The Marshall republican., 1907-08-30
The Sheep Dog
Of the West.

by Mrs.. Alice p. Bishop.

RVORt0 w tnVht Oto tnItnSt
on laid out roads aud with their fenc-
cd pastures, can hardly realize what
On important factor the shepherd dog
has been In the development OF the
Western states, where many men,
starting on their forty dollars per
month salaries ss herders, have built
up fortunes ranging ell the way from
modest living 70 the ownership Of
immense tracts Of land, upon which
are feeding their own herds worth
tens ssd hundreds Of thousands Of
dollars.
Nearly every u Of these men
would tell you, II you asked him, ~
could not have begun, gone or or ac-
complished this had II not been for
the faithfulness Of those best dumb
friends 10 NANNY dogs"
One Of the Oldest and most success.
full sheep men Of the West told his
story Substantially as follows:
81 came out west and hired u AZ
. herder. A cattle man gave me q
female shepherd pup and I invested
five dollars in another promising pup
aud took both OF them with me. and
found them very easily trained with
the help Of my employers already
trained dogs. or all animals II seems
ss II the shepherd dog understands
quickest what 10 expected Of him, and
In " or three years he can almost
tslk-in fact he does talk 70 his q
Ter and the herd with every wag Of
bis tail, every curve OF his body,
every separate sound Of bis bark.
Almost oil herders love their dogs,
aud are skilled in dog language; uu-
Outstanding perfectly nearly every
thing their dogs try TO tell them.
III saved my money for two years
and then bought q small band Of
sheep and q secondhand camp outfit
consisting Of . lumber wagon, cover.
cd with canvas, and q team 10 the
wagon vas stored my hou sekeeping
utensils and provisions TO last for
three month. AZ soon rs the o
was we'll on the mountains, I took my
two dogs, my loaded wagon, aud my
sheep up 10 . high good range and
stsid there, occasionally moving 10 .
better range until snow came again.
Except for = few calls from passing
herders, I had no other company
during ell these months than that Of
my faithful Fido and Bees.
"Mspy hsrdsrs 20 crazy from this
isolation aad In one such case, where
the herdsr had wandered OF, the dogs
watched aud guarded the sheep by
day and gathered them IN every night
until the owner of the herd oAme and
discovered what he owed 70 tho . ~
dogs OF the insane hsrdsr.
II did not feel afraid Of i0sing my
MUD for I famed my hopefui spirits
BY thinking VI the good time coming
whom I should be Independent, and
my dogs seemed 70 understand me ~
told them over and " Of my
plans when my fortune had been
made. Of going bsck east for Susie;
Of tbs house l wss going to build; OF
the old fashioned posiss, hollyhocks,
cabbage roses. which should grow by
our own cottage door. % my eyes
revealed again and sgsin the scenes
/. Of ny childhood; about my old fssh'
Toned mothsr's home. In the back
yard, In my castle building, l always
build . taStsful dog house, where Fido
and Bees, grown old, could finish
their dsys In pssos and plenty,
"Whsn snow came We started TO-
wsrd civ ilisation, with our outdt, and
- the dogs and the sheep knew each
other 80 we'll the former were worth
more to me than any number OF
strange men--and oil their work was
done for no other return than my ~.
provsl.
"At night Fido and Bees would dnd
ell the sheep aud bring, them close TO.
gethsr around the wagon and ! could
20 70 sleep with 10 fear that would
not bs warned II ahungry coyote
came too near. / kept my gun loaded
already TO Ore 90 that In, . these
shsskipg, wolfish creatures we're too
bold, ! could Ore II on and scare
them away.
ssWhen we reached the valley We
cAmpsd 10 the sage brush through
the winter, and the dogs watched and
tended the sheep while / vas making
my short trlps for hay end supplies.
" had gone into this basipsss 70
via end he that by the pillow would
s9rivs. himsslf must either hold OF
drive, was ms motto, and I did the
holdi1g while that second self Of The
hsrdsmAn, The shepherd dogs, did the
LL A -.