Continued from The Dudine
In June, the Yry Press reports breathlessly:
Hello Folks,
You’ll never guess what I’m up to now! Well, I’m up at cow camp. I’m living in a 6×9 foot cabin with a bunk, a coal stove, 2 benches, a table, a pail for water, and a washbasin. There are 2 little round corrals and a small overnight pasture for the horse. It is primitive here, with a gas lamp, the spring 100 yards away, and not even an outhouse, or an Eleanor, as they call them out here. In one of the corrals I have a milk cow nursing an orphan calf to supply me with what little milk I need and I have a dog for company. It’s a two-hour ride from the ranch.
My job is to keep the cattle out of the larkspur that is in high bloom. The blooming plants are highly poisonous to cattle and the cows are too stupid to stay away from it, even though there’s plenty of fine grass for them to eat. The draws are really laden with larkspur so I must be up at sunrise to keep the cattle out of the draws. They forage heavily in the mornings.
It’s a half hour ride to the top of the 8 or 9,000 foot mountain and the terrain is very rocky. There’s a herd of horses running in the same area, but they aren’t as likely to eat the larkspur. When they come to drink at the spring, I can lure the horses into the corral with oats and pick out which one to ride for the next couple of days. I’m 10 miles north of Shoshone Lake (renamed Buffalo Bill Reservoir in 1946 to commemorate Cody’s 100th birthday.)
I’m doing some grand cooking here. Cooked a chow of soya beans and ham. I’d had them sent from NY. They are the first I’ve had since last July and they sure tasted good.
Lost a fine fat cow to larkspur yesterday. Must be pretty potent stuff. She came down just as W said she would. They pant then fall down and as the poison affects the heart, the point is to get them lying head uphill to prevent the lower organs from crowding the heart. There is medicine one can give if one catches them before it’s too late, but W doesn’t’ have much faith in it because giving it causes excitement and stimulates the heart too much. I’ve been feeling disgusted about it all day and ineffectual. A cow like her is worth over $100!
Sure wish I’d had a shooting iron with me today to shoot the coyotes who keep pestering my dog. There’s a bounty on coyotes. (A practice she would spurn vociferously in later years)
Karen Krause said:
Yet another fascinating tale! Now off to look up more about Larkspur…..my friends in England who I just visited on their farm for 3 weeks have Simmantel cattle who graze on various huge plats of land in Essex. Will have to ask if they have that issue there as well. Yry stories are so educational for a city slicker like me. So glad I live up in the mts now, away from the city-insanities. Thx again for these beautiful pieces.
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rangewriter said:
Thank YOU, Karen, for the encouragement to keep going. Let me know what you find out about your friend’s Simmantels and their plants. They probably don’t have larkspur over there.
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Dean Burnetti said:
WOW! How intriguing!
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rangewriter said:
Thanks for dropping by, Dean. I’m on the road, but when I get home I’m eager to check out your blog.
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Otto von Münchow said:
Pretty tough life out there in the wild nature. But Yry seems to handlet it like one who hasn’t done anything else her all life. It’s really a vibrant letter, full of life and optimism, despite the dramatic loss.
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rangewriter said:
It’s interesting to learn how different people respond to her writing. Thanks.
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Otto von Münchow said:
I bet it is.
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Jane's Heartsong said:
That would have been a huge responsibility to keep the cattle out of the larkspur. She loves the life and I respect her tremendously for that. I think it would have been a possibility for a horse to come up lame in that country so it is good that she had more than one mount to choose from.I would have loved doing that but losing a cow, no.
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rangewriter said:
Yes. I agree. It would be really tough to lose a cow…or a horse or a calf or even a mouse…!
In some ways I envy her this period in her life. That way of ranching was almost over by the time I was graduating from high school. And I was, for some silly reason, driven to get myself through college…even though that did get interrupted. For me, making a living superceded the lure of taking time off to luxuriate in the back country. I don’t think my mother drilled this into me, but by high school graduation I was consumed with the fear of how I could make a living. I couldn’t picture myself as anything. Not a housewife, not a secretary, not a teacher….I was lucky to fall into the Postal Service as a means of employment.
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