The Washington herald., 1913-06-22

had thinned out the bobcats and coyotes
more chickens.
The ranch house stood on the brink
of a low bluff overlooking the broad
shallow bed of the Little Missouri
through which at most seasons thers
ran only a tickle OF water. while II
times Of freshet It was filled brimfu
with the boiling, foaming. muddy tor
rent. There was no neighbor for ten OF
fifteen miles on either side OF me. The
river twisted down In long curves be-
tween narrow bottoms bordered by sheei
cliff walls, for the Bad Lands. chaoi
of peaks, plateaus, and ridges. rose
abruptly from the edges OF the leve
tree-clad or grassy alluvial meadows. In
front of the ranch house veranda wal
a row of cottonwood trees with gray.
green leaves which auivered all day
long II there was a breath Of air. From
these trees came the far-away. melan.
choly cooling of mourning doves, AND
little owls perched In them and called
TREMENDOUSLY at night.
In the long summer afternoons we
would sometimes sit on the piazza, when
there was no work to be done, for an
hour or two at a time, watching the
cattle on the sand bars, and the sharply
channeled and strangely carved amphi.
theater Of cliffs across the bottom oppo-
site: while the vultures wheeled over.
head, their black shadows gliding across
the glaring white Of the dry riverbed
and once when we needed meat I shot
one across the river as 1 stood on the
piazza.
In the winter. in the days Of iron cold,
when everything was white under the
snow, the river lay in its bed fixed and
immovable as a bar of bent steel. and
then at night wolves and lynxes travelled
I'D and down 1t as IL 1t had been q high
way passing In front Of the ranch house.
Often in the late fall or early winter,
after a hard days hunting, or when re-
turning from one o. the winter line
camps, We did not reach the ranch until
hours after sunset: and after the weary
tramping in the cold II was keen pleasure
to catch the first red CLEAN Of the fre-lit
windows across the snowy wastes.
"Benverine."
The Elkhorn ranch house was built
mainly by Sewall and Dow. who, like
most men from the Maine woods. were
mighty with the ak. I could chop fairly
well for an amateur. but I could not do
one-third the work they could. One day
when we were cutting down the cotton
wood trees. TO begin our building opera
tons, heard some one ask Dow what
the total cut had been, and Dow, not
realizing that / was within hearing.
answered: Well, Bill cut down nifty
three, cut forty-nine. and the boss he
beavered down seventeen" Those who
have seen the stump of a tree which has
been gnawed down by a beaver will un-
derstand the exact force of the compari-
son.
In those days on a COW ranch the men
were apt TO be away on the various
round-ups at least half the time. It was
interesting and exciting work. and except
for the lack Of sleep on the spring and
summer round-ups 1t was not exhausting
work: compared to numbering or mining
or blacksmithing. to sit in the saddle IS
an easy form OF labor. The ponies were
Of course CRASHED and unshod Each
man had his own string OF nine or ten.
One pony would be used for the morning
work. one for the afternoon, and neither
would again be used for the next three
days. separate pony was kept for night
riding.
The Roundup.
The spring and early summer round
ups were especially for the branding OF
calves. There was much hard work and
some risk on a roundup, but also much
fun. The meeting place was appointed
weeks beforehand. and all the ranchmen
Of the territory to be covered by the
roundup sent their representatives. There
were no fences In the West that knew.
and their place was taken by the cow
boy and the branding iron.
The cattle wandered free. Each calf
was branded with the brand of the COW
It was following. Sometimes in winter
has NJ 1Ad linz I'M
that is. camps were established and the
line riders travelled a definite beat ACROSS
the desolate wastes OF snow. to and fro
from one camp 10 another. to prevent the
cattle from drifting. But as a rule moth
ing was done to keep the cattle in any
one place.
In the spring there was a general