Fergus County Democrat., 1915-01-14

tables of capital at the other end. AS
the season was growing late, we did
not stop long to put red paint on the
then "cow Billings-but hur- |!
ried back in order that we might load
another herd before the equinoctial.
But, Doc, you may believe it or not, |
they turned Rock and Rye over to us
again, having picked them up in their
old haunts near the Missouri-but we
lost them again in much the same way.
but this time not on my guard; they
got away earlier in the night during
the watch Of Bob Levens, now mayor
of Billings And so it happened for
several years that unsuccessful at
tempts were made to bring those part
ners of the range to their doom. But
years dimmed their sight and slowed
their pace, and finally Rappel brothers
earned commission for selling them
to Swift & Co.
So these two had wandered from
, calfhood to maturity, and in the sum-
mer must have had a good time, for
they picked range where the grass was
plenty and the water was good But
in winter-how then? You know, Doc,
cattle of their class were never fed,
!
puncher, must have seen some hard
times. Often at night under the shell
ter of a friendly cutbank, they heard
the howl of the blizzard singing a song
of starvation. And how often they
must have seen each other get thinner
while eating sagebrush and willows
and snow when the grass was all COW
cred and the water holes all frozen!
f,,1 l,
been when the friendly chinook solved
for them, and in their favor, the prob
lem of life or death.
/ A Few of the Old Guard.
Rock and Rye are probably forgot
ten by most OF those on that roundup,
but to me they have always been a
study-or probably ! should not say
forgotten by most Of them, because
now it occurs to me that many of the
boys have crossed the Great Divide.
Many of them had then grown old in
the saddle was the "kid" of the
bunch. Some died with their boots on,
, others made their exit in the usual
, quiet and serene manner. However,
there are a few of us left-nOne are in
Jail, and none are in the saddle. Some
are trying to make it go" on dry
land farm; some are clinging to their
old friend, the horse, by running livery
: barns; others have been, and still are
in the sheriff's office, an honor to
? which all cOwpunchers aspire, and
: from which class the best of sheriffs
are made. The place where Buffalo
corral stood is now thriving com
} munity under the Winnett irrigation
2 project, and the rest of the range over
t which we worked, instead of having q
/ few isolated COW camps, is now great
l settled community of prosperous and
J, thriving dry-land farmers and in that
2 land once ruled by the broncho anC
e the cowboy, now we have the reign OF
Q the plow horse and the school ma am
S Farewell, old range, you are no more
e You have swiftly yielded to the bind
= er's roar.
:. Your sunny slopes with grass once
q dented
Are fields of grain by the farmer plant
9 ed;
Il Where the Indian and the buffalo uset
v to roam
e We find some dry-land farmers home
$ Where the sun-tanned puncher will
q his brand
+ Used to follow the herds to increase
n his band
d Where the old freighter, in his rougl
q way,
: Skinned along some twenty miles
Il day,
Where patches of sagebrush covered
the ground,
I Now we find dry-land farmers town
n And even though these changes il
n vocation and industry have come t.
d pass, and man in his arrogance still
l. claims the Spirit Land only for him
h self, yet who can say that there ma
g not be found at this moment, roamin
O. side by side, an eternal continuation
q of the friendship of Rock and Rye,