As the first rays of sun light ventured across the summit of Miner’s Needle it was time for another day’s work at the Quarter Circle U Ranch. Usually we were already up and feeding livestock by dawn. Breakfast had been on the stove for 15 minutes when the feeding and watering was completed. Eggs, spuds, beans, chili, beef, bacon, biscuits, and coffee were a solid breakfast for hard-working cowboys. Soon we were saddling our horses for a long day’s ride into the backcountry to check and work cattle.
The call of the quail and a distant
serenade of the coyotes were music to our ears as we rode east from the
old URanch toward Castle Rock. This towering outcrop of rock east of
the ranch looked something like a medieval castle, hence the name
Castle Rock. The clinging of our horse’s shoes was mixed with the early
morning sounds of the desert. A serenade only a cowboy could
appreciate. The green- and yellow-blossomed Palo Verde trees were like
burning torches from the light of the early morning sun. We could hear
the distant bellowing of a calf for its mother. One of Barkley’s range
bulls was rutting and sounding his call.
The trail that lay ahead was steep,
rocky and difficult to follow. We arrived at Miner’s Needle Summit with
near exhausted horses. As the air temperature warmed we rested our
mounts in what shade we could find and adjusted our cinches. We then
stepped into our stirrups and back into the saddle for the ride that
lay ahead. Slowly we moved our horses toward Bluff Springs corral and
cabin. We stopped briefly at a seep and watered our horses. Once we
arrived at the corral we opened the gate and checked our supplies in the
cabin. We then rode eastward looking for signs of range stock.
Two draws to the east we found about
12 head of cows and calves that needed to be moved back to the corral
and checked for screw worms. It was always easier to work cattle in a
corral then on open ground in this rugged country. After all we were
not expert open ground ropers, especially with all the Mesquite, Palo
Verde, Jojoba, Chain Cholla, Prickley Pear, Hedgehog, and Teddy Bear
Cholla in the area.
We moved the cows and calves toward
the corral without incident. Once they were in we began the task of
checking each animal. Some were easy to check and others were not. This
required plain hard work and our only tools were a primitive corral,
gloves, a rope and a good horse. We roped, handled and doctored each
animal. The final tally was 14 cows, 15 calves and two yearly steers.
The mother cows we only visually inspected. Two of them we did have to
throw and doctor for screw worm infestation. This endeavor required
most of the day. We were pleased to know we had eased the misery of
these cattle by treating them for screw worms. Our accomplishments were
part of the routine of being a cowboy in these mountains. This was
Barkley’s first year being involved with the Screw Worm Eradication
Program. Almost everywhere we rode on his range we put out sterilized
flies in small boxes.
Barkley always told us this was the
roughest cow range in Arizona as far as he was concerned. We often rode
crosscountry over huge rocks, slide areas and steep slopes to round up
cattle. A steep slope was often 45 or more degrees. It wasn’t uncommon
for a cow pony to take a spill with you. Many times my horse’s legs
would just buckle under me and we would go down. A good cowboy gets his
legs out of the way before the horse hits the ground if he is lucky.
An unfortunate cowboy breaks a leg or a foot and is laid up for a
couple of months or so. A smart cowboy stays out from under his horse
under all conditions.
Ranchers don’t like to feed cowboys
with broken legs or arms. Sometimes a horse will go end over end on a
down hill slope because of loose or soft ground and a steep slope.
Sometimes a saddle-tree will get busted, but a good cowboy steps clear
with a little luck. Sometimes a wild cow will jerk your horse out from
under you in rough country once you have tied on to her with your rope. I
was one lucky novice cowboy on the Barkley spread and I knew it.
Somebody ask me about the trails one
time. My response, “what trails?” Most of our range riding was over
rugged terrain often where no horse had gone before, only a cow. The
landscape was covered with thorn brush and Cholla cactus just to
aggravate a cowboy.
Cattle will go anywhere to find
water or feed. A cowboy has to be able to follow and coax them down out
of the rugged terrain where they have sought browse. If cattle have
plenty of feed and water in a rugged area they will remain until one or
the other is exhausted. During roundup (rodeo) these cattle can be
difficult to manage and remove from a rough mountaintop.
There are many such mountains in the
Superstition Wilderness. If the rocks, slide areas, and steep slopes
aren’t enough to discourage a cowboy, there are always the many thorny
plants that stick and slash at your legs and arms as you ride through
them. Most smart cowboys invest in thick, heavy leather leggings called
Chaps. Usually these leggings add another ten pounds to your horse,
but will save you several pounds of flesh. The weight your horse
carries in rough country can be extremely important for your survival.
An overburdened horse falls easily. These sudden falls tend to break a
cowboy’s bones.
Old Gus Barkley always said
everything in this desert either sticks, bites, stings or eats meat.
Believe me these were prophetic words from a great philosopher who knew
what he was jawing about.
When the Saguaro cactus begins to
bloom the Black gnats swarm. These nasty critters love to bite man and
beast alike. After a little summer rain you have the combination of
Black gnats and Mosquitoes biting at your hide, both day and night.
Just another pleasure a cowboy is subjected to while working on this
range after a summer monsoon.
Rattlesnakes, scorpions, tarantulas
and centipedes are nothing to fear. Common sense usually takes care of
any encounters you would have with these critters. These creatures are
the source of many good stories for cowboys to tell “dudes.” A smart
cowboy is more concerned with the desert sun and the heat it produces.
Cowboys who work in the summer months on the desert wear very wide brim
hats and a large scarf around their neck for protection against the
sun’s rays. Amazing as it may be, it is always cooler upon a horse’s
back then walking on the ground. My guess is the temperature is a least
10 degrees less on horseback.
Our work at the corral ended just
about sundown. We tightened our cinches and began the long ride back to
headquarters. We knew dinner would be late, but we got a lot of work
done and felt we had relieved the misery of a lot of cattle.
We arrived home long after dark. We
fed what stock we had in the corral, cooked dinner and went to bed. Our
well deserved rest for the night was appreciated, but usually
interrupted by a damn coyote or fox in the barn chasing the chickens. We
are up again at 2 o’clock in the morning chasing after a coyote,
skunk, or fox. If we weren’t guarding the chickens, doctoring animals,
or fighting the Black gnats, mosquitoes, scorpions, ants, and snakes
then we could get some sleep.
This
was just one day of my life on the Quarter Circle U Ranch. Barkley
always said, if you can survive a year on this ranch you have “earned
your spurs.” I was so dog-tired and exhausted I just couldn’t get too
excited about Barkley’s cowboy spun humor or philosophy. However I knew
it was the gospel of cowboy tradition in the Superstition Mountain
area.