Devils Lake inter-ocean and Devils Lake free press. (Devils Lake, Ramsey County, N.D.) 1905-1909, 1909-01-29
gHA,PTER i'll.

~ stretched for miles up. and down
the sweetwater valley. Bounded on
the east and west by the. foothills, the
tract was one or the garden spots Or
Arizona. Southwark lay the sweetwasl
Ner ranch, owned by lack aPayson.s
Nosthwara was the home. ranch Of the
Lazy &, an Ishmaelitish outfit, ever:
at petty war with the other settlers In
che district. It was miscellaneous
end constantly changing crowd recruit.
ed from rdstlers from Wyoming, gam.
;basrs from California, half breed out,
lava 4: from the Indian Territory I'm
short, bad men" from every section
Of the western country, as They had a.
special grudge against Allen and Pay.
son, whom they held to be accountable
for the sudden disappearance about
year before Of their leader, Buck Nc
Kee,,; a half breed from the Cherokee
strip. However, no other! leader had
arisen equal to that masterful spirit,
and their enmity expressed itself only
in such petty depredations as chang
ing brands on stray cattle from the
Bar One and Sweetwater ranches and
the Sitting Of the tongues of young
calves so that these would be, unable
to feed PROPERLY and as a result ssbe>
disowned by their mothers,s whereupon
the Lazy Z outfit would slap Its, brand
on themfas mavericks. NJ NJ
Allen twas a. Kentuckian who had
served In the Confederate army as one
Of Morgan's raiders and so had re-
ceived by popular brevet: the title Of
colonel. At the close of the war he
had come to Arizona with his young.
wife, Josephine, and had founded a
home on the Sweetwater. He was
now one OF the cattle barons of the,
great southwest. Prosperity had not
spoiled; him Careless In bis attire.
cordial In his manner.,3he was man
who was loved and respected by his
men from the newest tenderfoot to thu
veteran! Of the bunk house. His wife,
however, was not so highly regarded.
for she had never been able to recog-
nize changes In time or location and so
was in perpetual conflict with her en-
virenment. She attempted to make the
free and independent cowboys Of the
Arizona plains "stand around" like the.
house Tgervnntsa Of the Kentucky blue
grass, and she persisted in the effort
to manage her husband by the fem
inine artifice Of weeping. In the days
of her youth and beauty this had bee
very effective, but now that these had
passed it was productive only of good
humored ra:llery from him and ,mirth
from the bystanders.
mo wonder Jim has the finest ranch
in Arizony." the cowboys were wont
to say with Josephine a.irrigatin' 1t
all the time
Allen Hacienda was certainly a
garden spot in that desert country.
The building was Of the old Mexican
stylc.-~an architecture found by CEN
turtles Of experience to be suited best
to the climate and the materials Of
the land. The house was only one
story In height. The rooms and out
building sprawled over a wide expanse
Of ground. The walls were Of native
stone ad obeSclay. Over lem ciams
bered grapevines.g In = front of the
home Mrs. Allen had planted "a gar;
den. PA 'dobe wall scnt off the, house;
from the corral and the bunk house:
"A Heayy4 girder spanned the dis
lance from the low roof to the top
of tic barrier. sLatticework support
ing agrapevtnc formed, with d girder,s
gateway through which one could
catch from the piazza a view of a
second cultivated plot. Palms and
Towering cactuses added color and life
to the near prospect. Through the
arbor q glimpse of the Tortilla noun
stains. forty miles away, held the eye,
The Sweetwater, its path across the
plains outlined by the trees frfnging
Its banks, flowed past the ranch, Yuc-
4 ca palms and sahuaros threw scanty
shade over the garden. s,s. 81. T..
Shortly SSafter the arrival Of the Al
lens I'm Arizona they were blessed
with d daughter, the first white child
corn In that region. They waited for
ia Protestant clergy man to come along
before christening her, and as such
visits were few and far between the
child was eginning to talk before she
received d name, From d cunning"
habit she had Of repeating the last
words OF questions put to her her
father Professionally dubbed her Echo.
which name. when the preacher came.
he insisted upon her retaining !:
AS Echo grew older. In order that
she might have companion, Colonel
Allen went to Kentucky and brought
back with him a little orphan girl who
was ID distant relative Of his wife.
Polly Hope her name was. and Polly
Hope she Insisted on remaining, al
though the Aliens would gladly have
adopted her. ]:
Colonel Allen trained the girls 10 all
the craf of the plains just as if they
were boys. He taught them to ride
] astrtde 10 shoot, to rope cattle. They
acceliapanied him everywhere he went,
cantering On broncfios by the side of
his Kentueky thorough bred d Merry,
dark eyed, black haired Echo always
rode npon The on side and Ssaucy Polly,
with golden curls blue eyes and tip
2gs S<+nx ~