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thisr.Sheldon Page #2
Ooris. INO 240
ut loo.Dist,a 7
as bull nurse was Galled for. The looation of the oritter
/*lad be reported -to me and then I.would ride to it,takiltg
to it a sack of prickly psars.with the stiokere burned off,
and feed the oritter,also give it water.
The priokly pear, is very nourishing and was handy
feed.easy to obtlin in that elation of the aountry. The pear
was always used to
too loud.until the
and feed it self.
keep the oritter's tape worm from yelling
aninal could regain it's walking habit
Nrilig a long wet spell of weather t was
kept busy jiggling from one point to another bull nursing.
rften I And 20 mile drag to a bogged critter and when T
had time to spare would look for animals that ware dowS.
/hat was don, to extrowt a ortriter from a bog was
01 simple operation. 've just throwed a loop around the oritt-
*rig hoeing and with the 'late fastened to the nub of the
saddle the hoes did the rest. The hoes sometimes would have
a hard pull to drqg the animal out and at times it required
twhosses.
T have often started out early in the morning, with
a chunk of jerk us my saddle bag and be out all flay 11
nursing. Jekk is qtit e well known here in the 3euthw et,
but still a tot of folks doesn't know what it isolo it is
bent that r explain about it befordr go on. It is beef
that has been out into strips and hIln- on soa* object in
open till it is com;letly dried. Ihe meat then is hard and
wiLl keep without gettinr rt oan be eaten raw or °oak"
lauthier. heldon
Raqgelore.
?arrant eo,."Ist..!?
When 000ked it wil, soften and gnaw easely,
out cooking on* needs good set of teeth.
handle it is to wittla ot off with a knife.
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To eat it with
'he best way to
Then T was out t
never *toped to cook, but whould whittle off a few pieces. and
gnaw on it to keep my tape worm satisfied.
As T became older r gradually took on more of the
work until at the age of fifteen I was a full hand doing
everything that was required of a cowhand.
Among the, he-man, jobs was night riding. 'uring
sociable weathior,when tha stars and moon was shining and the
temperature was mild, it was pleasant work,bnt when the night
was darker thaA two black oats, with a oold rain a -falling
driven by a high wind, and a -top of that heavenly cannon -ball a
rollitg and sky fire flehing,the itoker in hell held a pood Job
compared with that or a niPht rider on a cattle range.
I now I have ,Laikel luria- -may of toe hell-beist rtittist,
aiways worket it airs and kept oiroling the herd waiohin,T
for trouble. rider 'la to as careful abut -14Cring a nJise,
even striking matoh,in the night, so 14 start a stampede.
The startling f a hzed could be caused by some animal sudden-
ly running into it. .IFIMM such a vermin as a witty cat could
frighten a herd and tare were plenty of those. A bad storm
with icri fire and thunder,if it was striking *loss, and hail
a:ways started the cattle moving. Then the must* of the tramp-
ing hoofs and clashing horns began on a coil and raining night.
the Rilver LLning ,)11 the cowhand's cloud sure disappeared. To
r'Authier.Sheldon P,
Range's!**
Tarrant
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you see, the night rider had to keep his .ind on his knitting
and knit fast.
T roost' one night when logger Red,of rodeo fame, now
deceased, and 'T were paired. The air was sUltry and my mount
was tooting it's head and hts mussels were quivering, "bat
was a sure sign a spell of mean weather was goin,, to hit. Tfost
cattle hoaxes *out(' soent impending trou4.* befor we rawhilies
and we always tookour knowledge from the action of the animal.
My personal mount was good in that respect, and I was on lim
that Ltight, T ohtned to 3oeger Red;
A000rding to the way my hose is aotilg we are in for
a bad spell of weathle
Mine is sh,wing signs too",he answered." and the way
the air smells it is goin to be a good one. T out hear the
critters movin- now",
The herd had bodied down,bat were getting up,which
showed that they were expoting trouble and were getting
ready to give some, looger had Just finished ohining with me
when the first flask of sky fire showed followed by a roar of
thunder,then rain. Tt was not lour until it was raining and
pouring water like ooling out of a 2 t kettle and the fire
was flashing steadily. ''ffe could see the fire Jumping over the
horns of the cattle. T e thulder was hLtting lapse and hard,
we knew that the critters were gloing to stomp pronto.
r da40 to Softer," Ve'll never hold these critters
to -night",
"All we oan do is try hard as hell. lave you got send in
nauthierOheldon
Rangelores
Tarrant,los.list,.,
nags 5
PO 240
craw,you will need it tosight",he shot at me.
Draw is fall of sand, low *bout ycurs," I came back
.at him
All seVehe set,"Kid well stay put*. TA14t was the.
last words sPokeu till daiv light,exoept our holleringehooting
and attempts to aing,done.trying to *to) thief oattle,but it
useless beoalve thope critters started and went likes bunch
coming out of the back door of hell.
My hose was doubled sighted, that is bOuilivad look
ahead with one eye and with the other for a sure footed Swot,
but it was of no use that night, beoause the night was se
dark I could not see his :Attline a -sitting a -top of him.
t thought of the darknilland realised the clang -1r of
the gopher holosobegs and other things that could camps a
spill, but knew that to save the cattle t had to forget the
soil's and go to riding which we each did.
We tried to .1,t the lead, that was th.1 set arrikeAent,
the other riders were instructed to rids the flank. The dark-
ness made it hard to tell where we were and those critters
were traveling fist. ly the flashes of fire, we could got a
g].imps of the herd aoeasionally, After my hoes had out run a
jack rabbit for about two mites, t got to the head of the herd,
logger led came right behind me,by ooinollent, we arrived aloe.
together, but try as we may we could aot turn that herd. I
kept traveling waiting for my hoes to begin to turn, but it
kept going sheadothat way r knew the hoes was unable to foro*
the herd to turn. 11104stead of the hose baing able to crowd
the critters into a turnoso as to get the herd milling around
lauthier.sheldon -,age 1 6
Rangelore, 70 240
Tarrant
they, were orowding him. 7inally t felt the hoes turn and thl
noel% instant he went down and r was etched into the darkness.
When t landed t found myself in water about ka6e deep. T
9#41d hear the Wiwi° of the tramping feet and clashing horns
;#00ing by. r knew that t was safe where was and stood there
4111*il the herd lad passed.
t waddled out after the herd had gone by aad was stand..
tag still trying to get my conk to work out there r was and
what direotion t: travel, as the dog house was the only pleas
for me to drag to then. Mile standing there waiting for my
oonk to produoe some idea, r felt something nudge my beak and
there stood my hose Jerry. What had ha2pned was while fur*.
ing Jerry came to a slough and vered, bit not in ttne to keee
out of the muck. Ttitting the mutik,oaused him to stumble. r
went into a spill landing about lb feet to the right and that
at me out of the way of the herd. That saved my from being
Vbrjided for the *Waal rage.
a
Well, when T.got y hose that changed my plans and we
started after the hIrd. t did not know whioa way to o ,but
he did and in *lout an hour we °aught up with it. T could
not losate any of the other riders till day -lilt and thl
herd was /mattered in :IA. directions.
"le spent a week hunting strays. Cue bunoh got into
the *ugh and with those we had a time. r;d man athey and T
puled out 7,.) and Via others did about the sale.
a gain- to tell what happned to le the last day
we were working 1)ulling those critters out of th rowrh.
°authier. h don Page P?
langelore. PO 240
Tarr nt lo..Iist,.17
was cutting out a obstinate old glow and had wasted several
loos on her by *aeons of the brush being in the way. I
a hill,
finally got a loop on her and just as she topped/My pony
set hilself to throw her, but sh, had the down hill pull,so
down went the pony and I and we were draged about /5 feet.
My feat looked.lLke a map of the Obioago railroad
rliat cow taught me to never loop a critter while ibi was on
a down hill drag.
While on th-3 subject of stampedes T will tell one
on lo -ger Red and it will also show how eaufly a stampede
sea be started. tt was a soot day following a rain spell.
log-er was slee,ing next to where the little wererbedded down,
with his slicker for covering. T had on a pair of new boot*,
1. was proud of the pair because they had brass toe tips- some
sweill boats-- they had becale midly so T. decide* to clean off
the grime sal started to scrape off the mid. "'he noise T mad*
as r scraped the sole of tik* boot over a wire,soared the
herd and away they wentsrl.ht toward led. 7e amped up and
waved the slicker while edging out of tie way. Is suoeeeled
in gettin out of their way,but was a rsled human. rf he
had been minus his slicked he weuld have been stomped in good
sha,)e.
The good times we had were in Liao with our work. It
was playing pralke and some of them were hard. Ihen a new
head came to workohe had to take the works,espeoially if he
was a gr'lener. A fellow named- !Ionia Game to our oatfif and
we trlel to rib Tim several ways,but he was not a greener and
nauClier.lheldon
Rangtlore.
Tarrant lot.list,.,?
?age 1 8
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on to us buokar:os. "'co was a 000ky fellow and ohised a lot
about his ridihg powers. II faot,he was some sticker on a hosS,
We over worked our oonks tryiagAilhoulato some means to pull
a few feath rs out of his tail. logger 'led gave birth to a
scheme thii hit "41111 inthis soft spott 3o4ger sea to him,
"aok,you oain about your riding powers, why we have a kid
hers 41-maintnn,me," that *an out ride you on a steer".
T'll ride agate the kid, or any other rawhide under
any proposition layed down', Red sea and swelled up like a
boil.
That waellrighlvii_Redls mitts s, We had a tough and
snaky mull" steeroso that sae the 'twitter he and t were to
ride. McGill was to rids him first and then r was to best
hill time. Tt was all agreed and the gang looated the steer,
looped and tied the (fritter. MoGill was Iwy with the baAoh
getting the steer downed and tied and while he was engaged T
led his hoes off about 200 yards.
That steer was fmriatsd,of *oars*, and when a wild
ter gets rillad a man ha q no puipkins being on foot near
it. Tell, they got Cu, crEtter all shaped up for and
he straddled the soak*. 'he boys then untied the animal and
made for their holm's. That steer made about two elevations
with $ome wiggles and M'oGill took a spill. 174 Jumped to his
feet and dashed for hoes, but the hese was not there.
Www,3r,-the ritter was and butted Maok in the baok and down
went McGill. "%en a oritter vta a man down the thin' to do
lauthier.lheldon
Aangelore.
Tarrant uo,,lAst,.47
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is lie perfeotly still sal the oritter will not do any harm.
loll, ”aok looked arouni for his hose and s?ied it off a pieoe,
ov, he Jumped ul quiokly and started a run for the.hoss, but h
the steer was on the Job and befor uoGill made 20 feet the
.Oritter in'roduoed it self again and down -oee 7olill. 11
,rade another try and did not do any betterthe reoeived another
ibump. That time !Will began to yowl for his hose. WS took
pity on him so drove his hose to him and rode betwex him and
the animal to give him a ohanoe to mounts
That animal was lathering at the mouln and everytime
he hit Maok a gob of lather would land on MoOill beaks Then
he hopped his holy= hl looked like a frosty morning in the rear
and a muddy road in the front, "f o Ai.res we all knew a perlan
may is well tervto:sotatoh-his ear with his elbow as to try
and ride t'at steer..
I have *26.1113 pought of lieger e4, after he ')noame a
noted rod,o performer, and recital when he )joined my fathers
outfit. 're pulled the snak blool hoos him and he took it
t- entertain the optra house,that is the 0:ang sitting on
the to rail of the (sorrel. ThAi, was a pig pen next to the
oorral and as sloppy as a )ig ?en usally is. Is took his
spill and landed in the slop. 7e was no f ur aoes in looks
oo:ling up out of that -lop.
nf oourse most sections of the country had the past
known as the cattle rustler. In 3ell County, the cowmen had
adopted a resonable method of dealing with the brand blotters.
The first time a blotter was caught he was warned and given
lauthier.gheldon ''ale 1 U.
langelore. 0 70 240
Tarrant Co,. ?1st,,
"The oowhand's food was goo l ctommon Ohuok and in the
amount he wantedolenty of meat,both of biter and deer. Their*
were lots of deer in our section and we Gould have one any-
time one of use oared to .o out and shoot it, Of course the
beef was se,ured cafthe reange,we would go out and 2iok
out a fat you,=!., yearling.
T want to tell of an idea that listed among the Ootio.
men, tt seemed that beef had a better flavor and was more
t nier if it did not contain tha home brand. It was -consider*.
)oor taste to kiLl aAytAng,for eating )4rpose, exempt those
with a strange brand.
('lur cook was a good on he could, do wonders with cheek
and when he yelled,"wash u) snakes and ease to the trough",
theyhoys would hoof it for their sourdough and whistle berrie
":7t have been wanting to t abut my hoes Jerry, but
kept getting off on solle other subject. You recall T told
about Aim nudging me the ni lt of the big stam2eds. Noll a
cow )ony usually WiS herd to catoh,but ?Wry Was differeA.
Re and I grew up to othlr. ie was a stripling with me and
r trained him from a colt. aka sirs was a wild etallion that
father ceased. !leasing is wipturtng a hors by shooting it
at the to) of the neok just deep enough to num the seinal
,:.ord. If an animal oant be approached °lose enough to be
ropp4 easing is the method use to down it. Is was as pretty
as a heart fima. In fact, a perfect hose if there ever was
one. Jerry's mother was of-Iteeldust racing stock. lo Jerry
had speed and endurance. 7o could run all day and was sure
leathier,aheldon
ah gelorg•
Tarrant gos.listo.'T
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not
footed,. 'ha hoes would/buck with me,but let any other p3rama
straddle him and h. beoame two boxes of rattle snakes turned
loose. 4orking cows with Jerry was nothing more than le**
ing him to tie critter and from then on he did tive work. That
hoes soemed to enjoy biting a mean oritter. T could just sit
in the rooking chair pull a leaf out of tAa bible and roll
new lease on life out of my lull Iurhamswhile he was cuttiag
a critter out of a herd.. Now, talk about perging.'that hoes
bould turn like a top and on the same amount of groung.
I T quit the range when 7 was 20- years old. r was a
young man and Jerry was getting,hoasold. 741 was about 15 mud
gettinr slow,but still going. Tt was like-- wellolovin4 an
arm -to part wttl lin. or weeks afterwards t was as lose
some as 4 preaoher on 14y nights.
I wet to i!ississi?pi and eagaged in work oonstructing
the river levee and from that to railroad oons%ruotion.
r retired in 192T. and have taken it easy gimes.
I married 'Iorthy -ae "oore in 1897. T came to Iort
Worth in 1917, and have made the oity my home small minim.
reared seven childre and they are eoattered all over the
"sited !nate*, so my wife and r are aloe.