April 2, 2004

We are just a tad bit late getting the cattle moved. This morning we found two brand new calves in the herd. We left those two pair behind when we gathered. We held the rest of the herd in a corner while Joe cut out 3 more head that looked like they might calve and left them behind also. Sometimes moving them can cause them to calve a bit earlier than they would have.

Our middle son Cody was here today as well as his friend Ben. Good help is always welcome here!

Day two was a long one, but all went well. We drove the cattle about 17 miles. It was nice and warm, and at times too warm! Our neighbors are using their four- year- old draft horses to pull the chuck wagon. They are a bit young, but have been working out well. We camped again and ate chili, cobbler and cornbread cooked in the dutch ovens. Jack Willis entertained us with his guitar and some cowboy poetry. He made the end of the day very enjoyable.

April 3, 2004

The herd made it home safe and sound, as did the rest of us. It was finally a nice calm day without wind. The older horses knew all day long we were on the last leg of the trip. They were ready to get home. The younger horses didn't have it figured out until we were about a quarter of a mile from the ranch. One more year on the same trail, and they will be as anxious as the older horses to get home. We had a late lunch of steaks at the house.

Scott and Mike unhitched their draft horses from the chuck wagon and hitched them to their sled and drove them back home. The rest of the day I cleaned bedrolls and cleaned out the chuck wagon.

April 5-7, 2004

We traveled to south Texas to attend a funeral of Joe's brother-in-law, Milton Raley. Milton was a skilled working cowboy as well as a great cowboy poet. He will be sorely missed here.

April 8, 2004

It is a day to play catch up at the ranch. Joe checked all the cattle and horses. Some of the brood mares were in the wrong pasture. A water gap is probably out and will need fixed. All else seems to be fine. We got a few more calves while we were gone. I tried to catch up on some tax work.

April 9, 2004

Joe and Laramie are still catching up with the ranch work. It rained today! We can use all the rain we can get. Even though we had 4 inches a month ago, it is very dry underneath. When I dug pits for the fire during the trail drive, I hit dry soil only about 1 foot under the surface. It will take more than that to sustain the grass through the spring and to keep it healthy for the upcoming years.

I caught up on some tax work and caught a nap to help cure the cold that I have. Joe and Laramie went to a National Turkey Federation Banquet in Dodge City in the evening.

April 10, 2004

Joe went to receive cattle on some grass. The cattle belong to someone else. We will be taking care of them throughout the summer. There are more and more calves dotting the pastures everywhere. Every once in a while I will see a few cows off by themselves and know by the way they are acting that they have a calf somewhere nearby.

Joe checked out an animal hole in the milk cow pen. It looked like it might have been a skunk hole. Since it was so close to the chicken coop, he wanted to make sure there were no skunks living there. Skunks can be predators of chickens. Evidently the cats have been hunting for mice there. There was no scent or sign of a skunk nearby.

Laramie set some of his homemade rabbit and snail traps. I am sure he won't catch anything, but he has been creative in making them.

April 11, 2004

It is Easter, my favorite holiday. We got up very early and did the milk cow and chicken chores and then headed to church to help with Easter Breakfast. I played the organ for the service. Laramie participated in the Easter egg hunt afterwards. We came and finished the chores and took a nap. I am still trying to get caught up on my income tax business. It is almost April 15th, so it won't be much longer.

Joe went North of Mullinville to check on the cattle he took in earlier in the week and also the cattle south of Mullinville. There are already 40 head of calves there. We are more than half way done calving with that set of cows.

I milked the cow tonight. I don't milk her unless I need the milk. The rest of the time, I tie her up and let orphan calves suck her. She is getting bigger by the week. It is harder and harder to fit in under her belly and milk her. Soon I expect she will have a little calf of her own.

The milk goat and ewe are also beginning to bag and show signs of getting closer to kidding and lambing. It will probably by another 2 or 3 weeks for them.

April 21, 2004

It was a nice day to be working outside. Laramie, Joe and I went South of Mullinville to sort off pairs and take them to pasture North of Mullinville. Joe saddled a colt to ride, so I decided to ride Yeller. He is an experienced ranch horse. When we are doing cattle work that might be a little ticklish and Joe is riding a colt, it means I have to be ready to fill in any holes he might make because of the inexperienced colt. Laramie rode his little mare.

Laramie and Joe had been taking the herd to the corner and sorting off pairs and then taking them to the corral. Today we decided to take the whole herd to the corral. There had been two cows that had gotten away on them last week, and they did not need to be spoiled again, or they would decide they could make themselves "unpennable".

Since we were gathering brand new pairs, one always has to make sure you never leave behind a baby calf that the cow has hid. This can be tricky since the older cows will act as though they have no calf until they are at the corral. We circled the pasture and noticed a cow at the south end. She didn't have a calf with her, but I figured it was hidden out. The little guy was hidden pretty well, clear across the fence in the neighbor's pasture. Joe walked over and got him up and gave him a nudge. When the calf bellered as though he was being attacked by a mountain lion, off the hill the cow came to fetch him. We left a cow and calf behind. The calf had just been born the day before and wouldn't have traveled all the way to the corrals. We left another cow back that didn't have her calf with her.

The two sour cows did attempt to leave the herd when we were in a tough spot to hold them, but Joe and I turned them as Laramie pushed the rest of the herd to the corrals. We gave them some time to pair back up and then began sorting off one pair at a time. It is not always easy to find a pair. A calf may follow a cow for quite a while, and as it turns out that cow is not his mama. Some calves can be marked with the same markings as a cow and not be a pair. There was one black calf with a blaze face. There was also a black cow with an identical blaze face. To the inexperienced, it would seem obvious they had to be a pair. As it turns out, the calf belonged to a red cow with a completely white face. We watch to see if the mama cow sniffs the calf and then turns around to lead him off, or turns around to find another prospective calf as her own.

One cow had two big teats. We put her in the chute and milked her out. We will leave her in the corral for a couple of days and milk the teats out. The calf then will be able to get a hold of them when they are milked out and smaller and then be able to continue sucking on them himself.

After we sorted a load, we loaded them and hauled them to the new pasture. They were locked in a corral to pair back up before we turned them out. The stud horse and mares came in as we were unloading. I ran over to lock him up so we could take him to the neighbors later on. We ate dinner in town and then headed back to get another load of pairs. Joe hauled the other load of pairs while Laramie and I hauled a load of hay home.

When we got home, there was a colt in the driveway. The pasture fence was down, I patched it a bit and got the horse in the corral. Laramie and I did school afterwards.

Joe didn't get home until very late. As it turned out, when he got back to the first pasture, there was a lone calf laying by the water tank. Evidently he had crawled out when we were loading the first compartment of calves. Joe loaded him in the trailer so he didn't run off to hide in the pasture and then went to look for a calf we couldn't find when we gathered. He rode the whole pasture up and down. The cow would just stand on a bluff and watch him, not giving a clue as to where he was. Finally, on the way back to the corral, there in a clump of grass laid a black blob. The cow came barreling down from the bluff and wanted to fight Joe's horse. Joe needed to see if the calf was sick, or just hiding. The cow accidentally stepped on the calf in all her excitement it got up and Joe could see that it was all right. The colt he was riding was not going to get himself anywhere near the protective mama!

April 25, 2004

I have had the flu for part of the week. It rained for a couple of days, so I didn't loose much time. Today was the first day I felt like doing anything.

After church, Mike and Scott Strodtman came over and helped us castrate two colts that Joe had sold to a gal. After they were done with the first one, I led one of them to the creek to drink. This one had not been halter broke yet, and would not lead willingly, so I used another horse, dallied up to the saddle horn and took him to the creek for a reward of a drink.

After they cut the second one, Joe worked a bit with all of the saddle horses. They had been locked up since morning. There are about 15 of them in the pen. He opened the gate wide enough to entice them to come out, but expected each of them to stop on the way out and be petted. They would have rather run back out in the pasture and grabbed a bite to eat, but they were patient. Even the younger horses submitted to a casual rub. Only one young, paint colt didn't like the idea. He came up once for a pet, but then kept going back in the corral. Joe clucked at him to get him to gallop around the pen and come back. Finally, Joe decided to keep him in and let him out tomorrow and see if he had decided it would be O.K. to get a little petting before he went out. Joe put him in a smaller pen and worked with him for a while.

I wanted to plant my garden the first of April. We had a hard freeze about a week ago, so I am glad I didn't get around to it. I burned off part of the old garden and got it ready to till up. Afterwards we went over to Strodtman's house for some homemade ice cream and a visit. When we got back home it was chore time. Joe and I worked on finishing touches and a packing crate for a longhorn skull he had sold.

April 27, 2004

This afternoon we went around some of the cross fences in the Walnut pasture. We will sort cows tomorrow and be ready to rotate through this pasture with the main bunch of them.

April 28, 2004

We gathered two pastures to the corral today. Joe sorted off some pairs to take to a pasture south of Protection and some steers and bulls to take to the Hall ground. There were not too many mishaps. We had all the cows sorted and were taking them down a long, wide alleyway into another pen before we turned them out in the pasture. Two bulls were in a pen beside the alleyway. They decided they needed to go with the cows. Joe saw them thinking about it, but it was too late to get around them. I ran through several pens and shut the gate at the end of the alley before they got into the bigger pen. We were able to sort them off again. I got cornered only twice by cows who had already gone through the gate and couldn't find their calves. They are not usually mean cows, but with all the other cows bawling, they thought I was a good target.

It was a long day, but we accomplished it all.

April 29, 2004

Laramie and I were planting the garden this morning and we could hear Joe honking and honking on the horn of the pickup. Just as I had expected, the bulls we pulled yesterday had found a way to get in with the cows. Joe was calling the cows into the corral by honking the horn. They associate the horn with the feeding of cake in the wintertime. He was able to get all the bulls and most of the cows in the alleyway with the feed truck and fed them some cake on the ground. We sorted the bulls once more and left them in the corral this time.

Spring has sprung and the bulls have one thing on their mind, and that is cows. We don't want to begin breeding the cows for a month or so though. We don't want them to calve in the cold winter months when it is easy to loose a calf in a snowstorm. More importantly, the cow will have a higher nutritional requirement if she calves in the winter or early spring. She would be calving when there was no growing forage for herself and to feed a calf, too. By calving later, when the grass is growing, we match her nutritional needs with the growing cycle of the grasses. It is more economical also.

I went to the church after the bull fiasco to serve a dinner for a funeral. Joe and Laramie went to Kiowa county to check the cattle there and deliver two colts we sold.

May 1, 2004

I had hoped it would be a Saturday in which I could get a lot of things done like the laundry and cleaning. All went fine until I got a call from the Comanche County Sheriff's office that there were longhorn cattle on the highway on the Oklahoma State Line. I could not get a hold of the fellow who is running the cattle for us down that way, so Laramie and I loaded up the cow dog and headed down there. I figured someone else would have them in by the time we got there, since it is nearly 40 miles to the place down there. Laramie and I could find no cattle out and no sign on any being out. I went around the fence and patched a few places here and there, but there was no place that cattle could have gotten out.

I did see there were longhorns on the neighboring pasture. I decided someone had put the cattle in already on the wrong pasture. After we were done with the fence work, I had a look at them. They didn't appear to be any cattle I ever remembered being ours, and I didn't see any of our brands on them. As it turns out, that neighbor had also taken in some longhorn cattle on pasture and they were the ones that had been out on the highway. It never fails! It was a trip for almost nothing. I did get some fence fixed anyway.

Joe was mowing the yard when we got back. He and Laramie went fishing in the evening and caught 3 pretty nice bass out of the creek. I milked the cow and we called it a day.

May 3, 2004

We had two cattle buyers call this morning. Joe had to take down some electric fence South of Mullinville. I could tell we were going to run out of time to get everything done, so Laramie and I gathered the roping cattle out of the Yucca Pasture. As usual, the cattle were split in two different bunches. This pasture is in a square, horseshoe shape, and can be hard to gather since it has bogs, and rocky areas. To top it off, there are yearling colts and a few older horses in that pasture too. The colts usually have to run up to the saddled horses and smell us, and gallop about in large circles. Since we were gathering yearling cattle also, that made it even more interesting. Yearling cattle sometimes follow instead of being driven simply out of curiosity.

We had colts galloping around, about 20 head of yearlings following them and Laramie and I in the middle. A gray colt came up behind Laramie's mare. She is seasoned enough, she decided to give the curious colt something he wasn't looking for. She kicked him with both hind feet in the chest. It caught Laramie off guard, but I chuckled. I sent the cow dogs after the horses to run them off to the far part of the pasture. I hoped they wouldn't decide to come running back through the middle of the herd again, once we had them gathered and headed to the gate.

We rode around the bog. Laramie brought up the rear as I loped around and turned the cattle in the right direction. I also had to gallop over into a draw and get some cows with calves and heifers moving in the right direction. The horses were inching their way forward off the hill, to watch the happenings. Soon, Laramie had made the corner with his bunch and came on top of the hill to see what was taking me so long. After my bunch got headed out, Laramie loped down to get his bunch with mine.

All was working like clockwork until a baby calf decided to head North as fast as he could. His mama was right behind him. I couldn't turn him. We were close to a fence. Usually it is the goal not to run cattle through the fence. At this point, the calf was headed out with the cow in tow. The yearlings were also following. We were too close to the gate to lose them now. I slowed down a bit and got where I could get the calf through the fence. I knew the cow would then stop and I could get her turned. The calf was small enough, he turned around and followed and soon made his way back through the fence. It must have been five seconds from the time I had conceived the plan to its finish. It was one of those split second decisions that actually did work.

We got them gathered. Joe got back from fencing and we sorted the heifers from the steers and doctored a few with bad eyes. Joe stayed home to sell cattle and gather another pasture and check calves. Laramie and I went to Dodge City to sell natural beef and do some research at the Kansas Heritage Center. When we got back late in the evening, I helped Joe finish sorting cattle horseback and then we did the evening chores. We are about on our summer schedule again! We don't get supper eaten until 8:30 orthrough the middle of the herd 9:00 at night during the spring, summer and fall.

May 4, 2004

Today was another full and long day. After early morning chores and Joe checking everything, Laramie and I saddled horses for all three of us. Joe took Laramie and I to the Ralstin place. Laramie and I rode through all the cows and calves there. Only one calf showed signs of scours, but he didn't appear to be ill enough to need doctored or re-hydrated, so we left him for today. The windmill was pumping and full. We found the eight brood mares and ran them in from the far pasture. I only had to turn them twice and they didn't try anything too crazy.

When one gathers cattle it is usually just at a walk or trot or an occasional gallop to redirect them, but when one gathers horses, it is usually at a gallop the whole way. After we had them in the corral, I sorted three of them off to go to a different pasture. While we waited on Joe, I practiced roping and Laramie played with a box turtle he had found in the prairie dog town we had ridden through.

Joe picked us up and we loaded three of the mares and the saddle horses. After eating dinner at the café, we hauled the mares to the NN place and turned them out in their new pasture. We shut all the gates and turned the windmill on.

Next we gathered a pasture that had 9 pair, 2 dry cows, which had lost calves, and 6 cows that haven't calved yet. There was one charolais cow in the bunch that gets awfully hard to handle when her calf is young. She is protective. She is an amazing jumper for her size and often decides she can jump any fence on the place. While we were gathering, her small calf went through the fence. The cow, of course, looking for an excuse to escape the gathering effort, jumped the fence. As Laramie and I held the rest of the herd against the fence, Joe dismounted, and tied his colt to the fence. He grabbed a short piece of old fence post for defense and went on the other side of the fence to coax the calf through so his mama would follow too. It actually did work. The calf went back through the fence and the mama leapt back over the fence.

The rest of the gathering went well. It was the sorting that got wild. Often small calves don't stay with their mamas, especially in a corral when they are in a bunch and getting jostled around. We got the cows in the alleyway and had the calves about three feet from the inside of the gate when the charolais cow decided she had enough of humans messing with baby calves. Out she came. Laramie's well-educated horse left in a hurry. I stayed until I thought she was going to hit my horse. Joe had tied his colt up and was trying to get the gate shut. He didn't make it in time. His colt spooked and broke his reins. After a few tries, we got all the cows and calves in the alley and sorted and loaded the first load. We hauled these cows to the Ralstin place and then hauled the rest of the brood mares to their pasture. We were about late to help the neighbors brand a small bunch of calves, so I took Joe and Laramie and their horses to the neighbors. They helped rope and drag calves to the fire to be branded while I loaded and hauled the last of the cows to the Ralstin place.

By the time I got back to the Spurgeon's where they were branding, they only had six calves left to brand. They finished up and took the cattle back to pasture and we came home to do evening chores. It was another long day outside, but it had been a beautiful one!

May 9, 2004

It is Mother's Day. Laramie gave me a great present. He let me choose a rooster out of the three roosters that he has. He was beaming, and I am now a proud owner of a black rooster. We went to church.

Joe gathered cattle and later in the day we sorted them and doctored a few bad eyes. We sorted some yearling filly colts off to take them to summer pasture. A family came down to look at a horse to buy. They tried it out and said they would let us know in a few days if they wanted her or not. We got a surprise visit from some friends. We don't have many people drop by, so it was a treat. We visited and Laramie showed them his newly built turtle and lizard habitat. Joe finished mowing around the barnyard. Our middle son, Cody, arrived. He is going to be helping us build fence the next few days. It had been a sweltering day of 97 degrees, but a leisurely one.

May 10

Baby Lambs! That's what I yelled as I went down to milk the cow this morning. There was Laramie's ewe with two itty-bitty lambs. He spent part of the day with them and helped fix the shed door so they could go inside in case it rained.

Joe and Cody worked hard today. Cody fixed the pasture fence for the fillies. Joe delivered the mower back to my dad's place and unloaded the fillies on his way home. The rest of the day they cut down hedge trees for posts. Hedge trees are a great renewable resource. They can be cut off to make posts and grow back to supply us with new ones. I helped a bit dragging off limbs and then came back to the house to do chores and fix them a big supper.

May 11, 2004

Joe, Laramie and I made our weekly run to town. Laramie sells eggs on Tuesdays and we deliver some natural hamburger also. We did our banking and then traveled to Greensburg to the Chiropractor. Joe did business at the Lumber Yard while Laramie and I got groceries for the week. I can hardly wait for the garden to produce to cut back on some of that shopping!

On the way back home, we checked cattle for sick calves and checked windmills. We went to the N&N place and picked up some posts and wire roller for the fence building we are doing this week. Laramie also picked up two pullets from a boy who had gotten them at Easter time and now didn't know what to do with them. Laramie is always glad to get more chickens. He put them in the chicken coop right away.

Cody and Joe spent the rest of the day making fence posts out of trees. They were dead tired by the end of the day.

May 23, 2004

The milk cow had her calf today. I was getting tired of waiting!

June 6, 2004

It has been a busy two weeks. During the week of May we traveled to Kingsville, TX to move Joe's sister to Roff, Oklahoma. We have friends stay at our ranch while we are gone, to do the chores and to check the cattle. It was a good thing they were around. Our milk cow had a new calf and it got sick. They were able to call my dad to doctor it. It has been bucking and playing for the past three days, so I think he is out of the woods now. We also had a windmill break while we were gone. A friend was able to haul water to the cattle until we got back.

During the first week of June we were busy catching up from the week before. We branded one set of calves North of Mullinville and got all the cattle checked at various places. In the evenings we had Vacation Bible School at the church. We had a family of tourists come out for a few hours to see what ranch life is all about. On Saturday we also had a guest out. She rode the pastures with me and helped me doctor some cattle and a mare. We rode through most of the pastures on the place. It is very dry here. The pastures should be green and growing at this time of year. They are very yellow, brown and burning up. We rode every paddock to see the grass conditions to help make some determinations about how many cattle to stock where and how soon to move them off the paddocks they are on now.

Saturday evening the gal and I camped on the creek. The next morning the pickup wouldn't start, so we hiked up the creek, back to the house. It was a good long walk, but enjoyable. We saw a nice buck with his antlers in the velvet. They are just now growing back and very soft and velvety. The rest of the day I spent taking a nap and getting the pickup running again. Today I let the milk cow out of the pen with her calves. They bucked and played, kicking up their heels. They were thrilled with their new freedom.

June 7, 2004

Joe left early this morning to fix the windmill North of Mullinville. The weather forecast said the wind would blow at 29 miles an hour. Since the wind was still calm this morning, he was hoping to fix it before it really started to blow. He will have to climb up the tall windmill tower, crawl over the edge of a small ledge and stand on the small ledge and replace a spring at the top of the tower. It is never a fun experience.

October 11, 2004

I was in the kitchen all day long baking for the trail drive. We always eat well on the drive. No one ever goes hungry or has to hunt far for a snack. We have two guests who came early for the trail drive. They are Louis and Denis from Quebec. Joe, Laramie, Louis and Denis went to Mullinville this morning to gather some cattle that we run for another fellow. It was raining and quite muddy. They got the cattle gathered and brought them into the corral to sort off the calves. The owner was vaccinating the calves. Louis and Denis brought the cattle horseback to Joe and Laramie, who were afoot. Laramie and Joe sorted the calves off and pushed them up an alleyway as the owner vaccinated the calves. It was a sloppy day. Laramie gave everyone a laugh when he tripped on his spur and did a nosedive into the mud. The rest of the day they checked cattle.

October 13-15, 2004 Trail Drive

It is time for the fall trail drive! We had 8 guests along. Two were from Quebec, two from Minnesota, North Carolina, and the other pair were from Indiana. It is always fun to meet others from around the country and have a good visit. Cody, our middle son, was back to help us as well as my brother, Jeff, from New Mexico.

Joe put on a good show for us, not three quarters of a mile from the house. He was riding a colt and he decided to take his head. With a bow in his back, that colt bucked hard in a circle in front of the chuckwagon. Joe was using some slick reins, and they kept pulling out of his hands. He finally yelled at the colt and he stopped. We all had quite a chuckle at the little show. Unfortunately for the rest of us who enjoyed the show, the colt didn't buck the rest of the drive.

There has been rain forecasted for every single trail drive we have had. This drive was the first time the forecast was correct. Our first day out started with great weather, but gradually, we could see some dark skies to the west. Fortunately the wind was to our backs and most everyone had a slicker. Those who didn't found a raincoat or slicker of some kind in the chuckwagon to keep them dry. The cows moved along really well that day and we made good time. The rain was light and not uncomfortable. I had gone ahead with the chuckwagon to get the fire started and get the coffee and supper cooking. It was a bit of a fight with wet weather to get the fire started. Everyone waited patiently for some hot stew, cornbread and peach cobbler to eat. A friend of mine, Lisa Stout, came out with her guitar to sing a bit. We also enjoyed some great guitar playing and singing from one of the guests, Skip Cady.

Some of the guests had commented they would sleep under the stars. Even though the rain had stopped and the sky was clear, everyone crawled into a teepee except for Joe and Laramie and I. The stars were great that night. You could see every one of them. That didn't keep me from crawling deep in my bedroll. I was grateful for the wool coat I had brought along at the last minute.

I woke up once to hear Laramie grunting in his bedroll. Finally I shinnied out of my bag and bedroll and went over to see what was wrong. He was laying under his sleeping bag with only a layer of canvas and the pad between him and the ground. I pulled him out and worked on stuffing him back in his sleeping bag, which was encased in the canvas bedroll. Usually stuffing a kid in a bag is not too difficult of a job, but he had on boots... and his chaps. It was like trying to stuff 3 pairs of bell-bottom pants into a narrow boot top. The rest of the night was peaceful.

Then next morning we woke up to a hard freeze and ice here and there. We had hot coffee, hot cocoa, eggs and bacon. We were on down the trail again. The day warmed up quickly and turned in to a comfortable day. My horse was feeling his oats, so I took him out in a plowed field to warm him up and get him over his desire to go, go, go. We traveled quite a ways that day. We ended up south of Protection. The cattle again had traveled well and ended up getting at camp at 3:00 in the afternoon. We set up camp and while I was fixing supper, the guys went out and did some target shooting. We had brisket, potatoes and biscuits. For the first time ever, I burned the biscuits. Most of the guys were still down target shooting. Those in camp assured me that the black bottoms of biscuits were just right. When they saw I wouldn't fall for that, they all pitched in to help me mix up another batch and get them in the Dutch Ovens to cook.

We spent the evening around the campfire. It was a much warmer night. The sky was still clear as a bell and you could see jillions of stars. Molly, our cow dog, was almost worn out and slept soundly on Laramie's bedroll all night. I made sure Laramie was inside of his bag before I went to bed this time!

Morning brought us biscuits and gravy and eggs and bacon to eat. The cattle were only about 6 miles from pasture. The guys drove them on while I picked up camp and put everything back in the chuckbox on the chuckwagon. They rode their horses back to camp and made their way back to the ranch. Some of the fellas were headed home, so they ran through the shower in shifts and had chili and ham and beans before they got back on the road. Our guests from Quebec went back out to spend the afternoon riding. I kept busy all day long cleaning, washing and putting things away. That night Joe made points by taking us all out to eat. I had been cooking and baking for this trail drive for some time. He knew how to make my day!

October 19, 2004

Joe and Laramie left early this morning to help the neighbors gather their cows. They had intended on riding the five miles over there, but the fog was way too thick to ride through in the dark of the morning, so Joe hauled the horses there. They ended up being there all day long. They gathered, weaned calves, and then worked the cattle in the afternoon. The vet came to preg check the cows and they were vaccinated as well.

I did the evening and morning chores since they left so early and came in so late. I made good use of the hours they were gone. I got all the bedrolls put away, all the sleeping bags cleaned and put up. The chuckbox is repacked with clean dishes and clean Dutch Ovens for the next trail drive. I am so glad it is all back in place. It usually takes me 2 weeks to get it all done!

October 21, 2004

Today was one of those long, hard, tiring days. We began early this morning, long before the sun was up. Joe caught the horses and grained them. I packed a lunch and helped get the horses saddled. This morning we split up. Joe went with John Trabert to ship the calves that had been corralled yesterday. At the same time Laramie and I left to gather the big pasture at Buffalo, Oklahoma. There was dense fog everywhere, which is not very conducive to gathering a pasture of cows. This particular set of cows likes to split up also.

Laramie and I began by riding the west side of the pasture. It is rough in places, so every draw had to be ridden. A cow could only be seen when you were about 12 feet from her. We trotted for nearly an hour, checking every ravine, and trying to keep bearings of where we were. I had only been in that part of the pasture one time before, so it made the morning even more challenging. The sun did try once in a while to shine through the haze. That made it easy to make sure I was still on the west part of the pasture.

Finally we came upon about 20 cows. I sent Laramie about 100 yards from me to ride near the fence. I had hoped to keep him in yelling distance, but I came up on some more cattle and needed to get them headed in the right direction. I loped quite a ways and loped back to see if I could find Laramie anywhere. Finally I did see him. Instead of heading North along the good fence, he was headed south along an interior fence. This time I put him on the outside fence and told him just to follow the fence around if he got lost.

We started combing the North part of the pasture and the fog began to lift a bit. We came upon the bulk of the cows just as Kent Jarnigan found me. Kent Woolfolk was near Laramie, so we headed the cows to the corrals. John and Joe caught up with us. By now the fog was not a deterrence, so we penned the cows.

At these pens we usually spill one calf from the small trap before he gets in the corral. This time, he made it through the barbwire and was headed out. Kent had stayed outside to try to prevent an escape, so he headed out after him. I yelled at the dogs, Molly and Rita to stay with me, but they couldn't help themselves. They were out for an adventure. It turned out to be a good thing the dogs went. They turned the calf around and he came back to the corral. Now the test was to get the calf in the corral without the other cows and calves coming out. John let a cow out in hopes the calf would buddy up with her. He was more interested in finding a way out again and paid no attention to the cow. After another near escape, the corral gate was cracked and when he was headed straight away, I ran him in the corral with the other cattle.

We sorted off the calves and a few older cows to send the auction. We also sorted off a steer and a bull that belonged to two other neighbors. The semi truck was there waiting on us to load. After we sorted and loaded, delivered the neighbor's strays home, we had a quick picnic lunch and headed into town to fuel up and get to the next pasture. There was no fog by the time we made it to the next pasture. Kent and Kent had the cows almost gathered to a set of portable panels by the time we got there. We got them all in except for 2 calves which went through the barbwire fence to the south. After we regrouped, we took down the fence, since there was no gate and began to attempt to drive the calves toward the portable corral. The two calves sprang up like deer and took off at full speed. Kent Woolfolk roped one of them. I ran my horse around the other one before he got to the other end of the pasture. I didn't want him to go through yet another fence. I turned and faced him a ways off and he did stop. Kent was off of his horse tying the first calf down. The rest of the guys came over the hill and made another attempt to drive him closer to the pens. In the end, he was roped and tied down as well.

We watered our horses while Kent brought the truck and trailer to load the calves. It is always a little touchy to load out of temporary corrals. We did manage to get the cows sorted of the calves and began loading them in trailers. They then trailered the calves to the larger set of corrals in the big pasture. Laramie and I waited until someone returned with a trailer to haul the horses. We were then off to the next pasture.

There were no mishaps in the large pasture. Gathering went well. The day was getting warm and everyone was getting tired, very thirsty and hungry. We sorted again and then began loading the rest of the semi truck. The calves didn't load well. The chute and loading alley is just wide enough for the calves to turn around. After a mild battle, the truck was loaded and on its way. Laramie and I hauled the horses home and did the evening chores, while Joe hauled two loads of bulls and weaning calves to other corrals and pastures. It was past 10:00 at night when he got home.

Oct 22, 2004

I am usually not sore from riding. Yesterday we trotted so much in the fog that my calf muscles were sore. This morning we got up early again. We wanted to leave Kansas by 2:00 to watch my nephew play in a High School football game that evening. Joe left early to go to the Chiropractor. I met him in town with a trailer full of horses. We went to the Ralstin place to ride cattle there and hunt for the two head we are short. All the cattle appeared fine, even though we still haven't found the two head.

We then went south of Mullinville and checked the weaning calves. From the road we could see they were pretty well spread out, so Laramie and I unloaded and loped across a field to the back gate. We checked everything on the west side and met Joe who had begun riding from the west cattle guard. Again, everything was fine. There was a handful of calves in the corral. Joe had hauled them there the day before. We are weaning them, so they stay in the corral. If we would let them out before they are done bawling, they could run through any number of fences trying to find their way back to their mamas. We fed the calves in the corral and headed back home so we could change and be on our way to New Mexico.
The game was great! We got there just before it started. My nephew, Justin, is the quarterback for New Mexico Military Institute. The team had a winning game. It was a long, seven-hour trip, but traveling to see family is never so bad.

October 24, 2004

It is Sunday. Our trip home from New Mexico was so long yesterday. I am glad to go to church and rest up a bit. Afterwards I hauled a horse to the Habinger's home. Their 12-year-old daughter is leasing it from us. The girl was ready for church to be over so we could get it unloaded and she could ride. I knew it was a mistake to haul a horse to church and expect her to sit through Bible Study and Church without dreaming about the horse. It is always great to see the sparkle and love in a girl's eyes as she sees her dream come true. First thing she did after we got to their house was jump on and take a ride. Laramie and I stayed for lunch and then headed home.

October 30, 2004

Laramie and I took a Hunter's Safety course this weekend. It was a great class, but I just hate being cooped up indoors. At least it will enable us to do some hunting together out-of-doors later on.

Joe gathered the cows at Mullinville this morning. He left early since it was just he and the two dogs to gather the whole pasture. He had decided to ride a very green colt also, so wanted to allow himself plenty of time. These are the cows we are custom grazing for another fellow. He gave his calves booster vaccinations today.

Joe said he got along well with the colt except he had trouble loading him in the trailer. That often happens with colts. They figure out that darned trailer just takes them to another pasture where they have to be ridden and work. After a few weeks, he will change his mind about the trailer. He will realize the trailer is a place to rest, and eventually that trailer will also haul him back to the ranch where he will be unsaddled and get a reward of grain.

October 31, 2004

We finished Hunter's Safety today after church. Joe had ridden his colt again to check cattle south of Mullinville, and he spent the rest of the day riding colts. Lots of experience under a saddle makes a good horse, so Joe was putting in the hours. Joe's paint colt was not thrilled about the dogs traveling along behind him, but he will someday have to decide it is just the way life is to be for him.

November 1, 2004

Wow, winter is here. The wind is blowing like mad and we all dug out our wild rags and heavy coats. We have had a great fall. We did have a frost and a freeze, but we did manage to have some tomatoes survive. Joe picked the last of the beets, tomatoes and peppers today. I have never picked vegetables out of a garden so late here! Joe spent most of the day catching up on some office work and doing errands in town.

November 2, 2004

Joe took a horse to the veterinarian to have him Coggins tested. The horse has been sold to someone in Texas and according to regulations has to be tested for certain diseases and issued a health certificate before it can be shipped.

Afterwards he headed for another pasture. He stopped in Protection to have a tire fixed and stopped at the café for lunch. As he was leaving the café, he saw an older lady and her husband heading in to eat. He went to help the woman into the café. As he was helping the lady, her husband stubbed his toe on the curb and he fell down. Joe waited with them for the ambulance to come and then headed out to check the cattle south of Mullinville. The fellow probably just has some nasty bruises from the fall. Joe wished he had been able to help both of them at the same time.

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