, 1884-03-28
A A STEERS KICK,
IL besets a Profound Pathological and
Philosophical Discussions Among
Cattle Men.

He kicked like a bay steer" said a
member of the Colorado Cattle Growers
association recently, in connection with an
anecdote he was relating. The expression
Is a common enough one, and has been in
use a number of years, but why a bay
steer should be the peerless kicker among
animals, was a question of sufficient gray
lty to the reporters mind to induce him
to question a few of the number of cattle
men assembled in the rooms in regard to.
it. The majority remained silent when
the interrogation was launched at them,
and an atmosphere of thought took pos
session of the room.
'In frankly confess that I don know"
said Mr.. s. H. STANDARD, president of the
executive committee, Il never thought
of it before"
"Why," said N. ]. Dillon, who ever
saw a bay steer? There are none in Cole
RADIO, but it is reported that there are a
few in the FIJI Islands herd, that are
noted for their strength of limb, particu-
larry of the hind legs, Some most as
founding stories have been told of the
force with which they can kick, the ex-
ploits of a Georgia plantation mule being
insignificant when compared with their
feats. That's probably how the saying
originated"
Il don't know anything about bay
steers" chimed in Mr.. Fine P. Ernest,
the acknowledged humorist of the a~ssocia-
ton, but 1 can tell you something of
bunko steers, i you want it" Mr.. Err
nests experience with a Denver conf
dence man, and the discomforture of the
%swindlcr, are matters to be found detailed
in the associations archives.
That won't do" remarked Secretary
L. R. Tucker. ''The bunko steers are
not the ones who kick generally. The
other fellows do that" A deep silence
then fell upon the whole assemblage, and
Assistant Secretary Ed. Wetzel, aston
ished at the strange quiet, walked into the
midst of the cogitators, a pen behind his
ear and a volume of cattle statistics in his
hand. Il think l can explain the origin
of that expression, said he, when the
matter under consideration was explained
to him. When l first heard the saying
1t struck me as unique and of possible in
teresting derivation, and 1 began to look
it up. I examined Webster, several ency-
clopedias, Darwin, Rabelais, and all the
files of stock papers that l could find, but
got nothing from them. Then | thought
it out myself. The adjective bay in
the expression, 1 finally concluded, was
originally the participle of the verb to
bay. This would make the express
sion, He kicks like a baycd steer; that
is, like a steer at bay. You all know"
continued Mr.. Wetzel, as he waxed warm
in unfolding his pathological theory, that
when you snub a steer up to n post to
brand him, or get him into a chute, that
he kicks and uses hoofs and horns to get
free in a am which is entirely foreign
to the ordinarily gentle nature of the ami
NAL The f%erocity of a steer under such
circumstances-when at bay-is remarka-
bic enough to have caused someone a long
time ago, who had observed this, to smile
some instance of vigorous objection by the
case of the steer at bay, saying, He
kicks like a bayed steer The idea was a
taking one, and the quaint comparison
became part of the current vernacular, but
the saying, after long use, became cor
rupted to, He kicks like a bay steer
There's my xplanation. Don't you think
it is the correct one?"
I'VE do responded the stockmen,
unanimously, and Mr.. Wetzel returned to
his books beaming with satisfaction.