealed +to him to let them go in front, as it now required constant riding to +keep the cattle from leaving the trail to graze. When he passed up the +opposite side, I could distinctly hear the men on that flank making a +similar appeal, and shortly afterwards the herd loosened out and we +struck our old gait for several hours.</p> + +<p>Trailing by moonlight was a novelty to all of us, and in the stillness +of those splendid July nights we could hear the point men chatting +across the lead in front, while well in the rear, the rattling of our +heavily loaded wagon and the whistling of the horse wrangler to his +charges reached our ears. The swing men were scattered so far apart +there was no chance for conversation amongst us, but every once in a +while a song would be started, and as it surged up and down the line, +every voice, good, bad, and indifferent, joined in. Singing is +supposed to have a soothing effect on cattle, though I will vouch for +the fact that none of our Circle Dots stopped that night to listen to +our vocal efforts. The herd was traveling so nicely that our foreman +hardly noticed the passing hours, but along about midnight the singing +ceased, and we were nodding in our saddles and wondering if they in +the lead were never going to throw off the trail, when a great +wig-wagging occurred in front, and presently we overtook The Rebel, +holding the lantern and turning the herd out of the trail. It was then +after midnight, and within another half hour we had the cattle bedded +down within a few hundred yards of the trail. One-hour guards was the +order of the night, and as soon as our wagon and saddle horses came +up, we stretched ropes and caught out our night horses. These we +either tied to the wagon wheels or picketed near at hand, and then we +sought our blankets for a few hours’ sleep. It was half past three in +the morning when our guard was called, and before the hour passed, the +first signs of day were visible in the east. But even before our watch +had ended, Flood and the last guard came to our relief, and we pushed +the sleeping cattle off the bed ground and started them grazing +forward.</p> + +<p>Cattle will not graze freely in a heavy dew or too early in the +morning, and before the sun was high enough to dry the grass, we had +put several miles behind us. When the sun was about an hour high, the +remainder of the outfit overtook us, and shortly afterward the wagon +and saddle horses passed on up the trail, from which it was evident +that “breakfast would be served in the dining car ahead,” as the +traveled Priest aptly put it. After the sun was well up, the cattle +grazed freely for several hours; but when we sighted the <i>remuda</i> and +our commissary some two miles in our lead, Flood ordered the herd +lined up for a count. The Rebel was always a reliable counter, and he +and the foreman now rode forward and selected the crossing of a dry +wash for the counting. On receiving their signal to come on, we +allowed the herd to graze slowly forward, but gradually pointed them +into an immense “V,” and as the point of the herd crossed the dry +arroyo, we compelled them to pass in a narrow file between the two +counters, when they again spread out fan-like and continued their +feeding.</p> + +<p>The count confirmed the success of our driving by night, and on its +completion all but two men rode to the wagon for breakfast. By the +time the morning meal was disposed of, the herd had come up parallel +with the wagon but a mile to the westward, and as fast as fresh mounts +could be saddled, we rode away in small squads to relieve the herders +and to turn the cattle into the trail. It was but a little after eight +o’clock in the morning when the herd was again trailing out on the +Powder River trail, and we had already put over thirty miles of the +dry drive behind us, while so far neither horses nor cattle had been +put to any extra exertion. The wagon followed as usual, and for over +three hours we held the trail without a break, when sighting a divide +in our front, the foreman went back and sent the wagon around the herd +with instructions to make the noon camp well up on the divide. We +threw the herd off the trail, within a mile of this stopping place, +and allowed them to graze, while two thirds of the outfit galloped +away to the wagon.</p> + +<p>We allowed the cattle to lie down and rest to their complete +satisfaction until the middle of the afternoon; meanwhile all hands, +with the exception of two men on herd, also lay down and slept in the +shade of the wagon. When the cattle had had several hours’ sleep, the +want of water made them restless, and they began to rise and graze +away. Then all hands were aroused and we threw them upon the trail. +The heat of the day was already over, and until the twilight of the +evening, we trailed a three-mile clip, and again threw the herd off to +graze. By our traveling and grazing gaits, we could form an +approximate idea as to the distance we had covered, and the consensus +of opinion of all was that we had already killed over half the +distance. The herd was beginning to show the want of water by evening, +but amongst our saddle horses the lack of water was more noticeable, +as a horse subsisting on grass alone weakens easily; and riding them +made them all the more gaunt. When we caught up our mounts that +evening, we had used eight horses to the man since we had left the +South Fork, and another one would be required at midnight, or whenever +we halted.</p> + +<p>We made our drive the second night with more confidence than the one +before, but there were times when the train of cattle must have been +nearly two miles in length, yet there was never a halt as long as the +man with the lead light could see the one in the rear. We bedded the +herd about midnight; and at the first break of day, the fourth guard +with the foreman joined us on our watch and we started the cattle +again. There was a light dew the second night, and the cattle, +hungered by their night walk, went to grazing at once on the damp +grass, which would allay their thirst slightly. We allowed them to +scatter over several thousand acres, for we were anxious to graze them +well before the sun absorbed the moisture, but at the same time every +step they took was one less to the coveted Powder River.</p> + +<p>When we had grazed the herd forward several miles, and the sun was +nearly an hour high, the wagon failed to come up, which caused our +foreman some slight uneasiness. Nearly another hour passed, and still +the wagon did not come up nor did the outfit put in an appearance. +Soon afterwards, however, Moss Strayhorn overtook us, and reported +that over forty of our saddle horses were missing, while the work +mules had been overtaken nearly five miles back on the trail. On +account of my ability as a trailer, Flood at once dispatched me to +assist Honeyman in recovering the missing horses, instructing some one +else to take the <i>remuda</i>, and the wagon and horses to follow up the +herd. By the time I arrived, most of the boys at camp had secured a +change of horses, and I caught up my <i>grulla</i>, that I was saving for +the last hard ride, for the horse hunt which confronted us. McCann, +having no fire built, gave Honeyman and myself an impromptu breakfast +and two canteens of water; but before we let the wagon get away, we +rustled a couple of cans of tomatoes and buried them in a cache near +the camp-ground, where we would have no trouble in finding them on our +return. As the wagon pulled out, we mounted our horses and rode back +down the trail.</p> + +<p>Billy Honeyman understood horses, and at once volunteered the belief +that we would have a long ride overtaking the missing saddle stock. +The absent horses, he said, were principally the ones which had been +under saddle the day before, and as we both knew, a tired, thirsty +horse will go miles for water. He recalled, also, that while we were +asleep at noon the day before, twenty miles back on the trail, the +horses had found quite a patch of wild sorrel plant, and were foolish +over leaving it. Both of us being satisfied that this would hold them +for several hours at least, we struck a free gait for it. After we +passed the point where the mules had been overtaken, the trail of the +horses was distinct enough for us to follow in an easy canter. We saw +frequent signs that they left the trail, no doubt to graze, but only +for short distances, when they would enter it again, and keep it for +miles. Shortly before noon, as we gained the divide above our noon +camp of the day before, there about two miles distant we saw our +missing horses, feeding over an alkali flat on which grew wild sorrel +and other species of sour plants. We rounded them up, and finding none +missing, we first secured a change of mounts. The only two horses of +my mount in this portion of the <i>remuda</i> had both been under saddle +the afternoon and night before, and were as gaunt as rails, and +Honeyman had one unused horse of his mount in the hand. So when, +taking down our ropes, we halted the horses and began riding slowly +around them, forcing them into a compact body, I had my eye on a brown +horse of Flood’s that had not had a saddle on in a week, and told +Billy to fasten to him if he got a chance. This was in violation of +all custom, but if the foreman kicked, I had a good excuse to offer.</p> + +<p>Honeyman was left-handed and threw a rope splendidly; and as we +circled around the horses on opposite sides, on a signal from him we +whirled our lariats and made casts simultaneously. The wrangler +fastened to the brown I wanted, and my loop settled around the neck of +his unridden horse. As the band broke away from our swinging ropes, a +number of them ran afoul of my rope; but I gave the rowel to my +<i>grulla</i>, and we shook them off. When I returned to Honeyman, and we +had exchanged horses and were shifting our saddles, I complimented him +on the long throw he had made in catching the brown, and incidentally +mentioned that I had read of vaqueros in California who used a +sixty-five foot lariat. “Hell,” said Billy, in ridicule of the idea, +“there wasn’t a man ever born who could throw a sixty-five foot rope +its full length—without he threw it down a well.”</p> + +<p>The sun was straight overhead when we started back to overtake the +herd. We struck into a little better than a five-mile gait on the +return trip, and about two o’clock sighted a band of saddle horses and +a wagon camped perhaps a mile forward and to the side of the trail. On +coming near enough, we saw at a glance it was a cow outfit, and after +driving our loose horses a good push beyond their camp, turned and +rode back to their wagon.</p> + +<p>“We’ll give them a chance to ask us to eat,” said Billy to me, “and +if they don’t, why, they’ll miss a hell of a good chance to entertain +hungry men.”</p> + +<p>But the foreman with the stranger wagon proved to be a Bee County +Texan, and our doubts did him an injustice, for, although dinner was +over, he invited us to dismount and ordered his cook to set out +something to eat. They had met our wagon, and McCann had insisted on +their taking a quarter of our beef, so we fared well. The outfit was +from a ranch near Miles City, Montana, and were going down to receive +a herd of cattle at Cheyenne, Wyoming. The cattle had been bought at +Ogalalla for delivery at the former point, and this wagon was going +down with their ranch outfit to take the herd on its arrival. They had +brought along about seventy-five saddle horses from the ranch, though +in buying the herd they had taken its <i>remuda</i> of over a hundred +saddle horses. The foreman informed us that they had met our cattle +about the middle of the forenoon, nearly twenty-five miles out from +Powder River. After we had satisfied the inner man, we lost no time +getting off, as we could see a long ride ahead of us; but we had +occasion as we rode away to go through their <i>remuda</i> to cut out a few +of our horses which had mixed, and I found I knew over a dozen of +their horses by the ranch brands, while Honeyman also recognized quite +a few. Though we felt a pride in our mounts, we had to admit that +theirs were better; for the effect of climate had transformed horses +that we had once ridden on ranches in southern Texas. It does seem +incredible, but it is a fact nevertheless, that a horse, having +reached the years of maturity in a southern climate, will grow half a +hand taller and carry two hundred pounds more flesh, when he has +undergone the rigors of several northern winters.</p> + +<p>We halted at our night camp to change horses and to unearth our cached +tomatoes, and again set out. By then it was so late in the day that +the sun had lost its force, and on this last leg in overtaking the +herd we increased our gait steadily until the sun was scarcely an hour +high, and yet we never sighted a dust-cloud in our front. About +sundown we called a few minutes’ halt, and after eating our tomatoes +and drinking the last of our water, again pushed on. Twilight had +faded into dusk before we reached a divide which we had had in sight +for several hours, and which we had hoped to gain in time to sight the +timber on Powder River before dark. But as we put mile after mile +behind us, that divide seemed to move away like a mirage, and the +evening star had been shining for an hour before we finally reached +it, and sighted, instead of Powder’s timber, the campfire of our +outfit about five miles ahead. We fired several shots on seeing the +light, in the hope that they might hear us in camp and wait; otherwise +we knew they would start the herd with the rising of the moon.</p> + +<p>When we finally reached camp, about nine o’clock at night, everything +was in readiness to start, the moon having risen sufficiently. Our +shooting, however, had been heard, and horses for a change were tied +to the wagon wheels, while the remainder of the <i>remuda</i> was under +herd in charge of Rod Wheat. The runaways were thrown into the horse +herd while we bolted our suppers. Meantime McCann informed us that +Flood had ridden that afternoon to the Powder River, in order to get +the lay of the land. He had found it to be ten or twelve miles distant +from the present camp, and the water in the river barely knee deep to +a saddle horse. Beyond it was a fine valley. Before we started, Flood +rode in from the herd, and said to Honeyman, “I’m going to send the +horses and wagon ahead to-night, and you and McCann want to camp on +this side of the river, under the hill and just a few hundred yards +below the ford. Throw your saddle horses across the river, and build a +fire before you go to sleep, so we will have a beacon light to pilot +us in, in case the cattle break into a run on scenting the water. The +herd will get in a little after midnight, and after crossing, we’ll +turn her loose just for luck.”</p> + +<p>It did me good to hear the foreman say the herd was to be turned +loose, for I had been in the saddle since three that morning, had +ridden over eighty miles, and had now ten more in sight, while +Honeyman would complete the day with over a hundred to his credit. We +let the <i>remuda</i> take the lead in pulling out, so that the wagon mules +could be spurred to their utmost in keeping up with the loose horses. +Once they were clear of the herd, we let the cattle into the trail. +They had refused to bed down, for they were uneasy with thirst, but +the cool weather had saved them any serious suffering. We all felt +gala as the herd strung out on the trail. Before we halted again there +would be water for our dumb brutes and rest for ourselves. There was +lots of singing that night. “There’s One more River to cross,” and +“Roll, Powder, roll,” were wafted out on the night air to the coyotes +that howled on our flanks, or to the prairie dogs as they peeped from +their burrows at this weird caravan of the night, and the lights which +flickered in our front and rear must have been real Jack-o’-lanterns +or Will-o’-the-wisps to these occupants of the plain. Before we had +covered half the distance, the herd was strung-out over two miles, and +as Flood rode back to the rear every half hour or so, he showed no +inclination to check the lead and give the sore-footed rear guard a +chance to close up the column; but about an hour before midnight we +saw a light low down in our front, which gradually increased until the +treetops were distinctly visible, and we knew that our wagon had +reached the river. On sighting this beacon, the long yell went up and +down the column, and the herd walked as only long-legged, thirsty +Texas cattle can walk when they scent water. Flood called all the +swing men to the rear, and we threw out a half-circle skirmish line +covering a mile in width, so far back that only an occasional glimmer +of the lead light could be seen. The trail struck the Powder on an +angle, and when within a mile of the river, the swing cattle left the +deep-trodden paths and started for the nearest water.</p> + +<p>The left flank of our skirmish line encountered the cattle as they +reached the river, and prevented them from drifting up the stream. The +point men abandoned the leaders when within a few hundred yards of the +river. Then the rear guard of cripples and sore-footed cattle came up, +and the two flanks of horsemen pushed them all across the river until +they met, when we turned and galloped into camp, making the night +hideous with our yelling. The longest dry drive of the trip had been +successfully made, and we all felt jubilant. We stripped bridles and +saddles from our tired horses, and unrolling our beds, were soon lost +in well-earned sleep.</p> + +<p>The stars may have twinkled overhead, and sundry voices of the night +may have whispered to us as we lay down to sleep, but we were too +tired for poetry or sentiment that night.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI<br><span class="small">THE YELLOWSTONE</span></h2></div> + +<p>The tramping of our <i>remuda</i> as they came trotting up to the wagon the +next morning, and Honeyman’s calling, “Horses, horses,” brought us to +the realization that another day had dawned with its duty. McCann had +stretched the ropes of our corral, for Flood was as dead to the world +as any of us were, but the tramping of over a hundred and forty horses +and mules, as they crowded inside the ropes, brought him into action +as well as the rest of us. We had had a good five hours’ sleep, while +our mounts had been transformed from gaunt animals to round-barreled +saddle horses,—that fought and struggled amongst themselves or +artfully dodged the lariat loops which were being cast after them. +Honeyman reported the herd quietly grazing across the river, and after +securing our mounts for the morning, we breakfasted before looking +after the cattle. It took us less than an hour to round up and count +the cattle, and turn them loose again under herd to graze. Those of us +not on herd returned to the wagon, and our foreman instructed McCann +to make a two hours’ drive down the river and camp for noon, as he +proposed only to graze the herd that morning. After seeing the wagon +safely beyond the rocky crossing, we hunted up a good bathing pool and +disported ourselves for half an hour, taking a much needed bath. There +were trails on either side of the Powder, and as our course was +henceforth to the northwest, we remained on the west side and grazed +or trailed down it. It was a beautiful stream of water, having its +source in the Big Horn Mountains, frequently visible on our left. For +the next four or five days we had easy work. There were range cattle +through that section, but fearful of Texas fever, their owners gave +the Powder River a wide berth. With the exception of holding the herd +at night, our duties were light. We caught fish and killed grouse; and +the respite seemed like a holiday after our experience of the past few +days. During the evening of the second day after reaching the Powder, +we crossed the Crazy Woman, a clear mountainous fork of the former +river, and nearly as large as the parent stream. Once or twice we +encountered range riders, and learned that the Crazy Woman was a stock +country, a number of beef ranches being located on it, stocked with +Texas cattle.</p> + +<p>Somewhere near or about the Montana line, we took a left-hand trail. +Flood had ridden it out until he had satisfied himself that it led +over to the Tongue River and the country beyond. While large trails +followed on down the Powder, their direction was wrong for us, as they +led towards the Bad Lands and the lower Yellowstone country. On the +second day out, after taking the left-hand trail, we encountered some +rough country in passing across a saddle in a range of hills forming +the divide between the Powder and Tongue rivers. We were nearly a +whole day crossing it, but had a well-used trail to follow, and down +in the foothills made camp that night on a creek which emptied into +the Tongue. The roughness of the trail was well compensated for, +however, as it was a paradise of grass and water. We reached the +Tongue River the next afternoon, and found it a similar stream to the +Powder,—clear as crystal, swift, and with a rocky bottom. As these +were but minor rivers, we encountered no trouble in crossing them, the +greatest danger being to our wagon. On the Tongue we met range riders +again, and from them we learned that this trail, which crossed the +Yellowstone at Frenchman’s Ford, was the one in use by herds bound for +the Musselshell and remoter points on the upper Missouri. From one +rider we learned that the first herd of the present season which went +through on this route were cattle wintered on the Niobrara in western +Nebraska, whose destination was Alberta in the British possessions. +This herd outclassed us in penetrating northward, though in distance +they had not traveled half as far as our Circle Dots.</p> + +<p>After following the Tongue River several days and coming out on that +immense plain tributary to the Yellowstone, the trail turned to the +northwest, gave us a short day’s drive to the Rosebud River, and after +following it a few miles, bore off again on the same quarter. In our +rear hung the mountains with their sentinel peaks, while in our front +stretched the valley tributary to the Yellowstone, in extent, itself, +an inland empire. The month was August, and, with the exception of +cool nights, no complaint could be made, for that rarefied atmosphere +was a tonic to man and beast, and there was pleasure in the primitive +freshness of the country which rolled away on every hand. On leaving +the Rosebud, two days’ travel brought us to the east fork of Sweet +Grass, an insignificant stream, with a swift current and rocky +crossings. In the first two hours after reaching it, we must have +crossed it half a dozen times, following the grassy bottoms, which +shifted from one bank to the other. When we were full forty miles +distant from Frenchman’s Ford on the Yellowstone, the wagon, in +crossing Sweet Grass, went down a sidling bank into the bottom of the +creek, the left hind wheel collided with a boulder in the water, +dishing it, and every spoke in the wheel snapped off at the shoulder +in the felloe. McCann never noticed it, but poured the whip into the +mules, and when he pulled out on the opposite bank left the felloe of +his wheel in the creek behind. The herd was in the lead at the time, +and when Honeyman overtook us and reported the accident, we threw the +herd off to graze, and over half the outfit returned to the wagon.</p> + +<p>When we reached the scene, McCann had recovered the felloe, but every +spoke in the hub was hopelessly ruined. Flood took in the situation at +a glance. He ordered the wagon unloaded and the reach lengthened, took +the axe, and, with The Rebel, went back about a mile to a thicket of +lodge poles which we had passed higher up the creek. While the rest of +us unloaded the wagon, McCann, who was swearing by both note and +rhyme, unearthed his saddle from amongst the other plunder and cinched +it on his nigh wheeler. We had the wagon unloaded and had reloaded +some of the heaviest of the plunder in the front end of the wagon box, +by the time our foreman and Priest returned, dragging from their +pommels a thirty-foot pole as perfect as the mast of a yacht. We +knocked off all the spokes not already broken at the hub of the ruined +wheel, and after jacking up the hind axle, attached the “crutch.” By +cutting a half notch in the larger end of the pole, so that it fitted +over the front axle, lashing it there securely, and allowing the other +end to trail behind on the ground, we devised a support on which the +hub of the broken wheel rested, almost at its normal height. There was +sufficient spring to the pole to obviate any jolt or jar, while the +rearrangement we had effected in distributing the load would relieve +it of any serious burden. We took a rope from the coupling pole of the +wagon and loosely noosed it over the crutch, which allowed leeway in +turning, but prevented the hub from slipping off the support on a +short turn to the left. Then we lashed the tire and felloe to the +front end of the wagon, and with the loss of but a couple of hours our +commissary was again on the move.</p> + +<p>The trail followed the Sweet Grass down to the Yellowstone; and until +we reached it, whenever there were creeks to ford or extra pulls on +hills, half a dozen of us would drop back and lend a hand from our +saddle pommels. The gradual decline of the country to the river was in +our favor at present, and we should reach the ford in two days at the +farthest, where we hoped to find a wheelwright. In case we did not, +our foreman thought he could effect a trade for a serviceable wagon, +as ours was a new one and the best make in the market. The next day +Flood rode on ahead to Frenchman’s Ford, and late in the day returned +with the information that the Ford was quite a pretentious frontier +village of the squatter type. There was a blacksmith and a wheelwright +shop in the town, but the prospect of an exchange was discouraging, as +the wagons there were of the heavy freighting type, while ours was a +wide tread—a serious objection, as wagons manufactured for southern +trade were eight inches wider than those in use in the north, and +therefore would not track on the same road. The wheelwright had +assured Flood that the wheel could be filled in a day, with the +exception of painting, and as paint was not important, he had decided +to move up within three or four miles of the Ford and lie over a day +for repairing the wagon, and at the same time have our mules reshod. +Accordingly we moved up the next morning, and after unloading the +wagon, both box and contents, over half the outfit—the first and +second guards—accompanied the wagon into the Ford. They were to +return by noon, when the remainder of us were to have our turn in +seeing the sights of Frenchman’s Ford. The horse wrangler remained +behind with us, to accompany the other half of the outfit in the +afternoon. The herd was no trouble to hold, and after watering about +the middle of the forenoon, three of us went into camp and got dinner. +As this was the first time since starting that our cook was absent, we +rather enjoyed the opportunity to practice our culinary skill. Pride +in our ability to cook was a weakness in our craft. The work was +divided up between Joe Stallings, John Officer, and myself, Honeyman +being excused on agreeing to rustle the wood and water. Stallings +prided himself on being an artist in making coffee, and while hunting +for the coffee mill, found a bag of dried peaches.</p> + +<p>“Say, fellows,” said Joe, “I’ll bet McCann has hauled this fruit a +thousand miles and never knew he had it amongst all this plunder. I’m +going to stew a saucepan full of it, just to show his royal nibs that +he’s been thoughtless of his boarders.”</p> + +<p>Officer volunteered to cut and fry the meat, for we were eating stray +beef now with great regularity; and the making of the biscuits fell to +me. Honeyman soon had a fire so big that you could not have got near +it without a wet blanket on; and when my biscuits were ready for the +Dutch oven, Officer threw a bucket of water on the fire, remarking: +“Honeyman, if you was <i>cusi segundo</i> under me, and built up such a big +fire for the chef, there would be trouble in camp. You may be a good +enough horse wrangler for a through Texas outfit, but when it comes to +playing second fiddle to a cook of my accomplishments—well, you +simply don’t know salt from wild honey. A man might as well try to +cook on a burning haystack as on a fire of your building.”</p> + +<p>When the fire had burned down sufficiently, the cooks got their +respective utensils upon the fire; I had an ample supply of live coals +for the Dutch oven, and dinner was shortly afterwards announced as +ready. After dinner, Officer and I relieved the men on herd, but over +an hour passed before we caught sight of the first and second guards +returning from the Ford. They were men who could stay in town all day +and enjoy themselves; but, as Flood had reminded them, there were +others who were entitled to a holiday. When Bob Blades and Fox +Quarternight came to our relief on herd, they attempted to detain us +with a description of Frenchman’s Ford, but we cut all conversation +short by riding away to camp.</p> + +<p>“We’ll just save them the trouble, and go in and see it for +ourselves,” said Officer to me, as we galloped along. We had left word +with Honeyman what horses we wanted to ride that afternoon, and lost +little time in changing mounts; then we all set out to pay our +respects to the mushroom village on the Yellowstone. Most of us had +money; and those of the outfit who had returned were clean shaven and +brought the report that a shave was two-bits and a drink the same +price. The town struck me as something new and novel, two thirds of +the habitations being of canvas. Immense quantities of buffalo hides +were drying or already baled, and waiting transportation as we +afterward learned to navigable points on the Missouri. Large bull +trains were encamped on the outskirts of the village, while many such +outfits were in town, receiving cargoes or discharging freight. The +drivers of these ox trains lounged in the streets and thronged the +saloons and gambling resorts. The population was extremely mixed, and +almost every language could be heard spoken on the streets. The men +were fine types of the pioneer,—buffalo hunters, freighters, and +other plainsmen, though hardly as picturesque in figure and costume as +a modern artist would paint them. For native coloring, there were +typical specimens of northern Indians, grunting their jargon amid the +babel of other tongues; and groups of squaws wandered through the +irregular streets in gaudy blankets and red calico. The only +civilizing element to be seen was the camp of engineers, running the +survey of the Northern Pacific railroad.</p> + +<p>Tying our horses in a group to a hitch-rack in the rear of a saloon +called The Buffalo Bull, we entered by a rear door and lined up at the +bar for our first drink since leaving Ogalalla. Games of chance were +running in the rear for those who felt inclined to try their luck, +while in front of the bar, against the farther wall, were a number of +small tables, around which were seated the patrons of the place, +playing for the drinks. One couldn’t help being impressed with the +unrestrained freedom of the village, whose sole product seemed to be +buffalo hides. Every man in the place wore the regulation six-shooter +in his belt, and quite a number wore two. The primitive law of nature +known as self-preservation, was very evident in August of ’82 at +Frenchman’s Ford. It reminded me of the early days at home in Texas, +where, on arising in the morning, one buckled on his six-shooter as +though it were part of his dress. After a second round of drinks, we +strolled out into the front street to look up Flood and McCann, and +incidentally get a shave. We soon located McCann, who had a hunk of +dried buffalo meat, and was chipping it off and feeding it to some +Indian children whose acquaintance he seemed to be cultivating. On +sighting us, he gave the children the remainder of the jerked buffalo, +and at once placed himself at our disposal as guide to Frenchman’s +Ford. He had been all over the town that morning; knew the name of +every saloon and those of several barkeepers as well; pointed out the +bullet holes in a log building where the last shooting scrape +occurred, and otherwise showed us the sights in the village which we +might have overlooked. A barber shop? Why, certainly; and he led the +way, informing us that the wagon wheel would be filled by evening, +that the mules were already shod, and that Flood had ridden down to +the crossing to look at the ford.</p> + +<p>Two barbers turned us out rapidly, and as we left we continued to take +in the town, strolling by pairs and drinking moderately as we went. +Flood had returned in the mean time, and seemed rather convivial and +quite willing to enjoy the enforced lay-over with us. While taking a +drink in Yellowstone Bob’s place, the foreman took occasion to call +the attention of The Rebel to a cheap lithograph of General Grant +which hung behind the bar. The two discussed the merits of the +picture, and Priest, who was an admirer of the magnanimity as well as +the military genius of Grant, spoke in reserved yet favorable terms of +the general, when Flood flippantly chided him on his eulogistic +remarks over an officer to whom he had once been surrendered. The +Rebel took the chaffing in all good humor, and when our glasses were +filled, Flood suggested to Priest that since he was such an admirer of +Grant, possibly he wished to propose a toast to the general’s health.</p> + +<p>“You’re young, Jim,” said The Rebel, “and if you’d gone through what I +have, your views of things might be different. My admiration for the +generals on our side survived wounds, prisons, and changes of fortune; +but time has tempered my views on some things, and now I don’t enthuse +over generals when the men of the ranks who made them famous are +forgotten. Through the fortunes of war, I saluted Grant when we were +surrendered, but I wouldn’t propose a toast or take off my hat now to +any man that lives.”</p> + +<p>During the comments of The Rebel, a stranger, who evidently overheard +them, rose from one of the tables in the place and sauntered over to +the end of the bar, an attentive listener to the succeeding +conversation. He was a younger man than Priest,—with a head of heavy +black hair reaching his shoulders, while his dress was largely of +buckskin, profusely ornamented with beadwork and fringes. He was +armed, as was every one else, and from his languid demeanor as well as +from his smart appearance, one would classify him at a passing glance +as a frontier gambler. As we turned away from the bar to an unoccupied +table, Priest waited for his change, when the stranger accosted him +with an inquiry as to where he was from. In the conversation that +ensued, the stranger, who had noticed the good-humored manner in which +The Rebel had taken the chiding of our foreman, pretending to take him +to task for some of his remarks. But in this he made a mistake. What +his friends might safely say to Priest would be treated as an insult +from a stranger. Seeing that he would not stand his chiding, the other +attempted to mollify him by proposing they have a drink together and +part friendly, to which The Rebel assented. I was pleased with the +favorable turn of affairs, for my bunkie had used some rather severe +language in resenting the remarks of the stranger, which now had the +promise of being dropped amicably.</p> + +<p>I knew the temper of Priest, and so did Flood and Honeyman, and we +were all anxious to get him away from the stranger. So I asked our +foreman as soon as they had drunk together, to go over and tell Priest +we were waiting for him to make up a game of cards. The two were +standing at the bar in a most friendly attitude, but as they raised +their glasses to drink, the stranger, holding his at arm’s length, +said: “Here’s a toast for you: To General Grant, the ablest”—</p> + +<p>But the toast was never finished, for Priest dashed the contents of +his glass in the stranger’s face, and calmly replacing the glass on +the bar, backed across the room towards us. When half-across, a sudden +movement on the part of the stranger caused him to halt. But it seemed +the picturesque gentleman beside the bar was only searching his +pockets for a handkerchief.</p> + +<p>“Don’t get your hand on that gun you wear,” said The Rebel, whose +blood was up, “unless you intend to use it. But you can’t shoot a +minute too quick to suit me. What do you wear a gun for, anyhow? Let’s +see how straight you can shoot.”</p> + +<p>As the stranger made no reply, Priest continued, “The next time you +have anything to rub in, pick your man better. The man who insults +me’ll get all that’s due him for his trouble.” Still eliciting no +response, The Rebel taunted him further, saying, “Go on and finish +your toast, you patriotic beauty. I’ll give you another: Jeff Davis +and the Southern Confederacy.”</p> + +<p>We all rose from the table, and Flood, going over to Priest, said, +“Come along, Paul we don’t want to have any trouble here. Let’s go +across the street and have a game of California Jack.”</p> + +<p>But The Rebel stood like a chiseled statue, ignoring the friendly +counsel of our foreman, while the stranger, after wiping the liquor +from his face and person, walked across the room and seated himself at +the table from which he had risen. A stillness as of death pervaded +the room, which was only broken by our foreman repeating his request +to Priest to come away, but the latter replied, “No; when I leave this +place it will not be done in fear of any one. When any man goes out of +his way to insult me he must take the consequences, and he can always +find me if he wants satisfaction. We’ll take another drink before we +go. Everybody in the house, come up and take a drink with Paul +Priest.”</p> + +<p>The inmates of the place, to the number of possibly twenty, who had +been witness to what had occurred, accepted the invitation, quitting +their games and gathering around the bar. Priest took a position at +the end of the bar, where he could notice any movement on the part of +his adversary as well as the faces of his guests, and smiling on them, +said in true hospitality, “What will you have, gentlemen?” There was a +forced effort on the part of the drinkers to appear indifferent to the +situation, but with the stranger sitting sullenly in their rear and an +iron-gray man standing at the farther end of the line, hungering for +an opportunity to settle differences with six-shooters, their +indifference was an empty mockery. Some of the players returned to +their games, while others sauntered into the street, yet Priest showed +no disposition to go. After a while the stranger walked over to the +bar and called for a glass of whiskey.</p> + +<p>The Rebel stood at the end of the bar, calmly rolling a cigarette, and +as the stranger seemed not to notice him, Priest attracted his +attention and said, “I’m just passing through here, and shall +only be in town this afternoon; so if there’s anything between us that +demands settlement, don’t hesitate to ask for it.”</p> + +<p>The stranger drained his glass at a single gulp, and with admirable +composure replied, “If there’s anything between us, we’ll settle it in +due time, and as men usually settle such differences in this country. +I have a friend or two in town, and as soon as I see them, you will +receive notice, or you may consider the matter dropped. That’s all I +care to say at present.”</p> + +<p>He walked away to the rear of the room, Priest joined us, and we +strolled out of the place. In the street, a grizzled, gray-bearded +man, who had drunk with him inside, approached my bunkie and said, +“You want to watch that fellow. He claims to be from the Gallatin +country, but he isn’t, for I live there. There’s a pal with him, and +they’ve got some good horses, but I know every brand on the headwaters +of the Missouri, and their horses were never bred on any of its three +forks. Don’t give him any the best of you. Keep an eye on him, +comrade.” After this warning, the old man turned into the first open +door, and we crossed over to the wheelwright’s shop; and as the wheel +would not be finished for several hours yet, we continued our survey +of the town, and our next landing was at The Buffalo Bull. On entering +we found four of our men in a game of cards at the very first table, +while Officer was reported as being in the gambling room in the rear. +The only vacant table in the bar-room was the last one in the far +corner, and calling for a deck of cards, we occupied it. I sat with my +back to the log wall of the low one-story room, while on my left and +fronting the door, Priest took a seat with Flood for his pardner, +while Honeyman fell to me. After playing a few hands, Flood suggested +that Billy go forward and exchange seats with some of our outfit, so +as to be near the door, where he could see any one that entered, while +from his position the rear door would be similarly guarded. Under this +change, Rod Wheat came back to our table and took Honeyman’s place. We +had been playing along for an hour, with people passing in and out of +the gambling room, and expected shortly to start for camp, when +Priest’s long-haired adversary came in at the front door, and, walking +through the room, passed into the gambling department.</p> + +<p>John Officer, after winning a few dollars in the card room, was +standing alongside watching our game; and as the stranger passed by, +Priest gave him the wink, on which Officer followed the stranger and a +heavy-set companion who was with him into the rear room. We had played +only a few hands when the heavy-set man came back to the bar, took a +drink, and walked over to watch a game of cards at the second table +from the front door. Officer came back shortly afterward, and +whispered to us that there were four of them to look out for, as he +had seen them conferring together. Priest seemed the least concerned +of any of us, but I noticed he eased the holster on his belt forward, +where it would be ready to his hand. We had called for a round of +drinks, Officer taking one with us, when two men came out of the +gambling hell, and halting at the bar, pretended to divide some money +which they wished to have it appear they had won in the card room. +Their conversation was loud and intended to attract attention, but +Officer gave us the wink, and their ruse was perfectly understood. +After taking a drink and attracting as much attention as possible over +the division of the money, they separated, but remained in the room.</p> + +<p>I was dealing the cards a few minutes later, when the long-haired man +emerged from the gambling hell, and imitating the maudlin, sauntered +up to the bar and asked for a drink. After being served, he walked +about halfway to the door, then whirling suddenly, stepped to the end +of the bar, placed his hands upon it, sprang up and stood upright on +it. He whipped out two six-shooters, let loose a yell which caused a +commotion throughout the room, and walked very deliberately the length +of the counter, his attention centred upon the occupants of our table. +Not attracting the notice he expected in our quarter, he turned, and +slowly repaced the bar, hurling anathemas on Texas and Texans in +general.</p> + +<p>I saw The Rebel’s eyes, steeled to intensity, meet Flood’s across the +table, and in that glance of our foreman he evidently read approval, +for he rose rigidly with the stealth of a tiger, and for the first +time that day his hand went to the handle of his six-shooter. One of +the two pretended winners at cards saw the movement in our quarter, +and sang out as a warning, “Cuidado, mucho.” The man on the bar +whirled on the word of warning, and blazed away with his two guns into +our corner. I had risen at the word and was pinned against the wall, +where on the first fire a rain of dirt fell from the chinking in the +wall over my head. As soon as the others sprang away from the table, I +kicked it over in clearing myself, and came to my feet just as The +Rebel fired his second shot. I had the satisfaction of seeing his +long-haired adversary reel backwards, firing his guns into the ceiling +as he went, and in falling crash heavily into the glassware on the +back bar.</p> + +<p>The smoke which filled the room left nothing visible for a few +moments. Meantime Priest, satisfied that his aim had gone true, +turned, passed through the rear room, gained his horse, and was +galloping away to the herd before any semblance of order was restored. +As the smoke cleared away and we passed forward through the room, John +Officer had one of the three pardners standing with his hands to the +wall, while his six-shooter lay on the floor under Officer’s foot. He +had made but one shot into our corner, when the muzzle of a gun was +pushed against his ear with an imperative order to drop his arms, +which he had promptly done. The two others, who had been under the +surveillance of our men at the forward table, never made a move or +offered to bring a gun into action, and after the killing of their +picturesque pardner passed together out of the house. There had been +five or six shots fired into our corner, but the first double shot, +fired when three of us were still sitting, went too high for effect, +while the remainder were scattering, though Rod Wheat got a bullet +through his coat, close enough to burn the skin on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>The dead man was laid out on the floor of the saloon; and through +curiosity, for it could hardly have been much of a novelty to the +inhabitants of Frenchman’s Ford, hundreds came to gaze on the corpse +and examine the wounds, one above the other through his vitals, either +of which would have been fatal. Officer’s prisoner admitted that the +dead man was his pardner, and offered to remove the corpse if +released. On turning his six-shooter over to the proprietor of the +place, he was given his freedom to depart and look up his friends.</p> + +<p>As it was after sundown, and our wheel was refilled and ready, we set +out for camp, where we found that Priest had taken a fresh horse and +started back over the trail. No one felt any uneasiness over his +absence, for he had demonstrated his ability to protect himself; and +truth compels me to say that the outfit to a man was proud of him. +Honeyman was substituted on our guard in The Rebel’s place, sleeping +with me that night, and after we were in bed, Billy said in his +enthusiasm: “If that horse thief had not relied on pot shooting, and +had been modest and only used one gun, he might have hurt some of you +fellows. But when I saw old Paul raising his gun to a level as he +shot, I knew he was cool and steady, and I’d rather died right there +than see him fail to get his man.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII<br><span class="small">OUR LAST CAMP-FIRE</span></h2></div> + +<p>By early dawn the next morning we were astir at our last camp on Sweet +Grass, and before the horses were brought in, we had put on the wagon +box and reloaded our effects. The rainy season having ended in the +mountain regions, the stage of water in the Yellowstone would present +no difficulties in fording, and our foreman was anxious to make a long +drive that day so as to make up for our enforced lay-over. We had +breakfasted by the time the horses were corralled, and when we +overtook the grazing herd, the cattle were within a mile of the river. +Flood had looked over the ford the day before, and took one point of +the herd as we went down into the crossing. The water was quite chilly +to the cattle, though the horses in the lead paid little attention to +it, the water in no place being over three feet deep. A number of +spectators had come up from Frenchman’s to watch the herd ford, the +crossing being about half a mile above the village. No one made any +inquiry for Priest, though ample opportunity was given them to see +that the gray-haired man was missing. After the herd had crossed, a +number of us lent a rope in assisting the wagon over, and when we +reached the farther bank, we waved our hats to the group on the south +side in farewell to them and to Frenchman’s Ford.</p> + +<p>The trail on leaving the river led up Many Berries, one of the +tributaries of the Yellowstone putting in from the north side; and we +paralleled it mile after mile. It was with difficulty that riders +could be kept on the right hand side of the herd, for along it grew +endless quantities of a species of upland huckleberry, and, breaking +off branches, we feasted as we rode along. The grade up this creek was +quite pronounced, for before night the channel of the creek had +narrowed to several yards in width. On the second day out the wild +fruit disappeared early in the morning, and after a continued gradual +climb, we made camp that night on the summit of the divide within +plain sight of the Musselshell River. From this divide there was a +splendid view of the surrounding country as far as eye could see. To +our right, as we neared the summit, we could see in that rarefied +atmosphere the buttes, like sentinels on duty, as they dotted the +immense tableland between the Yellowstone and the mother Missouri, +while on our left lay a thousand hills, untenanted save by the deer, +elk, and a remnant of buffalo. Another half day’s drive brought us to +the shoals on the Musselshell, about twelve miles above the entrance +of Flatwillow Creek. It was one of the easiest crossings we had +encountered in many a day, considering the size of the river and the +flow of water. Long before the advent of the white man, these shoals +had been in use for generations by the immense herds of buffalo and +elk migrating back and forth between their summer ranges and winter +pasturage, as the converging game trails on either side indicated. It +was also an old Indian ford. After crossing and resuming our afternoon +drive, the cattle trail ran within a mile of the river, and had it not +been for the herd of northern wintered cattle, and possibly others, +which had passed along a month or more in advance of us, it would have +been hard to determine which were cattle and which were game trails, +the country being literally cut up with these pathways.</p> + +<p>When within a few miles of the Flatwillow, the trail bore off to the +northwest, and we camped that night some distance below the junction +of the former creek with the Big Box Elder. Before our watch had been +on guard twenty minutes that night, we heard some one whistling in the +distance; and as whoever it was refused to come any nearer the herd, a +thought struck me, and I rode out into the darkness and hailed him.</p> + +<p>“Is that you, Tom?” came the question to my challenge, and the next +minute I was wringing the hand of my old bunkie, The Rebel. I assured +him that the coast was clear, and that no inquiry had been even made +for him the following morning, when crossing the Yellowstone, by any +of the inhabitants of Frenchman’s Ford. He returned with me to the bed +ground, and meeting Honeyman as he circled around, was almost unhorsed +by the latter’s warmth of reception, and Officer’s delight on meeting +my bunkie was none the less demonstrative. For nearly half an hour he +rode around with one or the other of us, and as we knew he had had +little if any sleep for the last three nights, all of us begged him to +go on into camp and go to sleep. But the old rascal loafed around with +us on guard, seemingly delighted with our company and reluctant to +leave. Finally Honeyman and I prevailed on him to go to the wagon, but +before leaving us he said, “Why, I’ve been in sight of the herd for +the last day and night, but I’m getting a little tired of lying out +with the dry cattle these cool nights, and living on huckleberries and +grouse, so I thought I’d just ride in and get a fresh horse and a +square meal once more. But if Flood says stay, you’ll see me at my old +place on the point to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>Had the owner of the herd suddenly appeared in camp, he could not have +received such an ovation as was extended Priest the next morning when +his presence became known. From the cook to the foreman, they gathered +around our bed, where The Rebel sat up in the blankets and held an +informal reception; and two hours afterward he was riding on the right +point of the herd as if nothing had happened. We had a fair trail up +Big Box Elder, and for the following few days, or until the source of +that creek was reached, met nothing to check our course. Our foreman +had been riding in advance of the herd, and after returning to us at +noon one day, reported that the trail turned a due northward course +towards the Missouri, and all herds had seemingly taken it. As we had +to touch at Fort Benton, which was almost due westward, he had +concluded to quit the trail and try to intercept the military road +running from Fort Maginnis to Benton. Maginnis lay to the south of us, +and our foreman hoped to strike the military road at an angle on as +near a westward course as possible.</p> + +<p>Accordingly after dinner he set out to look out the country, and took +me with him. We bore off toward the Missouri, and within half an +hour’s ride after leaving the trail we saw some loose horses about +three miles distant, down in a little valley through which flowed a +creek towards the Musselshell. We reined in and watched the horses +several minutes, when we both agreed from their movements that they +were hobbled. We scouted out some five or six miles, finding the +country somewhat rough, but passable for a herd and wagon. Flood was +anxious to investigate those hobbled horses, for it bespoke the camp +of some one in the immediate vicinity. On our return, the horses were +still in view, and with no little difficulty, we descended from the +mesa into the valley and reached them. To our agreeable surprise, one +of them was wearing a bell, while nearly half of them were hobbled, +there being twelve head, the greater portion of which looked like pack +horses. Supposing the camp, if there was one, must be up in the hills, +we followed a bridle path up stream in search of it, and soon came +upon four men, placer mining on the banks of the creek.</p> + +<p>When we made our errand known, one of these placer miners, an elderly +man who seemed familiar with the country, expressed some doubts about +our leaving the trail, though he said there was a bridle path with +which he was acquainted across to the military road. Flood at once +offered to pay him well if he would pilot us across to the road, or +near enough so that we could find our way. The old placerman +hesitated, and after consulting among his partners, asked how we were +fixed for provision, explaining that they wished to remain a month or +so longer, and that game had been scared away from the immediate +vicinity, until it had become hard to secure meat. But he found Flood +ready in that quarter, for he immediately offered to kill a beef and +load down any two pack horses they had, if he would consent to pilot +us over to within striking distance of the Fort Benton road. The offer +was immediately accepted, and I was dispatched to drive in their +horses. Two of the placer miners accompanied us back to the trail, +both riding good saddle horses and leading two others under pack +saddles. We overtook the herd within a mile of the point where the +trail was to be abandoned, and after sending the wagon ahead, our +foreman asked our guests to pick out any cow or steer in the herd. +When they declined, he cut out a fat stray cow which had come into the +herd down on the North Platte, had her driven in after the wagon, +killed and quartered. When we had laid the quarters on convenient +rocks to cool and harden during the night, our future pilot timidly +inquired what we proposed to do with the hide, and on being informed +that he was welcome to it, seemed delighted, remarking, as I helped +him to stake it out where it would dry, that “rawhide was mighty handy +repairing pack saddles.”</p> + +<p>Our visitors interested us, for it is probable that not a man in our +outfit had ever seen a miner before, though we had read of the life +and were deeply interested in everything they did or said. They were +very plain men and of simple manners, but we had great difficulty in +getting them to talk. After supper, while idling away a couple of +hours around our camp-fire, the outfit told stories, in the hope that +our guests would become reminiscent and give us some insight into +their experiences, Bob Blades leading off.</p> + +<p>“I was in a cow town once up on the head of the Chisholm trail at a +time when a church fair was being pulled off. There were lots of old +long-horn cowmen living in the town, who owned cattle in that Cherokee +Strip that Officer is always talking about. Well, there’s lots of +folks up there that think a nigger is as good as anybody else, and +when you find such people set in their ways, it’s best not to argue +matters with them, but lay low and let on you think that way too. +That’s the way those old Texas cowmen acted about it.</p> + +<p>“Well, at this church fair there was to be voted a prize of a nice +baby wagon, which had been donated by some merchant, to the prettiest +baby under a year old. Colonel Bob Zellers was in town at the time, +stopping at a hotel where the darky cook was a man who had once worked +for him on the trail. ‘Frog,’ the darky, had married when he quit the +colonel’s service, and at the time of this fair there was a pickaninny +in his family about a year old, and nearly the color of a new saddle. +A few of these old cowmen got funny and thought it would be a good +joke to have Frog enter his baby at the fair, and Colonel Bob being +the leader in the movement, he had no trouble convincing the darky +that that baby wagon was his, if he would only enter his youngster. +Frog thought the world of the old Colonel, and the latter assured him +that he would vote for his baby while he had a dollar or a cow left. +The result was, Frog gave his enthusiastic consent, and the Colonel +agreed to enter the pickaninny in the contest.</p> + +<p>“Well, the Colonel attended to the entering of the baby’s name, and +then on the dead quiet went around and rustled up every cowman and +puncher in town, and had them promise to be on hand, to vote for the +prettiest baby at ten cents a throw. The fair was being held in the +largest hall in town, and at the appointed hour we were all on hand, +as well as Frog and his wife and baby. There were about a dozen +entries, and only one blackbird in the covey. The list of contestants +was read by the minister, and as each name was announced, there was a +vigorous clapping of hands all over the house by the friends of each +baby. But when the name of Miss Precilla June Jones was announced, the +Texas contingent made their presence known by such a deafening +outburst of applause that old Frog grinned from ear to ear—he saw +himself right then pushing that baby wagon.</p> + +<p>“Well, on the first heat we voted sparingly, and as the vote was read +out about every quarter hour, Precilla June Jones on the first turn +was fourth in the race. On the second report, our favorite had moved +up to third place, after which the weaker ones were deserted, and all +the voting blood was centered on the two white leaders, with our +blackbird a close third. We were behaving ourselves nicely, and our +money was welcome if we weren’t. When the third vote was announced, +Frog’s pickaninny was second in the race, with her nose lapped on the +flank of the leader. Then those who thought a darky was as good as any +one else got on the prod in a mild form, and you could hear them +voicing their opinions all over the hall. We heard it all, but sat as +nice as pie and never said a word.</p> + +<p>“When the final vote was called for, we knew it was the home stretch, +and every rascal of us got his weasel skin out and sweetened the +voting on Miss Precilla June Jones. Some of those old long-horns +didn’t think any more of a twenty-dollar gold piece than I do of a +white chip, especially when there was a chance to give those good +people a dose of their own medicine. I don’t know how many votes we +cast on the last whirl, but we swamped all opposition, and our +favorite cantered under the wire an easy winner. Then you should have +heard the kicking, but we kept still and inwardly chuckled. The +minister announced the winner, and some of those good people didn’t +have any better manners than to hiss and cut up ugly. We stayed until +Frog got the new baby wagon in his clutches, when we dropped out +casually and met at the Ranch saloon, where Colonel Zellers had taken +possession behind the bar and was dispensing hospitality in proper +celebration of his victory.”</p> + +<p>Much to our disappointment, our guests remained silent and showed no +disposition to talk, except to answer civil questions which Flood +asked regarding the trail crossing on the Missouri, and what that +river was like in the vicinity of old Fort Benton. When the questions +had been answered, they again relapsed into silence. The fire was +replenished, and after the conversation had touched on several +subjects, Joe Stallings took his turn with a yarn.</p> + +<p>“When my folks first came to Texas,” said Joe, “they settled in Ellis +County, near Waxahachie. My father was one of the pioneers in that +county at a time when his nearest neighbor lived ten miles from his +front gate. But after the war, when the country had settled up, these +old pioneers naturally hung together and visited and chummed with one +another in preference to the new settlers. One spring when I was about +fifteen years old, one of those old pioneer neighbors of ours died, +and my father decided that he would go to the funeral or burst a hame +string. If any of you know anything about that black-waxy, hog-wallow +land in Ellis County, you know that when it gets muddy in the spring a +wagon wheel will fill solid with waxy mud. So at the time of this +funeral it was impossible to go on the road with any kind of a +vehicle, and my father had to go on horseback. He was an old man at +the time and didn’t like the idea, but it was either go on horseback +or stay at home, and go he would.</p> + +<p>“They raise good horses in Ellis County, and my father had raised some +of the best of them—brought the stock from Tennessee. He liked good +blood in a horse, and was always opposed to racing, but he raised some +boys who weren’t. I had a number of brothers older than myself, and +they took a special pride in trying every colt we raised, to see what +he amounted to in speed. Of course this had to be done away from home; +but that was easy, for these older brothers thought nothing of riding +twenty miles to a tournament, barbecue, or round-up, and when away +from home they always tried their horses with the best in the country. +At the time of this funeral, we had a crackerjack five year old +chestnut sorrel gelding that could show his heels to any horse in the +country. He was a peach,—you could turn him on a saddle blanket and +jump him fifteen feet, and that cow never lived that he couldn’t cut.</p> + +<p>“So the day of the funeral my father was in a quandary as to which +horse to ride, but when he appealed to his boys, they recommended the +best on the ranch, which was the chestnut gelding. My old man had some +doubts as to his ability to ride the horse, for he hadn’t been on a +horse’s back for years; but my brothers assured him that the chestnut +was as obedient as a kitten, and that before he had been on the road +an hour the mud would take all the frisk and frolic out of him. There +was nearly fifteen miles to go, and they assured him that he would +never get there if he rode any other horse. Well, at last he consented +to ride the gelding, and the horse was made ready, properly groomed, +his tail tied up, and saddled and led up to the block. It took every +member of the family to get my father rigged to start, but at last he +announced himself as ready. Two of my brothers held the horse until he +found the off stirrup, and then they turned him loose. The chestnut +danced off a few rods, and settled down into a steady clip that was +good for five or six miles an hour.</p> + +<p>“My father reached the house in good time for the funeral services, +but when the procession started for the burial ground, the horse was +somewhat restless and impatient from the cold. There was quite a +string of wagons and other vehicles from the immediate neighborhood +which had braved the mud, and the line was nearly half a mile in +length between the house and the graveyard. There were also possibly a +hundred men on horseback bringing up the rear of the procession; and +the chestnut, not understanding the solemnity of the occasion, was +right on his mettle. Surrounded as he was by other horses, he kept his +weather eye open for a race, for in coming home from dances and +picnics with my brothers, he had often been tried in short dashes of +half a mile or so. In order to get him out of the crowd of horses, my +father dropped back with another pioneer to the extreme rear of the +funeral line.</p> + +<p>“When the procession was nearing the cemetery, a number of horsemen, +who were late, galloped up in the rear. The chestnut, supposing a race +was on, took the bit in his teeth and tore down past the procession as +though it was a free-for-all Texas sweepstakes, the old man’s white +beard whipping the breeze in his endeavor to hold in the horse. Nor +did he check him until the head of the procession had been passed. +When my father returned home that night, there was a family round-up, +for he was smoking under the collar. Of course, my brothers denied +having ever run the horse, and my mother took their part; but the old +gent knew a thing or two about horses, and shortly afterwards he got +even with his boys by selling the chestnut, which broke their hearts +properly.”</p> + +<p>The elder of the two placer miners, a long-whiskered, pock-marked man, +arose, and after walking out from the fire some distance returned and +called our attention to signs in the sky, which he assured us were a +sure indication of a change in the weather. But we were more anxious +that he should talk about something else, for we were in the habit of +taking the weather just as it came. When neither one showed any +disposition to talk, Flood said to them,—</p> + +<p>“It’s bedtime with us, and one of you can sleep with me, while I’ve +fixed up an extra bed for the other. I generally get out about +daybreak, but if that’s too early for you, don’t let my getting up +disturb you. And you fourth guard men, let the cattle off the bed +ground on a due westerly course and point them up the divide. Now get +to bed, everybody, for we want to make a big drive tomorrow.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII<br><span class="small">DELIVERY</span></h2></div> + +<p>I shall never forget the next morning,—August 26, 1882. As we of the +third guard were relieved, about two hours before dawn, the wind +veered around to the northwest, and a mist which had been falling +during the fore part of our watch changed to soft flakes of snow. As +soon as we were relieved, we skurried back to our blankets, drew the +tarpaulin over our heads, and slept until dawn, when on being awakened +by the foreman, we found a wet, slushy snow some two inches in depth +on the ground. Several of the boys in the outfit declared it was the +first snowfall they had ever seen, and I had but a slight recollection +of having witnessed one in early boyhood in our old Georgia home. We +gathered around the fire like a lot of frozen children, and our only +solace was that our drive was nearing an end. The two placermen paid +little heed to the raw morning, and our pilot assured us that this was +but the squaw winter which always preceded Indian summer.</p> + +<p>We made our customary early start, and while saddling up that morning, +Flood and the two placer miners packed the beef on their two pack +horses, first cutting off enough to last us several days. The cattle, +when we overtook them, presented a sorry spectacle, apparently being +as cold as we were, although we had our last stitch of clothing on, +including our slickers, belted with a horse hobble. But when Flood and +our guide rode past the herd, I noticed our pilot’s coat was not even +buttoned, nor was the thin cotton shirt which he wore, but his chest +was exposed to that raw morning air which chilled the very marrow in +our bones. Our foreman and guide kept in sight in the lead, the herd +traveling briskly up the long mountain divide, and about the middle of +the forenoon the sun came out warm and the snow began to melt. Within +an hour after starting that morning, Quince Forrest, who was riding in +front of me in the swing, dismounted, and picking out of the snow a +brave little flower which looked something like a pansy, dropped back +to me and said, “My weather gauge says it’s eighty-eight degrees below +freezo. But I want you to smell this posy, Quirk, and tell me on the +dead thieving, do you ever expect to see your sunny southern home +again? And did you notice the pock-marked colonel, baring his brisket +to the morning breeze?”</p> + +<p>Two hours after the sun came out, the snow had disappeared, and the +cattle fell to and grazed until long after the noon hour. Our pilot +led us up the divide between the Missouri and the headwaters of the +Musselshell during the afternoon, weaving in and out around the heads +of creeks putting into either river; and towards evening we crossed +quite a creek running towards the Missouri, where we secured ample +water for the herd. We made a late camp that night, and our guide +assured us that another half day’s drive would put us on the Judith +River, where we would intercept the Fort Benton road.</p> + +<p>The following morning our guide led us for several hours up a gradual +ascent to the plateau, till we reached the tableland, when he left us +to return to his own camp. Flood again took the lead, and within a +mile we turned on our regular course, which by early noon had +descended into the valley of the Judith River, and entered the Fort +Maginnis and Benton military road. Our route was now clearly defined, +and about noon on the last day of the month we sighted, beyond the +Missouri River, the flag floating over Fort Benton. We made a crossing +that afternoon below the Fort, and Flood went into the post, expecting +either to meet Lovell or to receive our final instructions regarding +the delivery.</p> + +<p>After crossing the Missouri, we grazed the herd over to the Teton +River, a stream which paralleled the former watercourse,—the military +post being located between the two. We had encamped for the night when +Flood returned with word of a letter he had received from our employer +and an interview he had had with the commanding officer of Fort +Benton, who, it seemed, was to have a hand in the delivery of the +herd. Lovell had been detained in the final settlement of my brother +Bob’s herd at the Crow Agency by some differences regarding weights. +Under our present instructions, we were to proceed slowly to the +Blackfoot Agency, and immediately on the arrival of Lovell at Benton, +he and the commandant would follow by ambulance and overtake us. The +distance from Fort Benton to the agency was variously reported to be +from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and thirty miles, six or +seven days’ travel for the herd at the farthest, and then good-by, +Circle Dots!</p> + +<p>A number of officers and troopers from the post overtook us the next +morning and spent several hours with us as the herd trailed out up the +Teton. They were riding fine horses, which made our through saddle +stock look insignificant in comparison, though had they covered +twenty-four hundred miles and lived on grass as had our mounts, some +of the lustre of their glossy coats would have been absent. They +looked well, but it would have been impossible to use them or any +domestic bred horses in trail work like ours, unless a supply of grain +could be carried with us. The range country produced a horse suitable +to range needs, hardy and a good forager, which, when not overworked +under the saddle, met every requirement of his calling, as well as +being self-sustaining. Our horses, in fact, were in better flesh when +we crossed the Missouri than they were the day we received the herd on +the Rio Grande. The spectators from the fort quitted us near the +middle of the forenoon, and we snailed on westward at our leisurely +gait.</p> + +<p>There was a fair road up the Teton, which we followed for several days +without incident, to the forks of that river, where we turned up Muddy +Creek, the north fork of the Teton. That noon, while catching saddle +horses, dinner not being quite ready, we noticed a flurry amongst the +cattle, then almost a mile in our rear. Two men were on herd with them +as usual, grazing them forward up the creek and watering as they came, +when suddenly the cattle in the lead came tearing out of the creek, +and on reaching open ground turned at bay. After several bunches had +seemingly taken fright at the same object, we noticed Bull Durham, who +was on herd, ride through the cattle to the scene of disturbance. We +saw him, on nearing the spot, lie down on the neck of his horse, watch +intently for several minutes, then quietly drop back to the rear, +circle the herd, and ride for the wagon. We had been observing the +proceedings closely, though from a distance, for some time. Daylight +was evidently all that saved us from a stampede, and as Bull Durham +galloped up he was almost breathless. He informed us that an old +cinnamon bear and two cubs were berrying along the creek, and had +taken the right of way. Then there was a hustling and borrowing of +cartridges, while saddles were cinched on to horses as though human +life depended on alacrity. We were all feeling quite gala anyhow, and +this looked like a chance for some sport. It was hard to hold the +impulsive ones in check until the others were ready. The cattle +pointed us to the location of the quarry as we rode forward. When +within a quarter of a mile, we separated into two squads, in order to +gain the rear of the bears, cut them off from the creek, and force +them into the open. The cattle held the attention of the bears until +we had gained their rear, and as we came up between them and the +creek, the old one reared up on her haunches and took a most +astonished and innocent look at us.</p> + +<p>A single “woof” brought one of the cubs to her side, and she dropped +on all fours and lumbered off, a half dozen shots hastening her pace +in an effort to circle the horsemen who were gradually closing in. In +making this circle to gain the protection of some thickets which +skirted the creek, she was compelled to cross quite an open space, and +before she had covered the distance of fifty yards, a rain of ropes +came down on her, and she was thrown backward with no less than four +lariats fastened over her neck and fore parts. Then ensued a lively +scene, for the horses snorted and in spite of rowels refused to face +the bear. But ropes securely snubbed to pommels held them to the +quarry. Two minor circuses were meantime in progress with the two +cubs, but pressure of duty held those of us who had fastened on to the +old cinnamon. The ropes were taut and several of them were about her +throat; the horses were pulling in as many different directions, yet +the strain of all the lariats failed to choke her as we expected. At +this juncture, four of the loose men came to our rescue, and proposed +shooting the brute. We were willing enough, for though we had better +than a tail hold, we were very ready to let go. But while there were +plenty of good shots among us, our horses had now become wary, and +could not, when free from ropes, be induced to approach within twenty +yards of the bear, and they were so fidgety that accurate aim was +impossible. We who had ropes on the old bear begged the boys to get +down and take it afoot, but they were not disposed to listen to our +reasons, and blazed away from rearing horses, not one shot in ten +taking effect. There was no telling how long this random shooting +would have lasted; but one shot cut my rope two feet from the noose, +and with one rope less on her the old bear made some ugly surges, and +had not Joe Stallings had a wheeler of a horse on the rope, she would +have done somebody damage.</p> + +<p>The Rebel was on the opposite side from Stallings and myself, and as +soon as I was freed, he called me around to him, and shifting his rope +to me, borrowed my six-shooter and joined those who were shooting. +Dismounting, he gave the reins of his horse to Flood, walked up to +within fifteen steps of mother bruin, and kneeling, emptied both +six-shooters with telling accuracy. The old bear winced at nearly +every shot, and once she made an ugly surge on the ropes, but the +three guy lines held her up to Priest’s deliberate aim. The vitality +of that cinnamon almost staggers belief, for after both six-shooters +had been emptied into her body, she floundered on the ropes with all +her former strength, although the blood was dripping and gushing from +her numerous wounds. Borrowing a third gun, Priest returned to the +fight, and as we slacked the ropes slightly, the old bear reared, +facing her antagonist. The Rebel emptied his third gun into her before +she sank, choked, bleeding, and exhausted, to the ground; and even +then no one dared to approach her, for she struck out wildly with all +fours as she slowly succumbed to the inevitable.</p> + +<p>One of the cubs had been roped and afterwards shot at close quarters, +while the other had reached the creek and climbed a sapling which grew +on the bank, when a few shots brought him to the ground. The two cubs +were about the size of a small black bear, though the mother was a +large specimen of her species. The cubs had nice coats of soft fur, +and their hides were taken as trophies of the fight, but the robe of +the mother was a summer one and worthless. While we were skinning the +cubs, the foreman called our attention to the fact that the herd had +drifted up the creek nearly opposite the wagon. During the encounter +with the bears he was the most excited one in the outfit, and was the +man who cut my rope with his random shooting from horseback. But now +the herd recovered his attention, and he dispatched some of us to ride +around the cattle. When we met at the wagon for dinner, the excitement +was still on us, and the hunt was unanimously voted the most exciting +bit of sport and powder burning we had experienced on our trip.</p> + +<p>Late that afternoon a forage wagon from Fort Benton passed us with +four loose ambulance mules in charge of five troopers, who were going +on ahead to establish a relay station in anticipation of the trip of +the post commandant to the Blackfoot Agency. There were to be two +relay stations between the post and the agency, and this detachment +expected to go into camp that night within forty miles of our +destination, there to await the arrival of the commanding officer and +the owner of the herd at Benton. These soldiers were out two days from +the post when they passed us, and they assured us that the ambulance +would go through from Benton to Blackfoot without a halt, except for +the changing of relay teams. The next forenoon we passed the last +relay camp, well up the Muddy, and shortly afterwards the road left +that creek, turning north by a little west, and we entered on the last +tack of our long drive. On the evening of the 6th of September, as we +were going into camp on Two Medicine Creek, within ten miles of the +agency, the ambulance overtook us, under escort of the troopers whom +we had passed at the last relay station. We had not seen Don Lovell +since June, when we passed Dodge, and it goes without saying that we +were glad to meet him again. On the arrival of the party, the cattle +had not yet been bedded, so Lovell borrowed a horse, and with Flood +took a look over the herd before darkness set in, having previously +prevailed on the commanding officer to rest an hour and have supper +before proceeding to the agency.</p> + +<p>When they returned from inspecting the cattle, the commandant and +Lovell agreed to make the final delivery on the 8th, if it were +agreeable to the agent, and with this understanding continued their +journey. The next morning Flood rode into the agency, borrowing +McCann’s saddle and taking an extra horse with him, having left us +instructions to graze the herd all day and have them in good shape +with grass and water, in case they were inspected that evening on +their condition. Near the middle of the afternoon quite a cavalcade +rode out from the agency, including part of a company of cavalry +temporarily encamped there. The Indian agent and the commanding +officer from Benton were the authorized representatives of the +government, it seemed, as Lovell took extra pains in showing them over +the herd, frequently consulting the contract which he held, regarding +sex, age, and flesh of the cattle.</p> + +<p>The only hitch in the inspection was over a number of sore-footed +cattle, which was unavoidable after such a long journey. But the +condition of these tender-footed animals being otherwise satisfactory, +Lovell urged the agent and commandant to call up the men for +explanations. The agent was no doubt a very nice man, and there may +have been other things that he understood better than cattle, for he +did ask a great many simple, innocent questions. Our replies, however, +might have been condensed into a few simple statements. We had, we +related, been over five months on the trail; after the first month, +tender-footed cattle began to appear from time to time in the herd, as +stony or gravelly portions of the trail were encountered,—the number +so affected at any one time varying from ten to forty head. Frequently +well-known lead cattle became tender in their feet and would drop back +to the rear, and on striking soft or sandy footing recover and resume +their position in the lead; that since starting, it was safe to say, +fully ten per cent of the entire herd had been so affected, yet we had +not lost a single head from this cause; that the general health of the +animal was never affected, and that during enforced layovers nearly +all so affected recovered. As there were not over twenty-five +sore-footed animals in the herd on our arrival, our explanation was +sufficient and the herd was accepted. There yet remained the counting +and classification, but as this would require time, it went over until +the following day. The cows had been contracted for by the head, while +the steers went on their estimated weight in dressed beef, the +contract calling for a million pounds with a ten per cent leeway over +that amount.</p> + +<p>I was amongst the first to be interviewed by the Indian agent, and on +being excused, I made the acquaintance of one of two priests who were +with the party. He was a rosy-cheeked, well-fed old padre, who +informed me that he had been stationed among the Blackfeet for over +twenty years, and that he had labored long with the government to +assist these Indians. The cows in our herd, which were to be +distributed amongst the Indian families for domestic purposes, were +there at his earnest solicitation. I asked him if these cows would not +perish during the long winter—my recollection was still vivid of the +touch of squaw winter we had experienced some two weeks previous. But +he assured me that the winters were dry, if cold, and his people had +made some progress in the ways of civilization, and had provided +shelter and forage against the wintry weather. He informed me that +previous to his labors amongst the Blackfeet their ponies wintered +without loss on the native grasses, though he had since taught them to +make hay, and in anticipation of receiving these cows, such families +as were entitled to share in the division had amply provided for the +animals’ sustenance.</p> + +<p>Lovell returned with the party to the agency, and we were to bring up +the herd for classification early in the morning. Flood informed us +that a beef pasture had been built that summer for the steers, while +the cows would be held under herd by the military, pending their +distribution. We spent our last night with the herd singing songs, +until the first guard called the relief, when realizing the lateness +of the hour, we burrowed into our blankets.</p> + +<p>“I don’t know how you fellows feel about it,” said Quince Forrest, +when the first guard were relieved and they had returned to camp, “but +I bade those cows good-by on their beds to-night without a regret or a +tear. The novelty of night-herding loses its charm with me when it’s +drawn out over five months. I might be fool enough to make another +such trip, but I’d rather be the Indian and let the other fellow +drive the cows to me—there’s a heap more comfort in it.”</p> + +<p>The next morning, before we reached the agency, a number of gaudily +bedecked bucks and squaws rode out to meet us. The arrival of the herd +had been expected for several weeks, and our approach was a delight to +the Indians, who were flocking to the agency from the nearest +villages. Physically, they were fine specimens of the aborigines. But +our Spanish, which Quarternight and I tried on them, was as +unintelligible to them as their guttural gibberish was to us.</p> + +<p>Lovell and the agent, with a detachment of the cavalry, met us about a +mile from the agency buildings, and we were ordered to cut out the +cows. The herd had been grazed to contentment, and were accordingly +rounded in, and the task begun at once. Our entire outfit were turned +into the herd to do the work, while an abundance of troopers held the +herd and looked after the cut. It took about an hour and a half, +during which time we worked like Trojans. Cavalrymen several times +attempted to assist us, but their horses were no match for ours in the +work. A cow can turn on much less space than a cavalry horse, and +except for the amusement they afforded, the military were of very +little effect.</p> + +<p>After we had retrimmed the cut, the beeves were started for their +pasture, and nothing now remained but the counting to complete the +receiving. Four of us remained behind with the cows, but for over two +hours the steers were in plain sight, while the two parties were +endeavoring to make a count. How many times they recounted them before +agreeing on the numbers I do not know, for the four of us left with +the cows became occupied by a controversy over the sex of a young +Indian—a Blackfoot—riding a cream-colored pony. The controversy +originated between Fox Quarternight and Bob Blades, who had discovered +this swell among a band who had just ridden in from the west, and John +Officer and myself were appealed to for our opinions. The Indian was +pointed out to us across the herd, easily distinguished by beads and +beaver fur trimmings in the hair, so we rode around to pass our +judgment as experts on the beauty. The young Indian was not over +sixteen years of age, with remarkable features, from which every trace +of the aborigine seemed to be eliminated. Officer and myself were in a +quandary, for we felt perfectly competent when appealed to for our +opinions on such a delicate subject, and we made every endeavor to +open a conversation by signs and speech. But the young Blackfoot paid +no attention to us, being intent upon watching the cows. The neatly +moccasined feet and the shapely hand, however, indicated the feminine, +and when Blades and Quarter-night rode up, we rendered our decision +accordingly. Blades took exception to the decision and rode alongside +the young Indian, pretending to admire the long plaits of hair, toyed +with the beads, pinched and patted the young Blackfoot, and finally, +although the rest of us, for fear the Indian might take offense and +raise trouble, pleaded with him to desist, he called the youth his +“squaw,” when the young blood, evidently understanding the +appellation, relaxed into a broad smile, and in fair English said, “Me +buck.”</p> + +<p>Blades burst into a loud laugh at his success, at which the Indian +smiled but accepted a cigarette, and the two cronied together, while +we rode away to look after our cows. The outfit returned shortly +afterward, when The Rebel rode up to me and expressed himself rather +profanely at the inability of the government’s representatives to +count cattle in Texas fashion. On the arrival of the agent and others, +the cows were brought around; and these being much more gentle, and +being under Lovell’s instruction fed between the counters in the +narrowest file possible, a satisfactory count was agreed upon at the +first trial. The troopers took charge of the cows after counting, and, +our work over, we galloped away to the wagon, hilarious and care free.</p> + +<p>McCann had camped on the nearest water to the agency, and after dinner +we caught out the top horses, and, dressed in our best, rode into the +agency proper. There was quite a group of houses for the attachés, one +large general warehouse, and several school and chapel buildings. I +again met the old padre, who showed us over the place. One could not +help being favorably impressed with the general neatness and +cleanliness of the place. In answer to our questions, the priest +informed us that he had mastered the Indian language early in his +work, and had adopted it in his ministry, the better to effect the +object of his mission. There was something touching in the zeal of +this devoted padre in his work amongst the tribe, and the recognition +of the government had come as a fitting climax to his work and +devotion.</p> + +<p>As we rode away from the agency, the cows being in sight under herd of +a dozen soldiers, several of us rode out to them, and learned that +they intended to corral the cows at night, and within a week +distribute them to Indian families, when the troop expected to return +to Fort Benton. Lovell and Flood appeared at the camp about +dusk—Lovell in high spirits. This, he said, was the easiest delivery +of the three herds which he had driven that year. He was justified in +feeling well over the year’s drive, for he had in his possession a +voucher for our Circle Dots which would crowd six figures closely. It +was a gay night with us, for man and horse were free, and as we made +down our beds, old man Don insisted that Flood and he should make +theirs down alongside ours. He and The Rebel had been joking each +other during the evening, and as we went to bed were taking an +occasional fling at one another as opportunity offered.</p> + +<p>“It’s a strange thing to me,” said Lovell, as he was pulling off his +boots, “that this herd counted out a hundred and twelve head more than +we started with, while Bob Quirk’s herd was only eighty-one long at +the final count;”</p> + +<p>“Well, you see,” replied The Rebel, “Quirk’s was a steer herd, while +ours had over a thousand cows in it, and you must make allowance for +some of them to calve on the way. That ought to be easy figuring for a +foxy, long-headed Yank like you.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV<br><span class="small">BACK TO TEXAS</span></h2></div> + +<p>The nearest railroad point from the Blackfoot Agency was Silver Bow, +about a hundred and seventy-five miles due south, and at that time the +terminal of the Utah Northern Railroad. Everything connected with the +delivery having been completed the previous day, our camp was astir +with the dawn in preparation for departure on our last ride together. +As we expected to make not less than forty miles a day on the way to +the railroad, our wagon was lightened to the least possible weight. +The chuck-box, water kegs, and such superfluities were dropped, and +the supplies reduced to one week’s allowance, while beds were +overhauled and extra wearing apparel of the outfit was discarded. Who +cared if we did sleep cold and hadn’t a change to our backs? We were +going home and would have money in our pockets.</p> + +<p>“The first thing I do when we strike that town of Silver Bow,” said +Bull Durham, as he was putting on his last shirt, “is to discard to +the skin and get me new togs to a finish. I’ll commence on my little +pattering feet, which will require fifteen-dollar moccasins, and then +about a six-dollar checked cottonade suit, and top off with a +seven-dollar brown Stetson. Then with a few drinks under my belt and a +rim-fire cigar in my mouth, I’d admire to meet the governor of Montana +if convenient.”</p> + +<p>Before the sun was an hour high, we bade farewell to the Blackfoot +Agency and were doubling back over the trail, with Lovell in our +company. Our first night’s camp was on the Muddy and the second on the +Sun River. We were sweeping across the tablelands adjoining the main +divide of the Rocky Mountains like the chinook winds which sweep that +majestic range on its western slope. We were a free outfit; even the +cook and wrangler were relieved; their little duties were divided +among the crowd and almost disappeared. There was a keen rivalry over +driving the wagon, and McCann was transferred to the hurricane deck of +a cow horse, which he sat with ease and grace, having served an +apprenticeship in the saddle in other days. There were always half a +dozen wranglers available in the morning, and we traveled as if under +forced marching orders. The third night we camped in the narrows +between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains, and on the evening +of the fourth day camped several miles to the eastward of Helena, the +capital of the territory.</p> + +<p>Don Lovell had taken the stage for the capital the night before; and +on making camp that evening, Flood took a fresh horse and rode into +town. The next morning he and Lovell returned with the superintendent +of the cattle company which had contracted for our horses and outfit +on the Republican. We corralled the horses for him, and after roping +out about a dozen which, as having sore backs or being lame, he +proposed to treat as damaged and take at half price, the <i>remuda</i> was +counted out, a hundred and forty saddle horses, four mules, and a +wagon constituting the transfer. Even with the loss of two horses and +the concessions on a dozen others, there was a nice profit on the +entire outfit over its cost in the lower country, due to the foresight +of Don Lovell in mounting us well. Two of our fellows who had borrowed +from the superintendent money to redeem their six-shooters after the +horse race on the Republican, authorized Lovell to return him the +loans and thanked him for the favor. Everything being satisfactory +between buyer and seller, they returned to town together for a +settlement, while we moved on south towards Silver Bow, where the +outfit was to be delivered.</p> + +<p>Another day’s easy travel brought us to within a mile of the railroad +terminus; but it also brought us to one of the hardest experiences of +our trip, for each of us knew, as we unsaddled our horses, that we +were doing it for the last time. Although we were in the best of +spirits over the successful conclusion of the drive; although we were +glad to be free from herd duty and looked forward eagerly to the +journey home, there was still a feeling of regret in our hearts which +we could not dispel. In the days of my boyhood I have shed tears when +a favorite horse was sold from our little ranch on the San Antonio, +and have frequently witnessed Mexican children unable to hide their +grief when need of bread had compelled the sale of some favorite horse +to a passing drover. But at no time in my life, before or since, have +I felt so keenly the parting between man and horse as I did that +September evening in Montana. For on the trail an affection springs up +between a man and his mount which is almost human. Every privation +which he endures his horse endures with him,—carrying him through +falling weather, swimming rivers by day and riding in the lead of +stampedes by night, always faithful, always willing, and always +patiently enduring every hardship, from exhausting hours under saddle +to the sufferings of a dry drive. And on this drive, covering nearly +three thousand miles, all the ties which can exist between man and +beast had not only become cemented, but our <i>remuda</i> as a whole had +won the affection of both men and employer for carrying without +serious mishap a valuable herd all the way from the Rio Grande to the +Blackfoot Agency. Their bones may be bleaching in some coulee by now, +but the men who knew them then can never forget them or the part they +played in that long drive.</p> + +<p>Three men from the ranch rode into our camp that evening, and the next +morning we counted over our horses to them and they passed into +strangers’ hands. That there might be no delay, Flood had ridden into +town the evening before and secured a wagon and gunny bags in which to +sack our saddles; for while we willingly discarded all other effects, +our saddles were of sufficient value to return and could be checked +home as baggage. Our foreman reported that Lovell had arrived by stage +and was awaiting us in town, having already arranged for our +transportation as far as Omaha, and would accompany us to that city, +where other transportation would have to be secured to our +destination. In our impatience to get into town, we were trudging in +by twos and threes before the wagon arrived for our saddles, and had +not Flood remained behind to look after them, they might have been +abandoned.</p> + +<p>There was something about Silver Bow that reminded me of Frenchman’s +Ford on the Yellowstone. Being the terminal of the first railroad into +Montana, it became the distributing point for all the western portion +of that territory, and immense ox trains were in sight for the +transportation of goods to remoter points in the north and west. The +population too was very much the same as at Frenchman’s, though the +town in general was an improvement over the former, there being some +stability to its buildings. As we were to leave on an eleven o’clock +train, we had little opportunity to see the town, and for the short +time at our disposal, barber shops and clothing stores claimed our +first attention. Most of us had some remnants of money, while my +bunkie was positively rich, and Lovell advanced us fifty dollars +apiece, pending a final settlement on reaching our destination.</p> + +<p>Within an hour after receiving the money, we blossomed out in new +suits from head to heel. Our guard hung together as if we were still +on night herd, and in the selection of clothing the opinion of the +trio was equal to a purchase. The Rebel was very easily pleased in his +selection, but John Officer and myself were rather fastidious. Officer +was so tall it was with some little difficulty that a suit could be +found to fit him, and when he had stuffed his pants in his boots and +thrown away the vest, for he never wore either vest or suspenders, he +emerged looking like an Alpine tourist, with his new pink shirt and +nappy brown beaver slouch hat jauntily cocked over one ear. As we +sauntered out into the street, Priest was dressed as became his years +and mature good sense, while my costume rivaled Officer’s in +gaudiness, and it is safe to assert two thirds of our outlay had gone +for boots and hats.</p> + +<p>Flood overtook us in the street, and warned us to be on hand at the +depot at least half an hour in advance of train time, informing us +that he had checked our saddles and didn’t want any of us to get left +at the final moment. We all took a drink together, and Officer assured +our foreman that he would be responsible for our appearance at the +proper time, “sober and sorry for it.” So we sauntered about the +straggling village, drinking occasionally, and on the suggestion of +The Rebel, made a cow by putting in five apiece and had Officer play +it on faro, he claiming to be an expert on the game. Taking the purse +thus made up, John sat into a game, while Priest and myself, after +watching the play some minutes, strolled out again and met others of +our outfit in the street, scarcely recognizable in their killing rigs. +The Rebel was itching for a monte game, but this not being a cow town +there was none, and we strolled next into a saloon, where a piano was +being played by a venerable-looking individual,—who proved quite +amiable, taking a drink with us and favoring us with a number of +selections of our choosing. We were enjoying this musical treat when +our foreman came in and asked us to get the boys together. Priest and +I at once started for Officer, whom we found quite a winner, but +succeeded in choking him off on our employer’s order, and after the +checks had been cashed, took a parting drink, which made us the last +in reaching the depot. When we were all assembled, our employer +informed us that he only wished to keep us together until embarking, +and invited us to accompany him across the street to Tom Robbins’s +saloon.</p> + +<p>On entering the saloon, Lovell inquired of the young fellow behind the +bar, “Son, what will you take for the privilege of my entertaining +this outfit for fifteen minutes?”</p> + +<p>“The ranch is yours, sir, and you can name your own figures,” +smilingly and somewhat shrewdly replied the young fellow, and promptly +vacated his position.</p> + +<p>“Now, two or three of you rascals get in behind there,” said old man +Don, as a quartet of the boys picked him up and set him on one end of +the bar, “and let’s see what this ranch has in the way of +refreshment.”</p> + +<p>McCann, Quarternight, and myself obeyed the order, but the fastidious +tastes of the line in front soon compelled us to call to our +assistance both Robbins and the young man who had just vacated the bar +in our favor.</p> + +<p>“That’s right, fellows,” roared Lovell from his commanding position, +as he jingled a handful of gold coins, “turn to and help wait on these +thirsty Texans; and remember that nothing’s too rich for our blood +to-day. This outfit has made one of the longest cattle drives on +record, and the best is none too good for them. So set out your best, +for they can’t cut much hole in the profits in the short time we have +to stay. The train leaves in twenty minutes, and see that every rascal +is provided with an extra bottle for the journey. And drop down this +way when you get time, as I want a couple of boxes of your best cigars +to smoke on the way. Montana has treated us well, and we want to leave +some of our coin with you.”</p> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12797 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |