New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-03-12
OF JACK son.
AN ARIZONA STORY.

From The Argonaut.
81 tell you. fellows, faint no fun to swim a
bunch Of steers when the water is as coid as 1t
is now"
The speaker was a short. thck-set COWBOY
whose fiery red hair had gained for nm the
sohrquet Of colorado" the Mexican name tor
J. which was frequently shortened u C"'!
among The "punchers.
Colorado who was carefully rolling a cigar
cite glanced around the circle or listeners AS II
challenging some one to contradict him me
baianre Of the bows evidently agreed with him.
for no one said a word except the kid, ana
he after taking his pipe from his lips and care
fully knocking out the ashes on the heel OF MS
boot said -.
lever have any 'sperience at it. Colly?'
Colorado by this time had finished rolling his
cigarette and was waiting for the COOK POT
hook which he had thrust into the camp hre
to get red hot to light it. Having done this' ana
taking a few preliminary puffs, he answered
yes. hev'. and mighty tough one 1T was
too"
"reu us about II. Colorado" said the cook
.'Vhar was it, an how did II happen|
yes CoIly les hear the story, chimed In
the Kid.
II was Just the time for story. We had
come down to the railroad with ounch OF
"hash-knfe" steers, and found the Littie Coi1
RADIO River which ran between us and the rn-
road swollen to a mighty torrent by the rams
in the mountains We had waited four DAYS
for it to go down. hut it seemed rather to rise a
little each day. As the feed was poor ana we
had lots Of work to do. the boss was IN hurry
TO get them shipped and Of his hands ana so
had lust announced that at daylight the next
morning he meant to try TO SWIM the heIu
across 1t was late in November ana 'he
weather was snaTpy cold. OVercoats ana htaH
clotboe ,yere an absolute necessity in the night
on guard around the herd and the dea OF Soihs
into the cold water was not pleasant one
But the cow puncher is rnuch IKE tiie sHIlo, III
that he never stops to think OF getting wet OF
cold or going into any danger so long as the
boss himself will lead the way so we were all
prepared 10 get a soaking the next day.
Tho MI. Mt
tween sunset and dark The herd was bedded
down near camp. and the first guard were MAN man.
ing their rounds with never steer 10 urn
hack The balance Of us were lying apou' lne
camn- fire smoking and talking "hoss, SUD
ject which is never worn threadhare III a COW
camp Colorado who had been idly marking
ont brands in the sand In front OF him with the
end OF his finger. said: well, boys, tam Mucn
Of a story but ef you want To- hear II, II tel
you now it was. Dick, gimme "A hte OF your
navy" and having slowed away "a huse chunk
Of Dicks navy, Colly settled pa'h Oh ''ic
ground and began: =.
II was workin' fer the Diamond outht up IN
Utah bout three years ago an the oid man ne
come OF down here into Arizona an poushl
Lunch of steers To take up thar. He had writ
ten his wagon-boSs to come down with an out
fit big enough to handle two thousand head' an
We struck the Little Colorado kNer pout uc
month Of the Canyon Dable Wash, where we
was to receive the herd long in June. we
DIDN'T have no particklor hap'nin's comm do" n,
and we got the herd turned over an rsht an
"A squeeze
fore we started back SO as If any got lost the
outfit could claim 'em on the brand; an about
the last Of June pushed EN- OIL the pea
ground one moTin' bout daylight an puAeu
our freight for the home ranch. $3.50 .
''The cattle were all good to handle an dldh [
give us 10 trouble to hold nights, bdrrih one or
two little stampedes. an We drlited on uoWn
toward I,cc's Ferry without any mishapS, ceptIfl
one night il were a-rainin like all possessed
N I wakes up a Teller named Peck to go on
guard Peck got up an put on MS SI,'hr .
7alkcd over to where his pony was u'd an
,,ountcd We was campcd on the banks OF a
v.asb called Cotton wood Greek an along there
The wash had cut down into the o. 'e nat some
ten or fifteen feet deep. Peek ~ > pout nan
as.eep. an gets of wrong Tor the nero an
rides straight up to the edge Of the creek think
In, al the time he's a-goin' out on the prarc To
the herd His pony sort q baked on nm an
give a snort but Peck. hcin a cross -gralh'd S"i'
OF cuss an only half awake. just "dth'u nun
with his quir and jabbcd his spurs INTO MN
The uonv give q Jump an landed IN the riGdIe
OF the creek. with six or eight icet oil muddy
water ruunin' In IT, Lord. didn't he wake W
suddcn-like an squat fpr help, We all turned
ont in a hurry but be- swan across. an the OPP
nosite side hcn' sort Of slopin' like. the pony
scrambled out Then Peck was aieerd 10 cross
back il the dark. an stayed over thar All nISht
a-sbiVcrin an a-shakin' an a-cursin Xix" a
crazy man When We got w for breakfast that
mornin' at ( O'Clock il was clear an cold an
dark The cook he goes down to the creek an
hOllers 10 Peel. sogt Il sarcastic-hkc. cone 10
breakfast Peck an Peck he gets mad an
swears at the cocincro pretty plenty. an said
ef ne didn't & back he'd turn loose on him with
his six shooter an the cook hcin pretty roll
ncky hisself. n goes back to the wagon an
pulls his Winchester an starts fer the creek
agin when jackson stops him an turns him
back when IT come daylight Peck went down
the creek a mile an finds a place to cross whar
II wa mt 80 deep. and gifts back 10 camp jist
we pullin' out
THE Big Colorado were a powerful stream
when we reached ii, ben ali swollen by the