New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1911-12-13
(coNr1NuED.1
/. CHAPTER VI.

(CoNTINUED.1
CHAPTER VI.
IN THE VIOLENT PAST.
sa Talking about Cavanagh wa
quite too Accordingly interest
ing to both Lee and Redfeld tt
= permit of any study of the land
scape, which went by as If dismissed
by the chariot wheels of some con
temptuous magician. Redfeld's eyes
were mostly on the road lin the man
ner of the careful auto driver), but
when he did look up it was to admire
the color and poise of his seat mate
who made the landscape of small ac
count.
She kept the conversation to the de-
sired point. "Mr. Cavanagh's work
interests me very much. 1t seems very
important. and it must be new, for
y. never heard of forest ranger when
gA was child"
1.-THE forester is new, at least in
america" he answered. my dear
young lady, you are returned just In the
most momentous period in the history
Of the west. The old dominion-the
cattle range-is passing. The suprem-
acy Of the cowboy is ended. The COW
boss is raising oats. The cowboy is
pitching alfalfa and swearing horribly
~ he blisters his hands Some of the
rangers at the moment are men Of
western training, like Ross, but whose
allegiance is now to Uncle Sam. With
others that transfer Of allegiance is not
quite complete: hence the insolence of
men like Gregg, who think they can
bribe or intimidate these forest guards
and 30 obtain favors. The newer men
arc college bred. real foresters. But
you can't know what It all means till
You see Ross or some other ranger on
his own heath. Wen make up little
party some day and drop down upon
him and have him show us about. It's
. lonely life. and 50 the ranger keeps
kepen house. Would you like to goy'
"Oh, yes. indeed. I'm eager to get
Unto the mountains. Every night as I
zee the sun 60 down over them l won
der what the world is like up there
Then he began very delicately to in
quire about her eastern experience.
There was not much to tell In love-
u old town not far from Philadelphia,
where her aunt lived. she had spent
ten years Of happy exile. Il was hor-
ribly lonely and homesick at first" she
said. Mother wrote only short let
tiers, and my father never wrote at all.
didn't know he was dead then. He
was always good to me. He wasn't a
bad man, was hep
NO." responded Redfaeld without
hesitation HE was very like the rest
Of US. only little more reckless and
little more partisan. that's all. He
was dashing horseman and n dead
shot and so naturally a leader Of
these daredevils. He was popular
with both sides of the controversy up
to the very moment when he went
south to lead the invaders against the
rustlers" 49, =
What was 1t all about? never un-
derstood 1t. What were they fighting
9boutr' S7s|
Sin 2 sense it was all very simple.
1~u tee. Uncle Sam in his careless, do
nothing way has always left his range
to the man who got there drst. That
was tn cattleman. At first there was
grass enough for ~ all. but a We
built sheds and corrals about water
Ing places We came to claim rights on
tho range. We usually secured BY
naud homesteads In the sections con-
taaning water and %. gun in hand,
stood on the man who came after.
Gradually. after much shooting and
'awinE We parceled out the range and
'ettled down. covering practically the
whole state. Our adjustments were
not perfect. but our system was work
'ng smoothly for US who controlled the
Eange. We had convinced ourselves
Ind pretty nearly everybody else that
me state was only At for cattle graz
ng and that we were the most COM
'etent grazers; furthermore, we were
n possession. and no man could come
n without our consent.
|
However, very curious law of our
'"n making was our undoing. OF !
curse the hester or 'punkin roller
1--WE contemptuously called the small
= !aer, began sitting in here and there Q
spite of our guns. but he was only a
mosquito bite in comparison with the e
rouble which our cowpunchers stirred e
p Perhaps you remember enough v
oout the business to know that an d
unbranded yearling calf without its Q
aother Is called maverick|
les; l remember that. It belongs v
the man who finds him and brands 1
i'm" .7-~ =,
precisely. Now. that law worked Il
cry nicely so long as the poor cow b
" YVES willing to catch and brand Il