LIFE OF O. E. HOBACK as told to Edna Greet (Vernon’s grandmother).
Oscar now walked on to the ranch where Joe was working on Gypsum Creek and stayed with him a couple months, June July. He then started out to walk to Will’s homestead on Flag Creek. When he was within a few miles of Will’s place he met a hide buyer, Chandler, with a team and wagon, who stopped to talk, and asked if his name was Hoback. Then he said, “Your brother is looking for you.” Oscar had not written to him and had thought he would surprise him, but Will seemed to know he was coming. When Oscar arrived he just said: “Well, you finally got here!” (Hide buyer and Mr. Frank Ainsworth owned Maynard rifles. Maynard was a single shot rifle, no extractor, extra heavy shell to stand a lot of reloading – big head to make it easy to take out with fingers. About 40 caliber, shells about 2 1/2 inches long with slight taper.)
Oscar stayed with Will about a year or longer. They were in partnership and planned on improving the homestead and building up a bunch of cattle. After the first year Oscar worked part of the time for neighbors, taking his pay partly in money and partly in stock.
But things did not go smoothly. Josie was disagreeable at home. Then there was a sheep outfit who wanted the water and land. There was plenty of range and water, but they resented the homestead and kept crowding in. One day they cut the fence and turned the sheep in on the grain field.
So a bunch of the young fellows got together and raided the sheep camp. They killed part of the sheep and warned the owners to be gone in ten days. The sheep men took the hint, but the incident worried Oscar, and one day he and another young fellow by the name of Bill Herrick started out with their saddle horses, a fiddle and a guitar. Wherever they stopped the people got up a dance, and they made good money.
One day Oscar and Bill stopped at Ranchus, a stage station and saloon, and as usual, a crowd collected in the evening for a dance. The Coslip outfit was there, looking for hands to help drive a bunch of cattle north to Montana. It looked life a good thing to Oscar, so he hired out to them. The dance netted him and Bill $35 each.
His real life could be a western movie!