Free Cowboy Wisdom by Denis Boyles Page A

as a
     cucumber, though I expected to see him killed, and was so excited I could not speak.
    Well, sir, when the leaders had got within about a quarter of a mile of him I saw them try to slack up, though they could
     not do it very quickly. But the whole herd wanted to stop, and when the cows and steers in the rear got about where the cowboy
     had cut across their path I was surprised to see them stop and commence to nibble at the grass. Then the whole herd stopped,
     wheeled, straggled back, and went to fighting for a chance to eat where the rear guard was.
    You see, that cowboy had opened a big bag of salt he had brought out from the ranch to give the cattle, galloped across the
     herd’s course and emptied the bag. Every critter sniffed that line of salt, and, of course, that broke up the stampede. But
     I tell you it was a queer sight to see that man out there on the edge of the bluff quietly rolling a cigarette, when it seemed
     as if he’d be lying under two hundred tons of beef in about a minute and a half.
    —S.L. L YMONS Colorado Springs, Colorado 1898
SHIFTY FOREIGN COWS
    H avoc on the hoof—that’s a Brahma bull. A Texas-bred cross between the Brahma of India and the Mexican Longhorn, the Brahma
     is considered to be the most dangerous animal in rodeo. He’s not content merely to buck, but usually seeks vengeance by attempting
     to gore his dismounted adversary. It takes real nerve to try to ride these huge, “ornery” beasts. There is only a rope around
     the bull for the cowboy to hold on to. A cowbell dangling from this rope under the animal’s middle further infuriates him.
     As in bronc riding, one hand must be held free from the bull, and the cowboy must spur from shoulder to flank during the eight
     seconds which make a completed ride.
    —M AX K EGLEY Phoenix, Arizona 1942
    L ike any other animal, the Brahma bull is just as mean as man makes it. He is bold, and he is proud. [He is] the only type
     of steer that can look a man in the eye and not waver. The Hereford will look, then glance away. He remembers something that
     the two-legged creatures have done to him, and he is ashamed of mankind. But the Brahma has no such scruples; he neither fears
     nor disrespects the master of the beasts.
    —A BEL P. B ORDEN Mackey, Texas 1934
TRANSPORTATION COWS
    T he last time I rode a bull I was a senior in college. When I started playing with the Cowboys, they asked me to stop riding
     bulls, which was all right with me. I was looking for an excuse to stop and still save face. “Oh, heck, I can’t do this anymore.
     Damn it. The Cowboys won’t let me.”
    Thank God for the Cowboys.
    —W ALT G ARRISON Dallas, Texas 1988
COW SUBSTITUTES
    I would rather not bore the public with buffalo.
    —H ORACE G REELEY Reisinger’s Creek, Colorado 1859
    T here were eleven buffalos in the herd and they were not more than a mile from us. The officers dashed ahead as if they had
     a sure thing on killing them all before I could come up with them; but I had noticed that the herd was making toward the creek
     for water, and as I knew buffalo nature, I was perfectly aware that it would be difficult to turn them from their direct course.
     Thereupon, I started toward the creek to head them off, while the officers came up in rear and gave chase. The buffalos came
     rushing past me not a hundred yards distant, with the officers about three hundred yards in the rear. I pulled the blind-bridle
     from my horse, who knew as well as I did that we were out for buffalos—as he was a trained hunter. The moment the bridle was
     off, he started at the top of his speed, running in ahead of the officers, and within a few jumps he brought me alongside
     the rear buffalo. Raising “Lucretia Borgia” to my shoulder I fired, and killed the animal at the first shot. My horse then
     carried me alongside the next one, not ten feet away, and I dropped him at the next fire. As soon as one buffalo would fall,
     [my horse] Brigham would take me so