04 - The Log of a Cowboy: The Atascosa

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter four of The Log of a Cowboy by Andy Adams.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Atascosa
for the next few days we paralleled the coast, except
when forced inland by various arms of the Laguna Madre,

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when about a week out from the Arroyo Colorado, we
encountered the Salt Lagoon, which threw us at least fifty
miles in from the coast. Here we had our last
view of salt water, and the murmurings of the gulf
were heard no more. Our route now led northward through
what were then the two largest ranches in Texas, the

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Running w and Laurel Leaf, which sent more cattle up
the trail bred in their own brand than any other
four ranches in the lone Star state. We were nearly
a week passing through their ranges, and on reaching Santa
Petruda Ranch, we learned that three trees herds of over
three thousand head each had already started in those two brands,

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while four more were to follow. So far we had
been having splendid luck in securing water for the herd
once a day at least, and often twice and three times.
Our herd was becoming well trail broken by this time,
and for range cattle had quieted down and were docile
and easy to handle. Flood's years of experience on the

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trail made him a believer in the theory that stampedes
were generally due to negligence in not having the herd
full of grass and water on reaching the bed ground
at night. Barring accidents which will happen. His view is
the correct one if care has been used for the
first few weeks in properly breaking the herd to the trail.

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But though hunger and thirst are probably responsible for more
stampedes than all other causes combined, it is the unexpected
which cannot be guarded against. The stampede is the natural
result of fear, and at night or in uncertain light,
this timidity might be imparted to an entire herd by
a flash of lightning or peal of thunder, while the

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stumbling of a night horse or the scent of some
wild animal wood in a moment's time from frightening a
few head so infect a herd has to throw them
into the wildest panic. Amongst the thousands of herds like
ours which were driven over the trail during its brief existence.
None ever made the trip without encountering more or less

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trouble from runs. Frequently a herd became so spoiled in
this manner that it grew into a mania with them,
so that they would stampede on the slightest provocation or
no provocation at all. A few days after leaving Santa
Getrude Ranch, we crossed an oasis river, which we followed

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up for several days, keeping in touch with it for
water for the herd. But the nuaces after passing Oakville,
makes an abrupt turn, doubling back to the southwest, and
the Atascosa, one of its tributaries, became our source of
water supply. We were beginning to feel a degree of

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overconfidence in the good behavior of our herd when one night,
during the third week out, an incident occurred in which
they displayed their running qualities to our complete satisfaction. It
occurred during our guard about two o'clock in the morning.
The night was an unusually dark one and the atmosphere

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was very humid. After we had been on guard duty
possibly an hour, John Officer and I riding in one
direction on opposite sides of the herd, the rebel circling
in the opposite Officer's horse suddenly struck a gopher burrow
with its front feet, and in a moment horse and
rider were sprawling on the ground. The accident happened but

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a few rods from the sleeping herd, which instantly came
to their feet as one steer, and were off like
a flash. I was riding my nigger boy, and as
the cattle headed towards me, away from the cause of
their fright, I had to use both quirt and raoul
to keep clear of the onrush. Fortunately we had a

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clear country near the bed ground, and while the terrified
cattle pressed me close, my horse kept the lead. In
the rumbling which ensued, all sounds were submerged by the
general din and I was only brought to the consciousness
that I was not alone by seeing several distinct flashes
from six shooters on my left, and realizing that I

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also had a gun fired several times in the air
in reply. I was soon joined by priest and officer,
the latter having lost no time in regaining his seat
in the saddle, and the three of us held together
some little distance, for it would have been useless to
attempt to check or turn this onslaught of cattle in

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their first mad rush. The wagon was camped about two
hundred yards from the bed ground, and the herd had
given ample warning to the boys asleep, so that if
we three could hold our position in the lead, help
would come to us as soon as the men in
the camp could reach their horses. Realizing the wide front
of the running cattle, priests sent officer to the left

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and myself to the right to point in the leaders
in order to keep the herd from splitting or scattering.
While he remained in the center and led the herd.
I soon gained the outside of the leaders, and by
dropping back and coming up the line, pointed them in
to the best of my ability. I had repeated this

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a number of times, even quirting some cattle along the
outside or burning a little powder in the face of
some obstinate leader. Went across the herd and to the rear.
We saw succession of flashes like fireflies, which told me
the boys were coming to our assistance. Running is not
a natural gait with cattle, and if we could only

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hold them together and prevent splitting up in time, they
would tire while the rear cattle could be depended on
to follow the leaders. All we could hope to do
was to force them to run straight, and in this
respect we were succeeding splendidly, though to a certain extent
it was a guess in the dark. When they had

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run possibly a mile, I noticed a horseman overtake priest.
After they had ridden together a moment one of them
came over to my point, and the next minute our
foreman was racing along by my side. In his impatience
to check the run, he took me with him. Encircling
the leaders, we reached the left point, by which time

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the remainder of the outfit had come up. Now massing
our numbers, we fell on the left point and amid
the flash of guns, deflected their course for a few moments.
A dozen men, however, can cover but a small space,
and we soon realized that we had turned only a
few hundred head. For the momentum of the main body

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bore steadily ahead, abandoning what few cattle we had turned, which,
owing to their running ability, soon resumed their place in
the lead. We attempted to turn them to the left,
stretching out our line until there was a man about
every twenty feet, we threw our force against the right
point and lead, in hope of gradually deviating their course.

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For a few minutes. The attempt promised to be successful,
but our cordon was too weak, and the cattle went
through between the riders, and we soon found a portion
of our forces on either side of the herd, while
a few of the boys were riding out the rush
in the lead. On finding our forces thus divided, the
five or six of us who remained on the right

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contented ourselves by pointing in the leaders, for the cattle,
so far as we could tell, were running compactly. Our foreman, however,
was determined to turn the run, and after a few
minutes time, rejoined us on the right, when under his
leadership we circled the front of the herd and collected
on the left point, when for a third time we

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repeated the same tactics in our efforts to turn the stampede.
But in this which was our final effort, we were
attempting to turn them slowly and on a much larger circle,
and with a promise of success. Suddenly, in the dark
we encountered a mesquite thicket into which the lead cattle
tore with a crashing of brush and a rattle of

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horns that sent a chill up and down my spine.
But there was no time to hesitate, for our horses
were in the thicket, and with a herd closing in
on us, there was no alternative but to go through it,
every man for himself. I gave Nigger a free rein,
shutting my eyes and clutching both cantel and pommel to
hold my seat. The black responded to the rowel and

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tore through the thicket in places higher than my head,
and came out in an open space, considerably in the
lead of the cattle. The thicket must have been eight
or ten rods wide, and checked the run to a
slight extent, But as they emerged from it, they came
out in scattering files and resumed their running. Being alone

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and not knowing which way to return, I rode to
the right and front, and soon found myself in the
lead of quite a string of cattle. Nigger and I
were piloting them where they listed when Joe Stallings, hatless
himself and his horse heaving, overtook me, and the two
of us gave those lead cattle all the trouble We
knew how, but we did not attempt to turn them,

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for they had caught their wind in forcing the thicket
and were running an easy stroke. Several times we worried
the leaders in to a trot, but as other cattle
in the rear came up, we were compelled to loosen
out and allow them to resume their running, or they
would have scattered on us like partridges. At this stage

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of the run, we had no idea where the rest
of the outfit were, but both of us were satisfied
the herd had scattered on leaving the mesquite thicket, and
were possibly then running in half a dozen bunches like
the one we were with. Stalling's horse was badly winded,
and on my suggestion, he dropped out on one side

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to try and get some idea how many cattle we
were leading. He was gone some little time, and as
Nigger cantered along easily in the lead, I managed to
eject the shells from my six shooter and refill the cylinder.
On Joe's overtaking me again, he reported that there was
a slender column of cattle half a mile in length following.

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As one man could easily lead this string of herd
until daybreak. I left stallings with them and rode out
out to the left nearly a quarter of a mile,
listening to hear if there were any cattle running to
the left of those we were leading. It took me
but a few minutes to satisfy myself that ours was
the outside band on the left, and after I rejoined Joe,

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we made an effort to check our holding. There were
about fifty or sixty big steers in the lead of
our bunch, and after whirring them into a trot, we
opened in their front with our six shooters shooting into
the ground in their very faces, and were rewarded by
having them turn tail and head the other way. Taking

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advantage of the moment, we jumped our horses on the
retreating leaders, and as fast as the rear cattle forged forward,
easily turned them, leaving Joe to turn the rear as
they came up. I rode to the lead, unfastening my
slicker as I went, and, on reaching the turned leaders,
who were running on an angle from their former course,

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flaunted my fish in their faces until they re entered
the rear guard of our string, and we soon had
a mill going which kept them busy and rested our horses.
Once we had them milling, our trouble, as far as
running was concerned, was over. For all two of us
could hope to do was to let them exhaust themselves

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in this endless circle. It then lacked an hour of daybreak,
and all we could do was to ride around and
wait for daylight. In the darkness preceding dawn, we had
no idea of the number of our bunch, except as
we could judge from the size and compactness of the
milling cattle, which must have covered an acre or more.

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The humidity of the atmosphere, which had prevailed during the night,
by dawn had changed until a heavy fog cutting off
our view on every hand, left us as much at
sea as we had been previously. But with the break
of day, we rode through our holding a number of times,
splitting and ski gattering the milling cattle, and as the

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light of day brightened we saw them quiet down and
go to grazing, as though they had just arisen from
a bed ground. It was over an hour before the
fog lifted sufficiently to give us any idea as to
our whereabouts, and during the interim both Stallings and myself
rode to the nearest elevation, firing a number of shots

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in the hope of getting an answer from the outfit,
but we had no response. When the sun was sufficiently
high to scatter the mists which hung in clouds, there
was not an object in sight by which we could
determine our location. Whether we had run east, west or
south during the night. Neither of us knew, though both

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Stallings and myself were satisfied that we had never crossed
the trail, and all we did know for a certainty
was that we had between six and seven hundred head
of cattle. Stallings had lost his hat and I had
one sleeve missing and both outside pockets horn out of
my coat, while the mesquite thorns had left their marks
on the faces of both of us, one particularly ugly

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cut marking Joe's right temple. I've worn leggings for the
last ten years, said Stallings to me, as we took
an inventory of our disfigurements, and for about ten seconds
in forcing that mesquite thicket was the only time I
ever drew interest on my investment. They're a heap like
a six shooter. Wear them all your life and never

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have any use of them. With a cigarette for breakfast,
I left Joe to look after our bunch, and, after
riding several miles to the right, cut the trail of
quite a band of cattle. In following up this trail,
I could easily see that someone was in their lead,
as they failed to hold their course at any one
direction for any distance, as free cattle would. After following

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this trail, about three miles I sighted the band of cattle, and,
on overtaking them, found two of our boys holding about
half a as many as Stallings said. They reported that
the Rebel and bob Blades had bidden with them until daybreak,
but having the freshest horses, had left them with the
dawn and ridden away to the right, where it was

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supposed the main body of the herd had run. As
Stalling's bunch was some three or four miles to the
rear and left of this band. Wyat round Trees suggested
that he go and pilot in Joe's cattle, as he
felt positive that the main body was somewhere to our right.
On getting directions from me as to where he would

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find our holding, he rode away, and I again rode
off to the right leaving rod wheat with their catch.
The sun was now several hours high, and as my
black's strength was standing the test bravely, I cross cut
the country and was soon on another trail of stampeded cattle.

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But in following this trail I soon noticed two other
horsemen preceding me. Knowing that my services would be too late,
I only followed far enough to satisfy myself of the fact.
The signs left by the running cattle were as easy
to follow as a public road, and in places where
the ground was sandy, the sod was cut up as

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if a regiment of cavalry had charged across it. On again,
bearing off to the right, I rode for an elevation,
which ought to give me a good view of the
country slight. As this elevation was on reaching it, I
made out a large band of cattle under herd, and
as I was on the point of riding to them,
saw our wagon and saddle horses heave in sight from

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a northwest corner. Supposing they were following up the largest trail,
I rode for the herd, where Flood and two of
the boys had about twelve hundred cattle. From a comparison
of notes. Our foreman was able to account for all
the men, with the exception of two, and as these
proved to be blades and priests, I could give him

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a satisfactory exclamation as to their probable whereabouts. On my
report of having sighted the wagon and remuda, flood at
once ordered me to meet and hurry them in, as
not only he, but Strayhorn and officer were badly in
need of a change of mounts. I learned from a
can who was doing the trailing from the wagon that

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the regular trail was to the west the herd, having
crossed it within a quarter of a mile after leaving
the bed ground, joining honeyman, I took the first horse
which came within reach of my rope, and with a
fresh mount under me, we rushed the saddle horses past
the wagon and shortly came up with our foreman. There

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we rounded in the horses as best we could without
the aid of the wagon, and before ma can arrived,
all had fresh mounts and were ready for orders. This
was my first trip on the trail, and I was
hungry and thirsty enough to hope something would be said
about eating, but that seemed to be the last idea
in our foreman's mind. Instead, he ordered me to take

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the two other boys with me, and, after putting them
on the trail of the bunch which the rebel and
Blades were following, to drift in what cattle we had
held on our left. But as we went we managed
to encounter the wagon and get a drink and a
canting of water from the can before we galloped away
on our mission. After riding a mile or so together,

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we separated, and on my arrival at the nearest bunch
I found round tree and stallings, coming up with a
larger holding. Throwing the two bunches together, we drifted them
a free clip towards the camp. We soon sighted the
main herd and saw across to our right at about
five miles distance, two of our men bringing in another bunch.

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As soon as we turned our cattle into the herd,
Flood ordered me, on account of my light weight, to
meet this bunch, find out where the last cattle were,
and go to their assistance with a hungry look in
the direction of our wagon. I obeyed, and on meeting
Durham and Brownstone, learned that the outside bunch on the right,

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which had got into the regular trail had not been
checked until daybreak. All they knew about their location was
that the up stage from Oakville had seen two men
with circle dot cattle about five miles below, and had
sent up word by the driver that they had something
like four hundred head. With this meager information, I rode

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away in the direction where one would naturally expect to
find our absent men, and, after scouring the country for
an hour, sight at the single horsemen on an elevation,
whom from the Gray Mount I knew for Quince Forest.
He was evidently on the lookout for some one to
pilot them in. They had been drifting like lost sheep

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ever since dawn. But we soon had their cattle pointed
in the right direction, and forrest taking the lead quarter,
Knight and I put the neces sorry push behind them.
Both of them cursed me roundly for not bringing them
a campaign of water, though they were well aware that
in an emergency like the present, our foreman would never
give a thought to anything but the recovery of the herd.

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Our comfort was nothing. Men were cheap, but cattle costs money.
We reached the camp about two o'clock and found the
outfit cutting out range cattle which had been absorbed into
the herd during the run. Throwing in our contingent, we
joined in the work, and though forrest and quarter night
were as good as a foot, there were no orders

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for a change of mounts, to say nothing of food
and drink. Several hundred mixed cattle were in the herd,
and after they had been cut out, we lined our
cattle out for a count. In the absence of priests.
Flood and John Officer did the counting, and as the
hour of the day made the cattle sluggish, they lined
it through between the counters, as though they had never

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done anything but walk their lives. The count showed sixteen
short of twenty eight hundred, which left us yet over
three hundred out. But good men were on their trail,
and leaving two men unheard, the rest of us obeyed
the most welcome orders of the day. When Flood intimated
that we would eat a bite and go after the rest.

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As we had been in our saddles since one or
two o'clock in the morning before, it is needless aunt
that our appetites were equal to the spread which our
cook had waiting for us. Our foremen, as though fearful
of the loss of a moment's time, sent honeymen to
rustle in the horses before we had finished our dinners.
Once the Ramuda was corralled under the rush of a

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tireless foreman, dinner was quickly over and fresh horses became
the order of the moment. The Atascosa, our nearest water,
lay beyond the regular trail to the west and leaving
orders for the outfit to drift the herd into it
in water. Flood and myself started in search of our
absent men, not forgetting to take along two extra horses

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as a remount for blades and priests. The leading of
these extra horses fell to me, but with the loose
end of a rope in Jim Flood's hand as he followed.
It took fast riding to keep clear of them. After
reaching the trail of the missing cattle, our foremen set
apace for five or six miles, which would have carried

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us across the nuaces by nightfall, and we were only
checked by a moss strayhorn riding in on an angle
and intercepting us in our headlong gait. The missing cattle
were within a mile of us to the right, and
we turned and rode to them. Strayhorn explained to us
that the cattle had struck some recent fencing on their course,

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and after following down the fence several miles had encountered
an offset, and the angle had held the squad until
the rebel and Blades overtook them. When Officer and he
reached them, they were unable to make any accurate count
because of the range cattle amongst them, and they had
considered it advisable to save horse flesh and not cut

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them until more help was available. When we came up
with the cattle, my Bunki and Blades looked wistfully at
our saddles, and anticipating their wont I untied my slicker well,
remembering the reproof of quarter night and forest, and produced
a full canteen of water, warm, of course, but no
less welcome. No sooner were saddles shifted than we held

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up the bunch and cut out the range cattle. Counted
and found we had some three hundred and thirty odd
circle dots, our number more than complete, with nothing now missing.
Flood took the loose horses and two of the boys
with him, and returned to the herd. Leaving three of
us behind to bring in this last contingent of our
stampeded cattle. The squad were nearly all large steers and

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had run fully twenty miles before, thanks to an angle
in a fence, they had been checked. As our foreman
galloped away, leaving us behind, Bob Blades said, hasn't the
boss got a wiggle on him to day? If he
had made this old world, he'd have made it in
half a day and gone fishing in the afternoon if

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his horses had held out. We reached the Otiscosus shortly
after the arrival of the herd, and after holding the
cattle on water for an hour, grazed them the remainder
of the evening, for if there was any virtue in
their having full stomachs, we wanted to benefit from it.
While grazing that evening, we recrossed the trail on an

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angle and camped in the most open country we could find,
about ten miles below our camp of the night before.
Every precaution was taken to prevent a repetition of the run.
Our best horses were chosen for night duty, as our
regular ones were too exhausted. Every advantage of elevation for
a bed ground was secured and thus fortified against accidents.

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We went into camp for the night, but the expected
never happens on the trail, and the sun arose the
next morning. Overheard grazing in peace and contentment on the
flowery prairies which border on the Atascosa end of chapter
four