Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1888-10-16
A Journey into the Desert.

Ehi5r, oftAs Off0ri Dsnocrdi:
A few days ago our ,sn'yesf-old 500
wsllie. grandson Of Geo. w. Grover Of
Bethel. Maine. who /. nov nine,y years
Of age. bad an iau,.,ion TO 10 ou, TO {.
sheep ranch With Guy wsleh. boy Of
nine. TO carry supple. Of food 20 the
hsrdsr. l, would have been . de.ol.ie
ride for one boy al alone IN ki, little ,-O.
wheeled cart. drawn by the queer long
cared. .lo~-goins MsIie.n bgrro.
viyidly recall the lonesome country
they hsd TO pas. ihroash. mostly tree.
le.. outside Of iris.,ion limits. rosmed
over by horse. and cattle. .nd inhabited
by r.,,lsr.. .kunk', squirrels. snisloPe.,
wolves. prairie dos., Salts aud badgers.
Ia the year Of grace 1850 ". oa, Ia
ihA, ooua,Iy and beyond /. "uaiied
State. Cen.a, Enumeration" and fe.
member riding hard al ,iI dollar, per
day. aud absolutely ,.kins the census Of
one cowboy Ia aboa, two days, time.
tie ". from Ns- Yoik. and be va, all
alone 10 li,ils hillside COW camp and be
-. glad TO see me. Coz he ~s' lonesome
(.nd 90 W. This i' part Of the
GreA, American Dsser, We used TO read
.bou, in our Biographies, bu, in spite Of
iu look. !, i. sicellsn, .oil when proper.
ly irrigated. Ia year. Of abundant, rain
the .vee, buffalo gra. become. reason.
ably r.hk. and bears seed. Sometime. 10
a. sI,r. season one might ca, from 1000
TO 1900 pound, eIesllsn, grass TO the
acre.
Oai ia one Of these wilderness. place.
our neishbor. Wsleh. bad pitched hi.
camp, which was /. little bi, Of +. hut fof
the shelter Of the herdsr. aud avery large
yard or corral for the holding Of the
sheep a, nishi. And here a, ,hi. lonely
camp the shepherd. with donkey Aad
trained Scotch shepherd dos. make. hi'
bead quarter, for monih. and mon,h..
watching the sheep by day and dOing
hi. own cooking. Of,sn many day. pas.
and be sees no human being. The work
i. 90 lonely ard mono,onou' that fs-
men like 10 engage Ia IL, snd Il has often
been remarked that sheep herdsr. ate
very likely indeed TO become insane.
We ATE accustomed 20 surround the
"Shsphsri. who watched their hoek. by
night ia Jadsa with . deal Of interest
and romance. But tie lonely Colorado
sheep hsrder, with hi. 1000 sheep. more
OF less. is 40, snvied TO any great .I,snt
And a. there ". strife between the COW.
boys Of Lo, and Abraham. 90 to-day
there |. strife between the cowboy prop
er and the less aris,ocra,ie shepherd.
| have heard the COW boy tell of hi. dis
gus, Ii coming TO . sheep camp, with it'
dog kennel Of hut. only TO fad no room
for himself and hi. dozen companions,
and no .,abling for the horses and only
grub enough on the whole place TO feed
,he p.,ien, little Mexican shepherd for a
couple Of days.
When wellie returned questioned
him minu,,ly aboa, bis trip. and little
by little learned Of the hsrdships and
priya,ion. Of the sheep herder. AL the
long. ho, Angus, afternoon the donkey
ksp, up his slow jog ,rO,. Presently
wsllie saw something looming up abou,
four miles away. Sometimes IL looked
very tall and again very low. IS is often
the case In the lish, air Of Colorado. I,
was =, the sheep camp. Upon drawing
quite near !, proved TO be the herder'
scare ,rOf. pu, up 10 keep the prowler'
from Jumping into the corral At night
aud killing the sheep. l, consisted OF Z
long pole dressed up In pair Of overall'
and capped with brish, tomato can.
A pretty spring bubbled on, from un.
der the bluff. aud made . pool from
which the aoek nigh, drink. No, fs'
away Was the corral. made Of panels o.
fence tied together and easily taken dowr
and removed. The $500 sheep and
twenty.fv goats were scattered over and
whitening two adjseen, hillocks. NJ
man OF dog Was Ia sight.
"whsre Is the shan,y." ?" wellie ask
e.. Guy picked up pebble and ,hre~
1t at . slight structure made half unde
ground, saying There IL Is"
Instantly = door opened aud out pop
ped Joe. an American Who had ls,sl.
taken the place Of the little Mexiesn
He va. followed by the Collie shepherC
dog. and il would have been hard to So,
which va. most pleased =, the arrival
the dog or the hunter Up In the car
bounded the dog, tapping Guys face. an
trying to talk. while Joe shouted "whs
have you brought me 2" "0!" said Gu.
"sOme bacon. coffee, potatoes, and -four.
Then they oil went in and continued th
preparations for supper. Joe filed ,h
coffee pO, from the spring. and then raj
out, and. milking . goat, poured the twl
gills Of milk into the boiled coffee. II
also fried some bacon. which he psrsists