The Log of a Cowboy: A Narrative of the Old Trail DaysAdams, Andy
General
The Log of a Cowboy: A Narrative of the Old Trail Days
Adams, Andy
Cattle drives -- Fiction; Cowboys -- Fiction; Western stories
Dragging the logs up to the place selected for the ford was an easy
matter. They were light, and we did it with ropes from the pommels of
our saddles, two to four horses being sufficient to handle any of the
trees. When everything was ready, we ran the wagon out into two-foot
water and built the raft under it. We had cut the dry logs from
eighteen to twenty feet long, and now ran a tier of these under the
wagon between the wheels. These we lashed securely to the axle, and
even lashed one large log on the underside of the hub on the outside
of the wheel. Then we cross-timbered under these, lashing everything
securely to this outside guard log. Before we had finished the
cross-timbering, it was necessary to take an anchor rope ashore for
fear our wagon would float away. By the time we had succeeded in
getting twenty-five dry cottonwood logs under our wagon, it was
afloat. Half a dozen of us then swam the river on our horses, taking
across the heaviest rope we had for a tow line. We threw the wagon
tongue back and lashed it, and making fast to the wagon with one end
of the tow rope, fastened our lariats to the other. With the remainder
of our unused rope, we took a guy line from the wagon and snubbed it
to a tree on the south bank. Everything being in readiness, the word
was given, and as those on the south bank eased away, those on
horseback on the other side gave the rowel to their horses, and our
commissary floated across. The wagon floated so easily that McCann was
ordered on to the raft to trim the weight when it struck the current.
The current carried it slightly downstream, and when it lodged on the
other side, those on the south bank fastened lariats to the guy rope;
and with them pulling from that side and us from ours, it was soon
brought opposite the landing and hauled into shallow water. Once the
raft timber was unlashed and removed, the tongue was lowered, and from
the pommels of six saddles the wagon was set high and dry on the north
bank. There now only remained to bring up the cattle and swim them,
which was an easy task and soon accomplished.
After putting the Salt Fork behind us, our spirits were again
dampened, for it rained all the latter part of the night and until
noon the next day. It was with considerable difficulty that McCann
could keep his fire from drowning out while he was getting breakfast,
and several of the outfit refused to eat at all. Flood knew it was
useless to rally the boys, for a wet, hungry man is not to be jollied
or reasoned with. Five days had now elapsed since we turned off the
established trail, and half the time rain had been falling. Besides,
our doubt as to where we were had been growing, so before we started
that morning, Bull Durham very good-naturedly asked Flood if he had
any idea where he was.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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