Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1923-09-20

off they bolted like mad. Some oil
US we're nearly trampled to death In
trying TO corral them-oh, yes, COW.
boys do sometimes get trampled to
death when a herd stampedes. The
cattle at the rear simply bowl over
the others in front of them when
they try to stop, so that the leaders
themselves sometimes get killed, as
we'll as anybody who happens to get
in the way"
did any Indians use to steal your
cattle during those terribly long
journeys through wild country"
asked.
"Of course they did. We always
had to have u guns ready for quick
action. And the. cattle stealing Ind
ians usually got quick action from
our bunch. Our boys had a sort of
code of honor that IL was up TO them
to kill as many attacking Indians as
Indians killed of our cattle. 1t was
a case of getting them before they
got you. When the Indians appear
ed on the warpath you didn't stop
to do any thinking about the right or
wrong OF shooting to kill; you knew
darn well that II you didn't shoot
them they would kill you"
After the cattle had been driven
500 miles to market. they brought
only three to five cents a pound.
Chicago hadn't yet become the great
cattle market of America. The prin-
cipal market was Buffalo.
! asked this veteran ranchman
how the cattle came to select lead
ers. He replied that 1t was rather
a case of assuming leadership than
being elected to leadership. The
long journey was under way
any length of time before 1t became
noticeable that the same cattle usu-
ally took the lead day after day.
Others would fall In close behind,
and they also usually kept their place
in the herd, just as the tail end was
usually brought up by the same
stragglers. In handling the cattle,
especially when 1t came to rounding
them up by night. the cowboys sim
ply had to get the leaders to do what
wanted and the other cattle
would follow suit. The herd appar-
emily had the greatest confidence
blind confidence - in the animals
tiat PAOfCa thtiADCAFCo Nht y
II the cowboys had started at the
wrong end of the herd to try to get
them under way in the morning, they
would have got nowhere; there
would have been nothing but con-
fusion, no order, no progress.
Incidentally, a ~favorite trick of the
Indians was to try to get near enough
to do something to start a stampede;
they figured that they would then
a good chance OF separating a
few of the cattle from the main herd
and getting away with them.
The Year of 1886
Cattle thieves and marauding In
dams weren't the only enemies the
rancnmen had to face. Seasons of
drought we're occasionally
suffered.
THE year 1886 was a bad one"
Mr.. Anceney recalled. First we had
a terribly dry summer and then a
particularly hard winter. We lost
of head of cattle, almost
our whole herd. In the spring we
found ourselves with only 76 head.
All the others had died of starvation
There was no hay, no alfalfa, TO feed
hem.
I'VE all had to go heavily into
iebt. We were charged 12h per
on mortgages, to run ten years"
At this stage of our talk a strap
ping young cowboy appeared-it vas
.iffin-time. Noticing that half of one
If his fingers apparently was off,
Judging by the way it was bandaged,
asked his boss. with a smile, what
particular brand of knave this fell
ow was. Anceney laughed, called
he cowboy, introduced me TO him
lis name was Johnnie Floras-and
old me this inspiring story:
Johnnie, a few days before this,
rounding up a lot Of cattle when
ifs broncho began to do a buck-and-
wing dance. A ring on the cowboys
niger caught the head of a nal on
he corral gate, and as the broncho
into the air, most OF his finger,
vas ripped off. At the hospital he
efused to take ether or anything !
lse. While the doctor was saving !
If part OF the stump, the cowboy
ooly remarked. you don't need to
urry on my account, doc" q
After hearing this I asked the COW
O1 IL II Qi0u uuft- nc fcpftcu :
You bet 1t did. but" He raised !
is shoulders as much as TO say :
What did that matter7" I was not !
to learn hat this same {
had been all through the I
push" but had Dragged '
little about 1t since his re- 9
urn. His modesty matched his J
r1very. =
This led me to prod the veteran .
Ancher and ex-Vigilante to narrate c
lore OF his experiences before the Q
Nv displaced the gun as a dispenser !
justice. He hesitated TO tell any :
hing that might ave OF beasting.
knew, however, that he had had =
lany exciting episodes in his young
days and that he had won a wide I"
sputatfou AS the most fearless man q
! hontana-as wei az a crack y
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