The Highest Price for Beef
When a cowboy signed up for a cattle drive north, it was for half a year
at a time. They got paid when they got the herd to the end of the trail.
They got a bonus if they made good time, and if they lost a minimum amount
of cows. “Shrink” was not acceptable to the owners or the cow boss who
hired the men to tend them.
But it was more than money that
called these men to the trail, it was adventure and cowboy pride. Pride
in doing the job he was being paid to do, pride in his horsemanship, and
his ability to handle anything the trail or the weather could throw at
him. They were honor bound, they gave their word, and any good cowboy
would die for their honor or their word if it came down to it.
Life was slow and boring most
times, it moved at the pace of a tired, thirsty cow. It could be hot and
dusty, so dusty it would dry your throat and mud your eyes. It might be
cold and rainy, a rain that would chill a man to the bone in minutes, all
in the same day. It was lonely. Most cowboys worked out of hearing
distance and sometimes even sight of each other riding point, herd, or
drag. And town, well that was at the end of the trail.
But on those rare occasions when
things went sideways, it could get exciting real fast. When thunder or
lightning, a grizzly or just plain “cow ghosts” spooked a herd of 2,000
half wild cattle the prairie would literally shake with the pounding, and
the entire ground as far as you could see would begin to move faster and
faster, the whole herd feeding on the frenzy of itself until they could
run no more, or until they plunged into a wash or gully or river. That
could cost hundreds of lives and bankrupt the whole endeavor.
Any young cowboy worth his salt,
put spur to hide, with no thought of the danger, to try to ride down and
turn the herd. If he can get the leaders to slowly turn, the rest will
follow and they can be run in a huge circle over safe ground until they
wind themselves and are forced to stop.
In an instant, quick as the
lightening itself, a scared calf trying to quit the herd puts both in a
deadly situation.
In terms of dollars, cowboys sold
their time cheap, but for duty and honor some young boys paid “The Highest
Price for Beef.”
Steve Miller
