The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-04-30
CBv r. H. BEMIsl

HVX YINDY JACK" Rocks zane up
M from Texas in 1881 with one
W of those immense trail herds
of "~lOnghOrns'' that had began to re-
place the multitude of fast-disappear-
ing bison on the bunch grass plains
and benches of eastern Montana. In
the early eighties of the last century,
the remnants of those vast herds
were making their last stnad against
the Onslaughts of the hide-hunters IN
the great open plains stretching east
from the base of the main range OF
the Rocky Mountains to the Dakotas
and reaching from the Yellowstone
on the south to the Canadian line on
the north. The buffalo we're doomed
and their feeding grounds destined
to sustain and nOurish the scarcely
less wild longhOrns bearing the de-
wees of individual ownership, and
these in turn have been largely re-
placed by the b%lue-blOOds of Here
ford and ShOrthOrn lineage, which
now dominate the great beef a
kets of the world.
Windy Jack probably had little
conception of the part he and his
like were destined to play in the up
. building of a great commonwealth.
Sufficient for him was the recurring
payday and an occasional visit of a
day or two in Miles City or Billings
at beef shipping time, or attendance
at one of the rare celebrations at
some inland town on the Fourth Of
July or Christmas. Windy was good
at his trade, though possessing little
of that sense of the spectacular
which permeates the consciousness of
the modern Cowboy. He did not ev-
en- dress the part, for on hitting the
cool nights of the northern ranges
he discovered the heavy wooden
''mackinaw'' gave more comfort than
hickory shirts and denim Overalls, so
behold him in a bright blue shirt and
variegated pants such as fancied by
the Iumberjacks and rivermen. But
Windy did not even know, much the
less care, that he was violating all
the cowboy conventions as accepted
today.
But then, the cowboy of today is a
wonderful conception compared to
the days when it was a real business
and followed mainly by its d%evOtees
as a means of livelihood. Wtndy's
rather incOngrUOus costume was
merely his protest against the spec
tacular which had even then began to
creep into the appearance of many of
his colleagues. He had no quarrel
with the plain leather chaps, a really
sensible protection for the clothing
and the legs inside, in the many wild
scurries through sagebrUsh and will
lows necessitOUs in their daily work,
but his distaste for the highly cOlOred
neckwear and silver ornaments which
were affected by many of the young
er cow punchers was the source of
much sarcasm on his part. He had
no use for the pretty boys" as he
termed them and lost no opportunity
to voice his opinion. e
But even Windy, probably without
intent, could not fOrbear the chance
to "shOw off" on occasion. He was
acknowledged a crack marksman
with a six-shOOter and n time when
going to town for the annual Fourth
of July celebration with a party, in
Guiding the wife of the foreman and
her sister, one Of the boys noted q
rattlesnake coiled beside the trail.
"Here, Windy, try a shot at this
rattler!"
WluOy, always IGduy " SuOW u4s
skill, rode up, pulled his gun, threw
down on the target and a squirt Of
flame followed, though without re
suits so far as the RATHER was con.
cerned. But Windy found himself
afoOt, for just as he had pulled the
trigger his unlucky fly-pestered horse
had thrown his head around just il
time to receive the bullet between the
ears. For some time afterward hi'
c~Onsiderate fellOw-wOrkmen remind
ed him of the incident by an occasion
al reference to "Rattlesnake Windy.
My acquaintance with Windy be
gan in the cabOOse of a long freigh
train pulling up the YellOwstOn,
valley. We were passengers to Liv
ingston on the s~Ufferance of tn
freight crew, prepaid with an ex
change of small silver without in
quiry as to whether the stakeholder
were to profit by the transaction. /
was a ride and made at much les
expense than the regular fare of fiv
or six cents a mile on the taste
trains. Windy was to join a cOw out
fit in the Shields River country