Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1897-12-16
SIMPSONS Ranch.

,rncherS IlIa' -. :,
p ,toment In private life ne was once
s'"se XIV Mr. Smith or Mr.. Jones, bur
po0D n,rst have been in days which
tn" nrehistoric as far as his fellows
S', ~ cattle country were concerned.
IL t ham he was, and had always been.
d ~ [[ Sam; and old Bill Kensett,
D'o the divide, whose age was be-
u" p,d mortal ken, and who was stall
lO man when he trapped with RuS-
We. @aI and traded with st. Vrain, was Oh
..nord as saving that he allowed that
Ivan thet thar youngster come from
W.. Gates he hedn't no other name
tou proncho Sam" That settled it.
"Tbet thar youngster" was a rela-
Avn certainly not a positive, charac-
. w." for Broncho Sam was a
ro+oran and he looked it as he sat
IN rude bench, outside the ruder
no cabin. and facing the west. To an
rootorn eve his surroundings were the
domination of desolation. The cabin
stood in narrow valley, near the bed,
almost drv, of what might be stream.
n the gray banks inclosing it a few
,tnntpd and distorted cedars were pre-
c.riouslv clinging, and at distance
tboro we're some patches Of sage
brush. AS unwise, indeed, were be
who should look at these things to
tbe exclusion of distant ones, as he
vho should curiously inspect the squa-
Id streets of Naples when by lifting
his ewes he could see across the beau
tfuI bay to the grand silhouette OF
Vpsuvius, with Sorrento and Capri.in
the distance. Here, above the barren
outlines of grim canons, above the
snarselv wooded foothills, above the
Jagged outlying peaks, rose in its SIM
pie majesty the great range. Across
the exquisite blue sky overhead drifted
clouds as white as the driven snow,
and light and fleecy as those under
which once lay the Isles of the Blest.
It was near sunset, after the radiance
of an autumn day, and the air was de-
liciOusly clear, cool and bracing.
Broncho Sam was not looking at the
mountain or sky, but at gun which
he was cleaning. His companion, 4
younger man and evidently a disciple,
had been watching his skillful manip-
ulation, and listening to the words of
wisdom which fell from his lips, for a
famed ranch manager was this same
Broncho Sam; and fortunate were his
employers far away in ''the States,
whose interests were intrusted to his
faithful care
Then came voice through the open
door-a fresh, youthful, ringing voice:
Just you wait a minute, Sam, and
I'll come out and argue the point with
you. have not an idea what you are
talking about, but 1 say there is some
sense in it; and what is it all about,
anyway?"
Sam uttered an unintelligible grunt.
It could not have one of entire dissat-
Efactlon, for something like a smile
showed itself on his rugged features,
and was plainly visible as he looked up
and saw Jack Reynolds standing in
Inc doorway, A handsome young fell
low he was, and general favorite in
all the region for fifty miles round.
Ever since he came out from Chicago
whence the doctor sent him after a
lung lllness-he had added as steadily
u MS list of friends as to the hardness
VI MS muscles, the color in his cheeks,
anu the figure at which he turned the
Scale
bame me if he don't jest lay over
AlE tenderfoot ever see," said Brou-
'lo Sam, one day, as he stood in an
~llIFlng crowd at the bar of the Ar
vSue saloon in Pueblo. Gimme a
SHOW and I'll make him a first-class
'"uvn nand IN year or two"
lie amt no SLOUGH of a ranchman
aOS' accordin' to my idee," said rash
Newcomer
o"ll looked at him with an undis-
susea contempt, clearly shared by the
b Islanders. Perhaps he is, an per-
apS lie amt said he. II allow you
sN'eF Know better'n I. Yes, Jim,
W. may gimme another one of the
same sort"
n, '"vA 1t may easily be believed, was
b;n SouI OF the ranch. He interested
c,a !sen IN the operations, and made a
INV ''apie figure at the first ''round
n, he could soon ride the worst OF
law. oueklng" horses, and throw a
r r,Sl with many an older man. He
md Nd DIT Of a dandy too, in his way,
nsu Nov ula not disdain a gilt cord with
An well 'assels around the crown OF
Ioo, sApeNslve sombrero, gay necktie
,fSr a y! knotted and lying snugly under
Ai,. lung collar Of his gray flannel
Of ar Ut a pair of long riding boots
hoa,, 'p'lonal make. All this finery,
Than ~, was reserved for other places
than ~ NE ranch, and other occasions
cyni.o ,ue days passed there. The most
II cn;a! OF "old-timers" found nothing
h. ro ,s'lse IN his display thereof when
bipsdsN 9 INTO Pueblo for a day of COM
vsr BUSINESS I1hes and pleasure; and, i'll
sbo% w. tney felt local pride in one
peter ooold hold certificate of COM
B,onot. from such a Sir Hubert AS
Be- nv \. Sam. and at the same time