This story is from James Greet, written in 1991 about his life as a cowboy in the 1940’s. Continued from last week…
This was Dutch Mills’ badlands homestead place. There was a group of CCC boys camped there. They were building reservoirs on BLM land for the stockmen that used the land for grazing.
George and I went to one of the barracks where we could bunk for the night. We visited with some of the boys. One boy was from a big city back east. Apparently, all of his knowledge of cattle was of dairy stock. In all sincerity, he asked if we had to milk all those cows out there in the corral yet that night. We kept a straight face and explained to him a little of our mission with our cattle. Of course, the next day we had a good laugh about our “dairy” herd.
George and I went to “chow” with them that evening and I can’t remember a thing of what we had to eat, but it tasted good. Coping with the cold weather and outdoor work whets the appetite.
After supper, we visited with the boys. Some were local fellows, but most were from out of state. You have to admire anyone so young who volunteers and joins a program to better themselves and amount to something. The CCC stands for Civilian Conservation Corps, established by the government in about 1933.
The next morning, we got up early and went out in the sub-zero weather and took care of our horses. Then it was time to go to breakfast. We had hot cereal, and rather soggy pancakes. We had some coffee too, to help us survive the cold. It was the only hot drink to be had. We didn’t know then that this would be our last hot meal until 6 pm the next day, but that’s the life of a cowboy and it gives it color.
Breakfast over, we turned our cattle out and hit the trail. We headed for the north side of South Butte. We had been gaining altitude ever since we left the ranch. In a couple of hours, we came to the divide where we dropped into the Honey Combs. On the east side, the drainage is to the Nowood Creek. On the west side, the drainage is into the Bighorn River. From the top of the divide, you can view a lot of country. To the east, lays the Bighorn Mountain Range, to the south, the Black Mountain, Copper Mountain, the Owl Creek range, and far off to the west, the mighty Rocky Mountains. I like to think that this ridge is “where the west commences.” Just give me lots of wide open spaces, “don’t fence me in.” I can see why this Bighorn Basin was ideal for buffalo and other wild game.
*** This is a BLM photo of the Honeycomb Buttes area, not my photo.***
Another captivating story. Thanks.
We love reading these!
Very interesting story that he met some of the CCC boys. They did a lot of work all over the country. The Buttes are very interesting.
Carol, did he actually have these stories in a published book? I can’t remember if you mentioned. Or was this just a journal for family history?
I’d buy the book if there was one….
Thanks again for sharing!
Same here, Susan. I’d gladly buy a book of James’ writings.
These are just stories written for family. There is no real book.
These stories would make a wonderful book. I’ll just bet everybody in your family would like to have one – me, too!