(A Short Story from the Old West)
© 2018 Michael Leonard Jewell
PART II OF VIII
Since the snow and cold had settled in, the men had been generally quiet and withdrawn, spending the long hours on their horses while the herd was on the move. When in camp, they took their turns standing four-hour watches with an almost mechanical routine. When not on a horse, they gathered close to the fire, setting their backs strategically against the bite of the cold prairie winds to eat their grub and nurse their steaming tin cups. Then crawling into their bedrolls exhausted, they dreamed dreams of being elsewhere, only to be roused again in a little while to saddle a fresh horse from the *remuda and begin their watches all over again.
Now in addition to their already grueling labors, Mr. Swinson had ordered the men to make “rakes” out of whatever they could find, clearing enough snow to allow the cattle to forage on the frozen grass underneath. A cowboy always worked best from his “office”, that is to say, his saddle, but this task would require him to be mostly afoot, sometimes standing in the cold, wet snow for hours.
One enterprising cowboy being careful not to startle the herd, got the bright idea of making a “drag” out of a heavy tree branch to pull behind his horse. Seeing that it worked rather well, Swinson ordered the men to abandon their rakes and do the same. If the snows persisted, this tedious procedure must needs be repeated every time they made camp, consequently causing the horses to wear down quickly, requiring them to be swapped out even more frequently from the remuda.
Hans, the Swedish cook, feeling empathy for the weary, miserable cowboys, ordered Juan, his helper, to unpack the long heavy tarpaulin from the “pup”, a short wagon that was towed behind, and to stretch it from the top of the chuck wagon to the ground. Treated with linseed oil to make it shed moisture, it gave the men a measure of shelter out of the cold wind, to eat their meals and lay out their bedrolls.
A hot fire was kept going around the clock and there was always a pot of thick, black coffee, sometimes called “six-shooter” because it was said that one might float a pistol on it.
Mr. Swinson, a tough, battle-hardened trail boss with many years experience, tolerated very little in the way of mischief or slackers on his cattle drives. His virtue, however, was that he truly cared for his men and their welfare, willing to do almost anything for an honest cowboy who worked hard and was loyal to him, albeit, he might not always show it on the outside.
* Remuda: A herd of saddle horses from which cowboys on a cattle drive would choose their mounts, sometimes changing them several times a day.
(Part III coming next week)