Chapter III. Receiving at Los Lobos

by Andy Adams

　　The trip to Lasalle County was mere pastime. All three of theoutfits kept in touch with each other, camping far enough apartto avoid any conflict in night-herding the remudas. The onlyincident to mar the pleasure of the outing was the discovery ofticks in many of our horses' ears. The pasture in which they hadwintered was somewhat brushy, and as there had been no frost tokill insect life, myriads of seed-ticks had dropped from themesquite thickets upon the animals when rubbing against orpassing underneath them. As the inner side of a horse's ear isboth warm and tender, that organ was frequently infested withthis pest, whose ravages often undermined the supportingcartilages and produced the drooping or "gotch" ear. In my remudaover one half the horses were afflicted with ticks, and many ofthem it was impossible to bridle, owing to the inflamed conditionof their ears. Fortunately we had with us some standardpreparations for blistering, so, diluting this in axle-grease, wethrew every animal thus affected and thoroughly swabbed his ears.On reaching the Nueces River, near the western boundary ofLasalle County, the other two outfits continued on down thatstream for their destination in the lower country. Flood remainedbehind with me, and going into camp on the river with my outfit,the two of us rode over to Los Lobos Ranch and announcedourselves as ready to receive the cattle. Dr. Beaver, the sellerof the herd, was expecting us, and sending word of our arrival toneighboring cowmen, we looked over the corrals before returningto camp. They had built a new branding-chute and otherwiseimproved their facilities for handling cattle. The main inclosurehad been built of heavy palisades in an early day, but recentlyseveral of smaller sized lumber had been added, making the mostcomplete corrals I had ever seen. An abundance of wood was athand for heating the branding-irons, and every little detail tofacilitate the work had been provided for. Giving notice that wewould receive every morning on the open prairie only, we declinedan invitation to remain at the ranch and returned to my wagon.In the valley the grass was well forward. We had traveled onlysome twenty miles a day coming down, and our horses had faredwell. But as soon as we received any cattle, night-herding theremuda would cease, and we must either hobble or resort to othermeasures. John Levering was my horse-wrangler. He had made twotrips over the trail with Fant's herds in the same capacity, wascareful, humane, and an all-round horseman. In employing a cook,I had given the berth to Neal Parent, an old boyhood chum ofmine. He never amounted to much as a cow-hand, but was alighthearted, happy fool; and as cooking did not require muchsense, I gave him the chance to make his first trip. Like a courtjester, he kept the outfit in fine spirits and was the butt ofall jokes. In entertaining company he was in a class by himself,and spoke with marked familiarity of all the prominent cowmen insouthern Texas. To a stranger the inference might be easily drawnthat Lovell was in his employ.As we were expecting to receive cattle on the third day, the nextmorning the allotment of horses was made. The usual custom ofgiving the foreman first choice was claimed, and I cut twelve ofsolid colors but not the largest ones. Taking turns, the outfitroped out horse after horse until only the ten extra ones wereleft. In order that these should bear a fair share in the work, Itook one of them for a night-horse and allotted the others to thesecond, third, and last guard in a similar capacity. This gavethe last three watches two horses apiece for night work, but withthe distinct understanding that in case of accident or injury toany horse in the remuda, they could be recalled. There was littledoubt that before the summer ended, they would be claimed to fillvacancies in the regular mounts. Flood had kept behind only twohorses with which to overtake the other outfits, and during hisstay with us would ride these extras and loans from my mount.The entire morning was spent working with the remuda. Once a manknew his mount, extra attention was shown each horse. There werewitches' bridles to be removed from their manes, extra long tailswere thinned out to the proper length, and all hoofs trimmedshort. The horses were fast shedding their winter coats, mattingthe saddle blankets with falling hair, and unless carefullywatched, galled backs would result. The branding-irons had beenaltered en route, and about noon a vaquero came down the riverand reported that the second round-up of the day would meet justover the county line in Dimmit. He belonged at Los Lobos, andreported the morning rodeo as containing over five hundredbeeves, which would be ready for delivery at our pleasure. Wemade him remain for dinner, after which Flood and I saddled upand returned with him. We reached the round-up just as thecutting-out finished. They were a fine lot of big rangy beeves,and Jim suggested that we pass upon them at once. The selleragreed to hold them overnight, and Flood and I culled back aboutone hundred and twenty which were under age or too light. Theround-up outfit strung the cattle out and counted them, reportinga few over seven hundred head. This count was merely informal andfor the information of the seller; but in the morning the finalone would be made, in which we could take a hand.After the cut had started in for the ranch, we loitered along,looking them over, and I noticed several that might have beenthrown out. "Well, now," said Flood, "if you are going to be sovery choice as all that, I might as well ride on. You can't useme if that bunch needs any more trimming. I call them a fine lotof beeves. It's all right for Don to rib the boys up and makethem think that the cattle have to be top-notchers. I've watchedhim receive too often; he's about the easiest man I know to ringin short ages on. Just so a steer looks nice, it's hard for theold man to turn one back. I've seen him receivingthree-year-olds, when one fourth of the cattle passed on wereshort twos. And if you call his attention to one, he'll justsmile that little smile of his, and say, 'yes, he may be shy afew months, but he'll grow.' But then that's just old man Don'sweakness for cattle; he can't look a steer in the face withoutfalling in love with him. Now, I've received before when bythrowing out one half the stock offered, you couldn't get asuniform a bunch of beeves as those are. But you go right ahead,Tom, and be sure that every hoof you accept will dress fivehundred pounds at Fort Buford. I'll simply sit around and clerkand help you count and give you a good chance to make areputation."Los Lobos was still an open range. They claimed to have over tenthousand mixed cattle in the straight ranch brand. There had beenno demand for matured beeves for several years, and now oneffecting this sale they were anxious to deliver all their grownsteers. Dr. Beaver informed us that, previous to our arrival, hisforeman had been throwing everything in on the home range, andthat he hoped to deliver to us over two thousand head from hisown personal holdings. But he was liberal with his neighbors, forin the contingent just passed upon, there must have been over ahundred head in various ranch brands. Assuring him that we wouldbe on hand in the morning to take possession of the cattle, andrequesting him to have a fire burning, on coming opposite thecamp, we turned off and rode for our wagon. It meant a big day'swork to road-brand this first contingent, and with the first signof dawn, my outfit were riding for Los Lobos. We were encampedabout three miles from the corrals, and leaving orders for thecook to follow up, the camp was abandoned with the exception ofthe remuda. It was barely sun-up when we counted and tookpossession of the beeves. On being relieved, the foreman of LosLobos took the ranch outfit and started off to renew thegathering. We penned the cattle without any trouble, and as soonas the irons were ready, a chuteful were run in and the brandingcommenced. This branding-chute was long enough to chamber eightbeeves. It was built about a foot wide at the bottom and flaredupward just enough to prevent an animal from turning round. Aheavy gate closed the exit, while bull-bars at the rear preventedthe occupant from backing out. A high platform ran along eitherside of the branding-chute, on which the men stood while handlingthe irons.Two men did the branding. "Runt" Pickett attended the fire,passing up the heated irons, and dodging the cold branding-steel.A single iron was often good for several animals, and sometimes achuteful was branded with two irons. It was necessary that thework should be well done; not that a five months' trip requiredit, but the unforeseen must be guarded against. Many trail herdshad met disaster and been scattered to the four winds withnothing but a road brand to identify them afterward. The cattlewere changing owners, and custom decreed that an abstract oftitle should be indelibly seared on their sides. The first guard,Jake Blair, Morg Tussler, and Clay Zilligan, were detailed to cutand drive the squads into the chute. These three were the onlymounted men, the others being placed so as to facilitate thework. Cattle are as innocent as they are strong, and in thisnecessary work everything was done quietly, care being taken toprevent them from becoming excited. As fast as they were releasedfrom the chute, Dr. Beaver took a list of the ranch brands, inorder to bill of sale them to Lovell and settle with hisneighbors.The work moved with alacrity. As one chuteful was being freed thenext one was entering. Gates closed in their faces and thebull-bars at the rear locked them as in a vice. We were averaginga hundred an hour, but the smoke from the burning hair wasoffensive to the lungs. During the forenoon Burl Van Vedder andVick Wolf "spelled" Flood and myself for half an hour at a time,or until we could recover from the nauseous fumes. When the cookcalled us to dinner, we had turned out nearly five hundredbranded cattle. No sooner was the midday meal bolted than thecook was ordered back to camp with his wagon, the brandedcontingent of cattle following in charge of the first guard.Less than half an hour was lost in refreshing the inner man, andordering "G--G" Cederdall, Tim Stanley, and Jack Splann of thesecond guard into their saddles to take the place of the relievedmen, we resumed our task. The dust of the corrals settled on usunheeded, the smoke of the fire mingled with that of the singeinghair and its offensive odors, bringing tears to our eyes, but thework never abated until the last steer had passed the chute andbore the "Open A."The work over, a pretense was made at washing the dust and grimefrom our faces. It was still early in the day, and starting thecattle for camp, I instructed the boys to water and graze them aslong as they would stand up. The men all knew their places onguard, this having been previously arranged; and joining Dr.Beaver, Jim and I rode for the ranch about a mile distant. Thedoctor was a genial host, and prescribed a series of mint-juleps,after which he proposed that we ride out and meet the cattlegathered during the day. The outfit had been working a section ofcountry around some lagoons, south of the ranch, and it was fullysix o'clock when we met them, heading homeward. The cattle werefully up to the standard of the first bunch, and halting the herdwe trimmed them down and passed on them. After Flood rode out ofthis second contingent, I culled back about a dozen lightweights. On finishing, Jim gave me a quiet wink, and saidsomething to Dr. Beaver about a new broom. But I paid noattention to these remarks; in a country simply teeming withprime beeves, I was determined to get a herd to my liking. Dr.Beaver had assured Lovell that he and his neighbors would throwtogether over four thousand beeves in making up the herd, and nowI was perfectly willing that they should. It would take two dayslonger to gather the cattle on the Los Lobos range, and thenthere were the outside offerings, which were supposed to numberfully two thousand. There was no excuse for not being choice.On returning to Los Lobos about dusk, rather than offend itsowner, Flood consented to remain at the ranch overnight, but Irode for camp. Darkness had fallen on my reaching the wagon, theherd had been bedded down, and Levering felt so confident thatthe remuda was contented that he had concluded to night-herd themhimself until midnight, and then turn them loose until dawn. Hehad belled a couple of the leaders, and assured me that he wouldhave them in hand before sun-up. The cook was urging me tosupper, but before unsaddling, I rode around both herd andremuda. The cattle were sleeping nicely, and the boys assured methat they had got a splendid fill on them before bedding down.That was the only safe thing to do, and after circling the saddlestock on the opposite side of camp, I returned to find that astranger had arrived during my brief absence. Parent had fullyenlightened him as to who he was, who the outfit were, thedestination of the herd, the names of both buyer and seller, and,on my riding in, was delivering a voluble dissertation on thetariff and the possible effect on the state of putting hides onthe free list. And although in cow-camps a soldier's introductionis usually sufficient, the cook inquired the stranger's name andpresented me to our guest with due formality. Supper beingwaiting, the stranger was invited to take pot-luck with us, andbefore the meal was over recognized me. He was a deputy cattleinspector for Dimmit County, and had issued the certificate forFlood's herd the year before. He had an eye for the main chance,and informed me that fully one half the cattle making up our herdbelonged to Dimmit; that the county line was only a mile up theriver, and that if I would allow the herd to drift over into histerritory, he would shade the legal rate. The law compelling theinspection of herds before they could be moved out of the county,like the rain, fell upon the just and the unjust. It was not theintent of the law to impose a burden on an honest drover. Yet hewas classed with the rustler, and must have in his possession acertificate of inspection before he could move out a purchasedherd, or be subject to arrest. A list of brands was recorded, atthe county seat, of every herd leaving, and if occasion requiredcould be referred to in future years. No railroad would receiveany consignment of hides or live stock, unless accompanied by acertificate from the county inspector. The legal rate was tencents on the first hundred, and three cents on all over thatnumber, frequently making the office a lucrative one.Once the object of his call was made clear, I warmed to ourguest. If the rate allowed by law was enforced, it meant anexpense of over a hundred dollars for a certificate of inspectioncovering both herd and saddle stock. We did not take outcertificates in Medina on the remudas as a matter of economy. Bywaiting until the herd was ready, the two would be inspected asone, and the lower rate apply. So I urged the deputy to makehimself at home and share my blankets. Pretending that Iremembered him well, I made numerous inquiries about the ranchwhere we received our herd the year before, and by the time toturn in, we were on the most friendly terms. The next morning Ioffered him a horse from our extras, assuring him that Floodwould be delighted to renew his acquaintance, and invited him togo with us for the day. Turning his horse among ours, heaccepted and rode away with us. The cattle passed on the eveningbefore had camped out several miles from the corrals and weregrazing in when we met them. Flood and the Doctor joined usshortly afterward, and I had a quiet word with Jim before he andthe inspector met. After the count was over, Flood made a greatado over my guest and gave him the glad hand as if he had been along-lost brother. We were a trifle short-handed the second day,and on my guest volunteering to help, I assigned him to RuntPickett's place at the fire, where he shortly developed a healthysweat. As we did not have a large bunch of beeves to brand thatday, the wagon did not come over and we branded them at a singleshift. It was nearly one o'clock when we finished, and instead ofgoing in to Los Lobos, we left the third guard, Wayne Outcault,"Dorg" Seay, and Owen Ubery, to graze the cattle over to ourcamp.The remainder of the afternoon was spent in idleness and in theentertainment of our guest. Official-like, he pretended he couldhardly spare the time to remain another night, but was finallyprevailed on and did so. After dark, I took him some distancefrom camp, and the two of us had a confidential chat. I assuredhim if there was any object in doing so, we could move camp rightto or over the county line, and frankly asked him what inducementhe would offer. At first he thought that throwing off everythingover a hundred dollars would be about right. But I assured himthat there were whole families of inspectors in Lasalle Countywho would discount that figure, and kindly advised him, if hereally wanted the fee, to meet competition at least. We discussedthe matter at length, and before returning to camp, he offered tomake out the certificate, covering everything, for fifty dollars.As it was certain to be several days yet before we would start,and there was a prospect of a falling market in certificates ofinspection, I would make no definite promises. The next morning Iinsisted that he remain at some near-by ranch in his ownterritory, and, if convenient, ride down every few days and notethe progress of the herd.We were promised a large contingent of cattle for that day. Theranch outfit were to make three rodeos down the river the daybefore, where the bulk of their beeves ranged. Flood was anxiousto overtake the other outfits before they reached the lowercountry, and as he assured me I had no further use for him, weagreed that after receiving that morning he might leave us.Giving orders at camp to graze the received beeves within a mileof the corrals by noon, and the wagon to follow, we made an earlystart, Flood taking his own horses with him. We met the cattlecoming up the river a thousand strong. It was late when the lastround-up of the day before had finished, and they had camped forthe night fully five miles from the corrals. It took less than anhour to cull back and count, excuse the ranch outfit, and startthis contingent for the branding-pens in charge of my boys. Floodwas in a hurry, and riding a short distance with him, I askedthat he pass or send word to the county seat, informing theinspector of hides and animals that a trail herd would leave LosLobos within a week. Jim knew my motive in getting competition onthe inspection, and wishing me luck on my trip, I wrung his handin farewell until we should meet again in the upper country.The sun was setting that night when we finished road-branding thelast of the beeves received in the morning. After dinner, whenthe wagon returned to camp, I instructed Parent to move up theriver fully a mile. We needed the change, anyhow, and even if itwas farther, the next morning we would have the Los Lobos outfitto assist in the branding, as that day would finish theirgathering. The outside cattle were beginning to report in smallbunches, from three hundred upward. Knowing that Dr. Beaver wasanxious to turn in as many as possible of his own, we delayedreceiving from the neighboring ranches for another day. But thenext morning, as we were ironing-up the last contingent of somefour hundred Los Lobos beeves, a deputy inspector for Lasallearrived from the county seat. He was likewise officious, andprofessed disappointment that the herd was not ready to passupon. On his arrival, I was handling the irons, and paid noattention to him until the branding was over for the morning.When he introduced himself, I cordially greeted him, but at thefirst intimation of disappointment from his lips, I checked him.Using the best diplomacy at my command, I said, "Well, I'm sorryto cause you this long ride when it might have been avoided. Yousee, we are receiving cattle from both this and Dimmit County. Infact, we are holding our herd across the line just at present. Onstarting, we expect to go up the river to the first creek, andnorth on it to the Leona River. I have partially promised thework to an inspector from Dimmit. He inspected our herd lastyear, and being a personal friend that way, you couldn't meet hisfigures. Very sorry to disappoint you, but won't you come over tothe wagon and stay all night?"But Dr. Beaver, who understood my motive, claimed the privilegeof entertaining the deputy at Los Lobos, and I yielded. We nowhad a few over twenty-four hundred beeves, of which nineteenhundred were in the Los Lobos brand, the others being mixed.There was a possibility of fully a hundred more coming in withthe neighboring cattle, and Dr. Beaver was delighted over theranch delivery. The outside contingents were in four bunches,then encamped in different directions and within from three tofive miles of the ranch. Taking Vick Wolf with me for theafternoon, I looked over the separate herds and found themnumbering more than fifteen hundred. They were the same uniformNueces Valley cattle, and as we lacked only a few over athousand, the offerings were extremely liberal. Makingarrangements with three of the four herds to receive the nextday, Vick and I reached our camp on the county line about sunset.The change was a decided advantage; wood, water, and grass wereplentiful, and not over a mile farther from the branding-pens.The next morning found us in our saddles at the usual early hour.We were anxious to receive and brand every animal possible thatday, so that with a few hours' work the next forenoon the herdwould be ready to start. After we had passed on the firstcontingent of the outside cattle, and as we were nearing thecorrals, Dr. Beaver overtook us. Calling me aside, he said:"Quirk, if you play your cards right, you'll get a certificate ofinspection for nothing and a chromo as a pelon. I've bolstered upthe Lasalle man that he's better entitled to the work than theDimmit inspector, and he'll wait until the herd is ready tostart. Now, you handle the one, and I'll keep the other as myguest. We must keep them apart and let them buck each other totheir hearts' content. Every hoof in your herd will be in a ranchbrand of record; but still the law demands inspection and youmust comply with it. I'll give you a duplicate list of thebrands, so that neither inspector need see the herd, and if wedon't save your employer a hundred dollars, then we areamateurs."Everything was pointing to an auspicious start. The last cattleon the delivery were equal to the first, if not better. The skyclouded over, and before noon a light shower fell, settling thedust in the corrals. Help increased as the various bunches wereaccepted, and at the end of the day only a few over two hundredremained to complete our numbers. The last contingent were fullyup to the standard; and rather than disappoint the sellers, Iaccepted fifty head extra, making my herd at starting thirty-fourhundred and fifty. When the last beef had passed thebranding-chute, there was nothing remaining but to give a receiptto the seller for the number of head received, in behalf of myemployer, pending a later settlement between them.Meanwhile competition in the matter of inspection had beencarefully nursed. Conscious of each other's presence, and bothequally anxious for the fee, the one deputy was entertained at mycamp and the other at Los Lobos. They were treated courteously,but given to understand that in the present instance moneytalked. With but a small bunch of beeves to brand on the startingday, the direction in which the herd was allowed to leave thebed-ground would be the final answer. If west, Dimmit hadunderbid Lasalle; if the contrary, then the departure of thisherd would be a matter of record in the latter county. Dr. Beaverenjoyed the situation hugely, acting the intermediary in behalfof his guest. Personally I was unconcerned, but was neutral andhad little to say.My outfit understood the situation perfectly. Before retiring onthe night of our last camp on the county line, and in thepresence of the Dimmit inspector, the last relief receivedinstructions, in the absence of contrary orders, to allow theherd to drift back into Lasalle in the morning. Matters werebeing conducted in pantomime, and the players understood theirparts. Our guest had made himself useful in various ways, and Inaturally felt friendly towards him. He had stood several guardsfor the boys, and Burl Van Vedder, of the last watch, had secretinstructions to call him for that guard.The next morning the camp was not astir as early as usual. On thecook's arousing us, in the uncertain light of dawn, the herd wasslowly rising, and from the position of a group of four horsemen,it was plainly evident that our guest had shaded all competition.Our camp was in plain view of Los Lobos, and only some five orsix miles distant. With the rising of the sun, and from the topof a windmill derrick, by the aid of a field-glass, the Lasalleinspector had read his answer; and after the work in the morningwas over, and the final papers had been exchanged, Dr. Beaverinsisted that, in commiseration of his departed guest, just onemore mint-julep should be drunk standing.When Don Lovell glanced over my expense account on our arrival atAbilene, he said: "Look here, Tom, is this straight ?--twentydollars for inspection?--the hell you say! Corrupted them, didyou? Well, that's the cheapest inspection I ever paid, with oneexception. Dave Sponsilier once got a certificate for his herdfor five dollars and a few drinks. But he paid for it a month inadvance of the starting of the herd. It was dated ahead, properlysealed, and all ready for filling in the brands and numbers. Theherd was put up within a mile of where four counties cornered,and that inspector was a believer in the maxim of the early bird.The office is a red-tape one, anyhow, and little harm in takingall the advantage you can.--This item marked 'sundries' was drygoods, I suppose? All right, Quirk; I reckon rattlesnakes wererather rabid this spring."