Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-06-13
edge did he kill one that did not de.

serve II.
] Cox's bestowed amusement was
gambling, and at all sorts of games he
owned skill and refinement Of art
that suggested graduation under the
training of more than one high priest
of the temples Of chance, an adroit
ness that kept him flush of cash as OF
ten as opportunity for play offered
Peach, also, was an inveterate gam
bier, but his money was usually such
an easy gift to whomsoever he went
against that 1t kept Cox working over
time to keep him staked.
However, wild, unruly, and desper,
ately reckless as the pair were 1t Is
only truth to record that when I met
them they were engaged In none but
honest employment, for their business
was that Of breaking wild horses on
contract, taking their pay in kind, and
driving to Stockton or to the mining
camps. and there selling their share.
Early in our association they found
was disinclined to engage in the
mad, drunken orgies that they invarl-
ably plunged into as soon as newly
earned bunch of horses was sold.
They also soon realized that they were
! IlOL lily IldlCu uI dily SOlS VI Gun Pio'
except snap shooting.
From these two conditions it re-
suited that they soon took me in as
! full third partner in their trade Of
horse breaking. and made me custo-
dian of all our joint funds. And it
was precisely that same job Of trea-
surer that proved one Of the hardest
l ever tried to hold down, the job of
all overhead should have been glad
dest to lose.
For trying to conserve the funds Of
that pair, by all kinds of strategy to
, break them loose from their de-
| bauches and get them back to work,
kept me nearer deaths door for long.
er and more frequent periods than
any of the many treasure-guarding
jobs that since have come my way.
But always In our open range
camps, while busy on our bronco
breaking contracts or on the drives
of our own horses to market, they
were kindness itself to me, and did
their best to train me as an expert
bronco buster and all-round vaquero.
Indeed l believe it was they who in
,, vented the buck strap" "a narrow
strap riveted to the leather housing
of the saddle just below and on the OH
side of the base of the horn) for my
benefit, device later universally used
by all riders of the wild buckets ex-
cept the few past masters to whom
leather pulling" any form of hand
hold other than on the bride reins.
was disgrace. .'.
And while ultimately became lot
better than an average good rider,
even with the help of the buck
strap" was never near equaling their
free handed saddle work.
Thus employed, many months slip
ped quickly away, weeks of the hard
est kind of battling with the broncos.
succeeded by few days in one mar
ket town or another. These latter
days were one long debauch for my
mates. when l avoided as much as
possible. except when they were at
their worst, when I stayed by to try
to restrain them, for myself never
! loved P needless broil. - ?.
! During this period they contrived
F., to pull off something more than half
Ia dozen killings, but always OF Mex1-
cans and under circumstances that
brought them no serious trouble from
the authorities.
The holidays of 1S5S-1S59 found us
down in Red Bluffs. strong in cash
from the proceeds of good contract
just then finished There we heard
that the great mid-winter fiesta was
then on in the Mexican COW town OF
Talama, twelve miles down the river.
This fair emptied the ranches for
miles around Of their 1.-the, brown
lasses. mantillaed or rebozoed,> accord
ing to their station, and of bespangled,
dour-visaged dons and vaqueros, for
all of whom this annual fiesta was the
great event Of their lives.
And big event indeed 1t was. the
plaza thronged from dawn until far
past midnight with jostling throng
alight with the brilliant hues OF
serapes and rebozos, and blazing with
the silver and gold decked costumes
of the men. They were forever gam
bling. crowding about the bronco-r1d-
ing contests in the bull-ring, or lined
thick along the race course.
Scattered among these hundreds of
score Americans. Bearded. heavy
,, native Californians were always few
booted miners; skin-clad, leather.
faced trappers from the Sierras:
, ranchers, cowboys, and broncho-rid-
ers. these latter outgauding even the
natives. with bridle-bits and spuds in
laid with silver. sombreros and STIR
rup-leathers embroidered with silver
or gold, pistol-butts set with twenty
dollar gold pieces-every last man
jack of the gringos more or less heav-
lily and gaudily armed. For the bitter
est enmity was constantly burning be-
tween the natives and the intruders;
and while the former were still chief
ly armed only with their traditional
riatas and knives, their majority was
so heavy that the latter would have
been up against hopeless odds with
out their artillery.
Knowing this show was sure to
spell trouble of some sort, tried my
best to get my mates to stay away
from it, but to no purpose. The best
I could do was to win their promise
to side-step all drink for that week
! and to keep away from the fiesta un-
til it's last day, when its seven days
| of mixed thrills were to be topped
NV hattie betWeen a nine-hundred