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Bowman is nestled in the sure-nuff cowboy country of southwestern North Dakota. If a fella was to draw a circle around that fair little city with about a hundred and fifty mile radius, you’d probably have just drawn a line around the highest concentration of good cowboys in the entire world. Casey Tibbs the famous bronc stomper would more than likely head the pack, based simply on all his World Championship buckles, but then there’s the famous bulldoggin’ town of Buffalo, South Dakota, just...
Dick and Billy had rattled their old pickup over west of the big mountains to a bull sale last spring, and were pointed back towards home. "Dang it, but it's nice out," Billy burped, his bleary eyes taking in the beautiful pine covered slopes. "Whadaya say we lay over a day 'er two and do a little fishin'." Dick was all for it, but they didn't have anything along for a fishin' trip. They'd just figured on running over to the bull sale and right back home. "Ahh, what the heck, we just put the...
Don’t you just love the holidays? By this time of year most of us have pretty well given up on all the work we had planned for this fall (to be totally honest, we really didn’t think we’d ever get it all done anyway), and we take a little time to kick back and relax and be thankful for what we have. A lot of the rest of the year we’re just too durn busy trying to stay on top of the work that’s piling up before us to even think about it, but come Thanksgiving and Christmas, we can take a little...
Here it was over a month after the big deal, and Dick was still down in the dumps and walkin’ around with this bummed-out frown on his face. He looked a lot like a sheepherder that just got his dog shot. “Aw come on cheer up,” his ol’ buddy Billy chided, trying to hold back the little giggle that always seemed to sneak up out of his belly when he thought about it. “You’ll pr’obly never see her again anyway.” “Just clam up,” Dick snarled back, ignoring his chuckling pardner. “I’m goin’ ridin’....
There’s not anyone that likes being embarrassed. As I stop and think a minute on a couple of the more uncomfortable things I’ve been through, my face gets red just thinkin’ about them. But then on the other hand, a person with a depraved criminal mind such as I have been blessed with, can somehow find glee and immense satisfaction in trapping some poor innocent soul in an embarrassing situation … IF (and only if) it can be justified in my own twisted thought patterns that they somehow have it...
It had been a good fall, the cattle were all shipped and the cows were in a fresh field with lots of grass, so Dick and Billy got the urge to go elk huntin’. “How ‘bout we load up our horses and some groceries and head up to the Bob Marshall Wilderness?” Dick hiccupped as he finished off his breakfast. (A barley sandwich.) “That’s a heck of a good idea,” Billy belched in reply. “We can take along our fishin’ poles, too. You gather up some grub, an’ I’ll run in the horses. I’m sick o’ fixin’ fe...
There's not a lot that can get under a cowboy's hide, but there are a few things that most of them would just rather not do. One of them is wranglin' dudes … that's almost the bottom of the barrel. Not long ago I ran into an old pardner of mine that I hadn't seen for over thirty years. I'd heard he'd been killed in a wreck when the brakes went out on a truck he was drivin'. The story I'd gotten was that he was haulin some cows off a lease in the mountains in Wyoming and had wound up down in t...
The sun was just beginning to set. Dick and Billy were perched out on the porch enjoying a warm evening last spring, when they heard the distinct rattle of a horse trailer coming over the hill. “Wonder who that could be?” Dick belched as he reached for another barley sandwich. (He’d been on the wagon for a while, but because he and Billy split the groceries 50-50, he had to start drinkin’ again just to get his money’s worth.) “I’ll be doggoned if ’n it don’t look like ol’ Slick Jacobson’s ou...
Sexual indiscretion has been known to get folks into real trouble. But with hormones bein’ what they are I suppose that it’s inevitable that it will happen on occasion, and our outfit isn’t any exception. I don’t think he was really to blame. After all, she’d bat the long lashes on those big liquid eyes of hers and flash the most seductive looks his way until self control was entirely out of the question. That’s not even to mention her alluring auburn hair glowing in the dim light of evening,...
If cowboy BS’ers had a union, they’d more than likely kick me out ... that is if they’d ever let me join in the first place. I really don’t think there’ll probably ever be such an organization, (… because who in the world could they possibly trust to take care of the dues money?) but if such an association did actually exist, there are a couple of rules that would most definitely be in their by-laws. 1. Never, ever tell a story that’s 100% the truth. (There are lots of good reasons for t...
The sun was just beginning to peak over the ridge, breakfast was in full swing, and Dick and Billy were having the same conversation they’d had ever’ morning for about six months. “How ‘bout a hotcake?” Dick asked his old partner as he flips a couple on his own plate. “Nope,” was Billy’s slurred reply as he popped the top on another beer. “I’m shtickin’ with the Breakfast of Champions.” The two old bachelor cronies had been sort of on the outs the last few months. Dick had quit drinkin’ last...
The culture of the West is changing, and I don’t like it. But, after givin’ this matter a little thought, I’ve come to the conclusion that the West has been in a constant state of flux for a couple of hundred years now, and the old guys never have liked it. This really isn’t anything new. The Indians didn’t like it when us whiteys started movin’ this way, the big cow outfits didn’t like it when the homesteaders started farmin’ up their free range, and probably nobody liked the fact that a lot...
If you’ve got cattle…. they’re gonna get out. You can count on it. That’s a law that must be written down someplace. A friend of mine shared a little tale with me the other day that needs repeatin’. He made me promise not to reveal his true identity, and after you hear the story, I think you’ll be able to see why. The Donaldson family ran Black Angus cattle, and like most ranchers, were pretty proud of their herd. They had a good bunch of cows, but back in those days black cattle weren’t as...
