Fergus County Democrat., 1915-01-14

which education naO Deon acquired
from lessons taught by Dame Nature. /
They could tell the time of day and
night by the sun and stars; they could
tell when a storm was coming and
when it was going to break, by the in i
stinct in their own bodies and minds
and by the acts of the horses and cat /,
tie, and their judgment as to whether
it was going to be dry summer or a
hard winter was usually good. In fact.
Nature spoke to them in all her vari
Gus languages.
A Great Roundup.
The time of which speak was the
year that Mcnamara & NARROW bought
the Circle Bar from the English syndi-
cate. So numerous were the COW out
fits at the time that on one circle at
the junction of several ranges, known
as the Buffalo corral, more than hun
dred cowboys made a roundup COM
posed of men from all the leading out
fits of central Montana. The princi-
pal brands they represented were the
Y, the Bar, the RI, the Horseshoe
Bar, the Circle C, and others too nu-
merous to mention. To illustrate the
size OF the roundup that day it is ap-
propriate to say that the state associa-
ton got returns from fOrty-one NAV
ericks branded at the Buffalo corral.
You say that you are not familiar
with the brute creation, but, Doc, as
sumo that you, like the poet Burns,
can see in every living thing a fellow
mortal. And this is especially true OF
the brute creation, for | have many
times noticed elements of their nature
characteristic of the higher animal
called man. Love and hatred, gen.
erosity and selfishness, jealousy, fear
and courage are sometimes as much
! In evidence in the lower animals as in
the higher.
Steers Who Were Pals.
And SO there came to my notice
these many moons ago brotherly love
between two steers, whose affection
and care, each for the other, is seldom
equalled except Nmong men and WOm-
en-.
Rock and Rye--for these were the
names Tom Shaw, the foreman of the
Two-Bar outfit gave them-tirst saw a
Montana sunrise on squatter's claim
in the lower Musselshell country, and
there they lived and grew until almost
ready ior market. But God had des
tined that their fate should be some.
what different from the average Mon
tana steer, for, at the age of three
they were sold to bullwhacker trans
porting freight by OK teams from
Junction, on the Yellowstone, to Fort
Maginnis, and in that team the two
steers speak of worked till the price
of horses went down and the price OF
beef went up. Then they were turned
upon the range for lite OF freedom
among the sagebrush and buffalo grass
in order that they might put on the
necessary flesh to be salable over the
butchers block. That fall they were
J picked up by the roundup in the brakes
| of the Missouri, fifty miles or more
from their place of release. They were
ranging and feeding alone, perfectly
contented in each others company
and absolutely disregarding all the
rest of COW society
The beef herd that fall, as usual, wa:
, in charge of the best and most careful
: cowboys of the outfit, whose sole dut,
was to see that the herd did not LOSE
any of it's weight and quality by it
journey over the range to Billings, thu
shipping point; and it was then tha
; IlcSe COII Vi Illc IL
: showing such marked friendship ant
brotherly love for each other, became
2 study to every man in the outfit
except the cook, who never permitte'
himself to study about anything.
A Remarkable Pair.
1 Sometimes while watering the herd
: Rock would lose sight of Rye, and the
S the big steer would suddenly show a
l amount of nervous energy that woul
f do credit to the best "rustler" Nor
n tana ever knew. He would rus
' through the herd, pushing other steer
1 aside, and call and below until re
l. sponse from Rye united them one
+ more. When they had eaten buffal
: grass to their hearts content, glanc
or low moo" from one to the Othe
; would indicate that it was time fO
them to select some secluded spot, Ii
down together and quietly chew thei
cuds.
| AS sometimes happens, a stamped
would occur, and then Rock and Ry
would take advantage of their earl
training and not run far-they woul
Immediately attempt to get out of til
herd and reach free and neutral sol
and there would watch the stamped
with the calmness of a present-day d.
! livery horse watching the passing {
an automobile. So great was the
love for each other that on one O.
casion a horse and rider were knOcke
down by one of the steers, a bonus I
new "Stetson' having been offere
: by the foreman to any puncher WI
= could separate them single-handed.
Get Respite.
Ofttimes at night while standing IL
\ regular guard and listening to the "a
7 tempted" lullaby of my partner acro'
- the herd, have seen those two steel
lying side by side in the moonligf
seemingly as comfortable as two ch
" dren tucked snugly in bed togethe
while across the prairie l could he;
a. the wailing note of the coyote-th
w outcast of the range-mingled with tt
ringing OF the horse bells in the her
0. One night, thinking that all was we
l took my back track to meet my pal
ner and get "the makin's." My pal
. ner and rested and smoked togeth
n until time to wake the next relief, al
as he galloped on to camp to wake tt
boys for last guard, rode around Il
~ herd-which was conspicuous by tt