Cattle Brands

Cattle Brands

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cattle Brands, by Andy Adams This
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Title: Cattle Brands A Collection of Western Camp-fire Stories
Author: Andy Adams
Release Date: May 6, 2004 [EBook #12281]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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BRANDS ***

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CATTLE BRANDS
A Collection of Western Camp-fire Stories
BY
ANDY ADAMS
1906

TO MR. AND MRS. HENRY RUSSELL WRAY

CONTENTS
I. DRIFTING NORTH

II. SEIGERMAN'S PER CENT
III. "BAD MEDICINE"
IV. A WINTER ROUND-UP
V. A COLLEGE VAGABOND
VI. THE DOUBLE TRAIL
VII. RANGERING
VIII. AT COMANCHE FORD
IX. AROUND THE SPADE WAGON
X. THE RANSOM OF DON RAMON MORA
XI. THE PASSING OF PEG-LEG
XII. IN THE HANDS OF HIS FRIENDS
XIII. A QUESTION OF POSSESSION
XIV. THE STORY OF A POKER STEER
"The Passing of Peg-Leg" and "A Question of Possession" appeared
originally in _Leslie's Monthly_, and are here reprinted by permission
of the publishers of that magazine.

BRANDS
[Illustration:] Bar X bar.
[Illustration:] Ohio.
[Illustration:] Barb wire.
[Illustration:] Hat.
[Illustration:] Apple.
[Illustration:] Diamond tail.
[Illustration:] Iowa.
[Illustration:] Johnson & Hosmer
[Illustration:] United States.[1]
[Illustration:] "Sold."[1]
[Illustration:] Dead tree.
[Illustration:] Tin cup.
[Illustration:] Snake.
[Illustration:] Bar Z bar.
[Illustration:] Running W.
[Illustration:] Three circle.
[Illustration:] Two bars.
[Illustration:] Broken arrow.
[Illustration:] Four D.

[Illustration:] Turkey track.
[Illustration:] Owned by "Barbecue" Campbell.
[Illustration:] L.X.
[Illustration:] "Inspected and condemned."[1]
[Illustration:] Spade.
[Illustration:] Flower pot.
[Illustration:] Frying pan.
[Illustration:] Laurel leaf.
[Illustration:] X bar two.
[Footnote 1: These three belong to the United States Government.]

CATTLE BRANDS

I
DRIFTING NORTH
It was a wet, bad year on the Old Western Trail. From Red River north
and all along was herd after herd waterbound by high water in the
rivers. Our outfit lay over nearly a week on the South Canadian, but we
were not alone, for there were five other herds waiting for the river to
go down. This river had tumbled over her banks for several days, and
the driftwood that was coming down would have made it dangerous
swimming for cattle.
We were expected to arrive in Dodge early in June, but when we
reached the North Fork of the Canadian, we were two weeks behind
time.
Old George Carter, the owner of the herd, was growing very impatient
about us, for he had had no word from us after we had crossed Red
River at Doan's crossing. Other cowmen lying around Dodge, who had
herds on the trail, could hear nothing from their men, but in their
experience and confidence in their outfits guessed the cause--it was
water. Our surprise when we came opposite Camp Supply to have
Carter and a stranger ride out to meet us was not to be measured. They
had got impatient waiting, and had taken the mail buckboard to Supply,
making inquiries along the route for the Hat herd, which had not passed
up the trail, so they were assured. Carter was so impatient that he could
not wait, as he had a prospective buyer on his hands, and the delay in
the appearing of the herd was very annoying to him. Old George was as

tickled as a little boy to meet us all.
The cattle were looking as fine as silk. The lay-overs had rested them.
The horses were in good trim, considering the amount of wet weather
we had had. Here and there was a nigger brand, but these saddle galls
were unavoidable when using wet blankets. The cattle were twos and
threes. We had left western Texas with a few over thirty-two hundred
head and were none shy. We could have counted out more, but on some
of them the Hat brand had possibly faded out. We went into a cosy
camp early in the evening. Everything needful was at hand, wood,
water, and grass. Cowmen in those days prided themselves on their
outfits, and Carter was a trifle gone on his men.
With the cattle on hand, drinking was out of the question, so the only
way to show us any regard was to bring us a box of cigars. He must
have brought those cigars from Texas, for they were wrapped in a copy
of the Fort Worth "Gazette." It was a month old and full of news. Every
man in the outfit read and reread it. There were several train robberies
reported in it, but that was common in those days. They had nominated
for Governor "The Little Cavalryman," Sol