Soapweed's Ranch
Ramblings |
Last night I read a small book entitled OLD HANDS, OLD BRANDS by Herbert (Jake)
Handley. It tells of the early days of raising cattle in western South Dakota.
At the time of this incident, a roundup was being held in the area where the
Diamond A outfit ran a lot of cattle. Cap Mossman was the one in charge of running
the Diamond A, and he was pretty progressive and aggressive. He was always on
the look-out to expand the operation.
On this particularly fine evening a full moon was shining down on the camp. The
first guard had just ridden out to the herd to do their two hours of watching
the cattle. The horse wrangler had just turned the remuda over to the "night
hawk" for him to watch the horses during the night. The cook was busy in the
tent around the stove making ready some "chuck" with which to put out a quick
breakfast in the morning. The rest of the cowboys were sitting around the campfire,
perched on their bedrolls, enjoying a brief period of rest and relaxation before
turning in for the night.
The cowboys looked up at the full moon, and somebody wondered out loud if there
was life up there. One cowboy surmised, "Do you suppose there is grass and water
and trees on the moon?" Another good hand confidently stated, "I know for a fact
there ain't." "Well, how can you be so sure?" he was asked. The answer: "If there
was any grass and water on the Moon, Cap Mossman would have had it leased for
summer pasture years ago."
Copyright © 2005 Steve
Moreland
All Rights Reserved