Trew: Did lost colony in the Okla. Panhandle exist?

Numerous stories abound about Robber's Roost near Kenton, once a haven for the William Coe gang of outlaws. Believing they were outside the federal law in No Man's Land, they built a rock fortress hideout complete with hotel accommodations, saloon and ladies of the night. Determined local citizens, tired of their numerous crimes caught and hanged the entire gang. Though unproven by records, some say the attack was aided by a mystery Army cannon borrowed from somewhere used to blast down the walls of the rock fortress. In January 1901, The Cimarron News printed a letter received from Woodward County, Okla., stating a colony of prominent citizens would be starting and settling a colony in the northwest corner of the newly established Beaver County. The letter stated they had filed on approximately 12 sections of land, intended to start a lumber yard, a brick yard, establish farming, ranching and mineral development. Following newspapers told of new settlers arriving almost daily, one wagon train containing a dozen or more wagons of supplies and equipment. Listed among the new colonists were an ex-congressman, and Temple Houston a famous attorney from Oklahoma and Texas, two doctors and many other prominent businessmen. As many as 40 families might be included in the new colony. Then, on June 28, 1901, came the last mention of the new colony. After that, nothing. No doubt there was the start of a colony. Did they stay awhile and leave? Did they all leave at once? Did hard times take its toll? Are descendants of the first settlers still living there?...more

Song Of The Day #432

It is Swingin' Monday on Ranch Radio. One type of swing we like is generally referred to as gypsy swing, and a good example is Chicago performed by the group Django's Fingers.

This song goes out to the A-10 Etcheverry who will be visiting later today.

Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

The Blackberry -- Not just for pie anymore

by Julie Carter

There is no argument that the face of cowboying has changed. While the basics of the job still require some of the same skills and tools, technology has made great strides in sneaking into the world of the cowboy.

Fifteen years ago, there were only a few cell phones in the pockets of the range riders and every now and then, you could find one with a computer and the ability to send an email.

Five years ago it was rare to see a cowboy under the age of 40 without a cell phone and today, it's a whole new game.

In talking to one technology-adept cowpuncher, I found that not only was his new Blackberry phone functional for the usual communication, but he used it as a tool for his multi-tasking way of making a living.

"I use the calendar all the time," he said. "It separates the scheduling for hunting, ranching, day work, and my horse shoeing appointments so I don't book one thing on top of another. Then it backs it up through the home computer in case I should lose my phone."

He laughed and said he was sitting in the pickup sending me the email telling me about his phone while he was filling up a water tank for some pasture cattle.

He called it a "fancy gadget" and admitted it took some time to learn how to use it. "They aren't for the old timers," he said, "but for me, it has been a money-maker."

Taking the Blackberry phone with him everywhere, he was able to book $6,000 in hunts in a week and didn't have to be stuck in the house waiting for replies.

That more than paid for the phone, he pointed out.

This cowboy uses it to take pictures of parts -hydraulic fittings to saw blades-and then sends the picture to the store clerk to make sure he gets the right one the first time.

He watches the cattle market reports for all the sale barns in the country and if the auction barn has an internet camera, he can even make a bid if he sees a good deal.

The weather channel sends him alerts and he can watch the weather maps which he deems pretty handy during calving season.

"I even had a cow with a weird tumor on her leg," he said. "So I took a picture of it, emailed it to the vet and saved a client the 100-mile trip that it would have taken to haul her to the vet. The vet later told me it was a great idea and now he has clients send a picture of 'emergency' calls. You know, just in case it is something that might be able to wait until later. You know, from those hypochondriac horse and dog owners."

And because he guides hunts through various seasons, his ringtone is a turkey gobble sound. "It doesn't spook the game or the livestock," he laughed. "But if I put it on vibrate, it will absolutely cause a bronc to blow up. And, it's best to not get bucked off in water. That does kind of mess up the phone."

He laughs about the not always having service but says he can usually send a text. Or if the phone at home is busy, email still goes through. "If I'm in a big wreck, maybe the wind knocked out of me where I can't talk, I can just take a picture and send it. A picture worth a thousand words. They'll get the point."

While he was doctoring a sick calf that he had roped and tied down, a call came in requesting that he select one of two styles of feed bunks to be delivered to him. Since he happened to be near some feed bunks at the time, he simply took a photo of them and texted the photo to the dealer. The matter settled, he let the calf up, mounted his horse and rode off.

"I never forget how to wire up the pressure switch on the well house," he said. "I take a picture of the old one on my Blackberry and use it as a pattern to wire up the new one. I can also have people video their horses that need special shoeing and send it my phone so I can get an idea what is wrong before I get there to shoe."

The cell phone - a tool for the new age of cowboying, ranching and rural living. Much like the Leatherman or the Plammer fencing pliers, you should never leave home without it.

What's next? Bluetooth built into the saddle horns?



Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net

It's The Pitts: Seen But Not Herded

by Lee Pitts

Sonny had lived his whole life under a cowboy hat, learning everything he needed to know from a cow. Like most cowboys, he was proud of the fact that he’d never been trapped into being settled or prosperous. His resume was well traveled but not because he lacked cowboy skills. Sonny’s reputation for being able to catch the “wild ones” was well known from Sasabe to the Sandhills, but feeding cows was just too boring and so he usually followed the truck out the gate that carried the last desperado away.

For sure there was nothing to keep him at his current address. The boss was so tight he wouldn’t give a duck a drink. The pay was nine hundred a month and a house. Sort of. The shack was so small you couldn’t cuss the cat without getting fur in your mouth, the only heat came from a single 60 watt light bulb and when it rained the leaky roof had better water pressure than the shower. The mouse traps needed emptying every morning.

But it wasn’t the pay, or lack of it, that sent Sonny packing. He only needed a few quarters to feed the Suds and Duds Laundromat once a month. No, this time Sonny was standing on principle. It seems the boss didn’t believe in spoiling the help by providing the customary side of beef like a lot of ranchers did. This really got Sonny’s goat. The only meat provided was home grown venison but even the deer had found the pickings slim on this outfit.

Five years prior the rancher had bought a load of “speculation cattle” from old Mexico. BIG MISTAKE! The ranch had once been a hideout for the bandit, Joaquin Murietta, and the steers naturally found Joaquin’s favorite places to hide. That’s why the rancher had hired Sonny, because it was said “he could track bees in a blizzard.”

During his short stay Sonny lived up to his reputation, roping the wild steers in country so steep you rode with your feet out of the stirrups in case your horse fell over a cliff. One by one Sonny caught the defectors and a single week’s catch brought more at auction than what the boss would have paid Sonny all year. Still he was critical of Sonny’s work. “You still haven’t caught the renegade.”

The “renegade” was a five year old escape artist who had been raised on sour milk and brush and could blend in with boulders. For five years he had tested and bested the boss man at every opportunity. Some said that renegade steer had been what drove the old man to drink. Most days he just stayed in the house celebrating the bottle, cussing the steer, and growing calluses on his elbows. Yet he had the audacity to question Sonny’s cowboy skills. “I thought you were supposed to be good. When are you going to bring me that steer’s carcass?”

“That steer is dead,” said Sonny. “Grass is waving over that buzzard bait.”

“Then bring me his bleached bones or his hide with a brand on it,” countered the old cuss. “You dare call yourself a cowboy and yet you can’t even corral a broken down old reprobate steer.”

Sonny looked at the boss with eyes that would chill a side of beef. He decided right then that he’d slept his last sleep in that shack and had taken his last lip from this sullen old drunk. He was tired of living below the poverty level. “I’m telling you for the last time that steer is dead,” said Sonny with finality.

“You just aren’t cowboy enough to catch him,” mumbled the bitter boss. “How can you be so sure he’s dead?”

Sonny replied, “Because four months ago, a day after I went on your parsimonious payroll, that locoed steer you couldn’t corral jumped into my freezer and froze to death. And every night since then I've been reminded of that fact at supper time.”

Mine That Bird derby win headed for the big screen

New Mexico gelding Mine That Bird may be a little distracted at today's Breeder's Cup in Louisville, Ky. Last year's unlikely Kentucky Derby winner is going to be a movie star. The 3-year-old, which was once stabled at Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino, will appear in a movie, tentatively titled "Mine That Bird," about how he beat big odds, and a muddy Churchill Downs track, to win the Kentucky Derby on May 2, 2009. It will be filmed next year, mostly in New Mexico, and should be in theaters by 2012, according to producers. They were inspired by what producer Price Hall called Mine that Bird's "everyman's horse" story and a stunning victory that NBC commentator Tom Durkin called "impossible" during last year's broadcast of the race. "We felt it was such an incredible story. We call it 'Rocky on Four Legs,'" Hall said from Churchill Downs in Louisville, home of today's Breeder's Cup race - and the Kentucky Derby. "It's an underdog story," added lead producer Pieter Kroonenberg of Kingsborough Pictures. "It's a story of overcoming 50-to-1 odds, a horse who comes from behind." No stars have been confirmed yet, though the real Mine That Bird is expected to appear in the film. Calvin Borel, the jockey who guided the diminutive thoroughbred's improbable victory, also may appear in it, producers said. Jim Wilson, the Academy Award-winning producer of Kevin Costner's "Dances With Wolves," signed on six weeks ago to direct...more

Song Of The Day #431

The Sunday morning Gospel tune is Every Time I Feel The Spirit by Pee Wee King and his Golden West Cowboys. The song was recorded in December of 1947 and was released as The Golden West Quartet.

You can find this song on his 6 CD box set Pee Wee King & His Golden West Cowboys

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Greens desperate to avoid blame for Dem losses

Environmentalists are trying to stomp out the suggestion that they had anything to do with the tidal wave that washed away House Democrats in Tuesday's midterm elections. A day after Republicans netted a 60-vote swing to recapture the House, greens brandished polls and statistics showing voters overwhelmingly endorsed both Democratic and GOP lawmakers who voted in June 2009 to pass a cap-and-trade bill. This isn't just about pride. Environmental groups struggled to be heard in Washington after the Republicans' 1994 House takeover, which came in part because of a vote the previous year to raise energy taxes based on the Btu content of fossil fuels. And U.S. opponents of unilateral action on climate change still remind them of the unanimous 1997 Senate vote to reject core pieces of the Kyoto protocol. "It's very dangerous branding for them," said Chris Horner, a senior fellow at the free-market Competitive Enterprise Institute and a skeptic on global warming science. "There will never be another vote on a Btu tax in my lifetime for the reason of 1993. I suggest if cap and trade is similarly thought of, there will also never be a vote on cap and trade." Indeed, directly after the cap-and-trade vote — which itself was delayed for an hour while Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) held the floor to decry the bill — House Republicans taunted Democrats with chants of "Btu, Btu."...more

Republicans On House Natural Resources Committee Planning Big Changes For Public Lands

This week, of course, the focus is tightly on the Congress, which has undergone a sea change of political persuasion, particularly in the U.S. House of Representatives. It could be argued that this swing to the right is a rebound of a swing too far left, one in which the Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress felt so emboldened that compromise and even statesmanship were unnecessary. So now the pendulum has rebounded far to the right. Its swing has set off fears that, when it comes to the environment, the next two years might not bring good tidings. Fresh off their Election Day tidal wave, and energized by it, U.S. Reps. Doc Hastings, R-Washington, and Rob Bishop, R-Utah, envision big changes for public lands in the West, changes that could greatly impact national parks. While the Democratic Party's slim majority in the Senate could stand in the way of those plans, expect plenty of effort in the coming two years to be spent by some members of the House to rewrite the rules when it comes to public lands. Two congressmen who might be found at the front of the line when it comes to redrafting environmental regs and policy could be Mr. Hastings and Mr. Bishop, two Republicans whose legislative records and public comments show a disdain for federal ownership of Western lands. Less than 24 hours after their party's sweeping victory gave the GOP control over the House of Representatives, Rep. Hastings announced his priorities for the Natural Resources Committee...more

Skinning The Carbon Cat With EPA

Standing amid the smoking ruins of Tuesday's defeat, President Obama indicates he's backing away from a cap-and-trade law. But as great as that news is, someone still needs to watch the backdoor. It's been said that a socialist thrown out the window will come back through the front door as an environmentalist. This reminds us of something we noticed in the president's day-after concession speech. Though acknowledging the cap-and-trade law is no longer a legislative priority, Obama also said he's not giving up on the idea of restricting Americans' output of carbon dioxide. "Cap-and-trade was just one way of skinning the cat," he said at Tuesday's news conference. "It was a means, not an end. I'm going to be looking for other means to address this problem." In moonwalking away from cap-and-trade, the president was simply admitting that, with a Republican-controlled House, the bill is going nowhere in the next two years. Unfortunately, Obama is still a believer, if not in man-made global warming, then in what he believes to be his right to meddle in private lives. If he can't supervise the clingers, enemies and the rest of bitter America through cap-and-trade, he'll settle for some other way to put limits on the masses. He suggested the EPA could beef up its police powers to rein in CO2 emissions. ama also implied that he could skin the cat through schemes that redistribute wealth into renewable energy programs. Though not as burdensome as a cap-and-trade law, government green energy initiatives tend to be black holes for taxpayers' money...more

Obama faces tricky decision on polar bear, climate change

Just as President Obama faces a Congress that promises to be more skeptical of climate-related environmental regulation, a federal court has tossed a controversial case back in his lap: the polar bear. The bear was the first species to be listed as threatened due to climate change, setting off a furor among the Alaska delegation -- Lisa Murkowski, among the critics, appears to be a winner in her write-in campaign. The protection, granted in 2008 after much delay by the Bush administration, was not the most stringent under the Endangered Species Act. The bear is "threatened," not "endangered," which can make a big difference in regulation that follows listing under the act. An "endangered" designation, for instance, would have made it impossible for then-Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne to have passed a special rule that limited the scope of the listing, saying it could not be used to limit greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming and melting ice in the Arctic Ocean. Environmentalists sued almost immediately to boost the bear into the "endangered" camp, and a federal judge agreed Wednesday that the Department of Interior should review the bear's protected status, which will remain the same in the meantime. That review could put Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar -- a bete noir to conservatives after his ban on deep-water drilling following the BP spill -- back into the hot seat. If the Obama administration puts the bear into the endangered category, it potentially opens the door to litigation against new power plants and other industrial facilities that belch greenhouse gases far away from the bear's territory -- an untested interpretation of the Endangered Species Act...more

Idaho Gov. Otter - Wolf saga is tale of broken promises

It was 30 years ago that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Plan was signed. The goal was to have 30 breeding pairs for three successive years in three designated areas of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming before delisting wolves and turning management over to the states. Three decades later, instead of 30 breeding pairs of wolves in the three-state region, we now have hundreds upon hundreds of wolves in Idaho alone. The goal, intended to trigger the process of taking wolves off the endangered species list, was met in 2003. What happened? Government happened. Environmental absolutists and their willing allies in the federal courts happened. The wolves are still here and still protected by federal law. That's more than you can say for our elk, deer and livestock or the Idaho families supported by hunting-related businesses or ranching. They remain just voices in the wilderness to policy-makers in Washington, D.C. But not to me...more

The wave overcomes Oberstar

Eighteen-term House Democrat James Oberstar of Minnesota has lost to Republican Chip Cravaack. Oberstar, chairman of the powerful House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, was edged out of office by just more than 4,000 votes after surviving two GOP waves in his 25-year tenure, the first in the Reagan era and the second in 1994...

You will recall Oberstar was the primary sponsor of the legislation to remove the term "navigable" from the CWA.

‘No’ to Pickens: Commissioners oppose horse sanctuary

After two-and-a-half hours of public comment and a presentation by Madeleine Pickens, Elko County Commissioners voted 3-1 Wednesday to oppose her wild horse sanctuary project. The county commission meeting room was packed with about 70 people in attendance and standing room only. “Give me a chance to open a sanctuary here,” Pickens pleaded during the meeting. She said she’s already spent several million dollars developing a business plan when she could have left that money to her daughter. Pickens, founder of the Saving America’s Mustangs foundation, encouraged commissioners to see if the project works. She bought the 14,000-acre Spruce Ranch near U.S. Highway 93 last month and one adjoining ranch, and is proposing to convert them into a wild horse sanctuary called “Mustang Monument.”...more

New Dioxin Rules From EPA Might Force More Cleanups

The government has spent many millions of dollars in recent decades cleaning up sites contaminated with dioxin and, in extreme cases, relocating residents of entire neighborhoods tainted by the toxin. But tough new pollution standards proposed by the Obama administration could require additional dioxin cleanups at scores of abandoned factories, military bases, landfills and other locations declared safe years ago, officials say. If the guidelines receive final approval, federal and state officials will examine sites with known dioxin contamination to identify those needing work and what the work will cost. The Environmental Protection Agency plan has escalated a decades-long debate over the danger of dioxin, a family of chemical byproducts from industries such as pesticide and herbicide production, waste incineration and smelting. One form of dioxin was in Agent Orange, the defoliant used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War. The EPA is expected to make a final decision this fall on the new standards. But congressional critics and chemical companies say the agency is acting hastily and should wait until it completes a reassessment of dioxin's health effects in the coming months. "They're proposing these sweeping changes to regulations without giving us an idea of how many sites will be affected, how many homes will be affected, what the economic impact would be," said Rep. Dave Camp, a Republican whose Michigan district includes a 50-mile-long watershed polluted with dioxin from a Dow Chemical Co. plant...more

Jimmy Bason pleased, Spaceport runway named after Gov. Richardson

Virgin Galactic’s CEO Sir Richard Branson has announced the opening of runway of world's first commercial purpose-built spaceport in Upham, New Mexico. The 42-inch thick and 2-mile long runway, Governor BIll Richardson Spaceway, is able to support all types of currently available reusable spacecraft...more

Bason may be pleased, but the Las Cruces Sun-News is not.

Song Of The Day #430

Ranch Radio hopes you enjoy Put A Little Sweetenin' In Your Love by Eddie Dean.

Dean (1907-1999) from West Texas, was a songwriter, movie actor and recording artist who was inducted into the Western Music Association HOF and the Cowboy HOF, and was one of the founders of the Academy of Country Music.

This recording is from his 24 track CD The Golden Age of Eddie Dean on the Cattle label.

Nancy Pelosi's House

Idaho’s biggest winner: Mike Simpson

The Republican takeover of the U.S. House makes Rep. Mike Simpson chairman of Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies and the second-ranking Republican on the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. Agencies like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Environmental Protection Agency will have to go through Simpson’s committee for their budgets...more

With the Dems still controlling the Senate and the White House, any victories in the short run will be through the appropriations process, which does put Simpson in a key position. By using budget cuts and insertions of language significant changes to current policy and programs can be made.

Will Simpson be a enthusiastic budget cutter or will he seek to protect the federal agencies as best he can?

Simpson said the first priority will be to find $100 billion in budget cuts, which he said won’t be easy but is necessary. As an Appropriations subcommittee chairman, known in the House as a “cardinal,” he will be in the center of the budget-cutting effort. “We’re going to have to decide what’s essential and what’s just nice to do,” he said.

And his second priority?

Even though the man who likely will be his seat-mate, Raul Labrador, opposes it, Simpson also may again be able to push passage of his legislation to protect 300,000 acres of the Boulder-White Clouds as wilderness. He was blocked when Democrats took control of the House and has been held up in the Senate until now.

To be fair, there is no quote there. Is this just the reporter speculating or was it suggested by Simpson or his staff?

It will be interesting to see if the Republican majority in the House will bring us more wilderness and possibly omnibus public lands bills just like the Dems.

We should also be watching to see if they have the gonads and the skill to bring about change using the appropriations process.

Burning Man seeks new permit for festival

Burning Man organizers are asking federal land managers for a new five-year permit for the annual festival held on northern Nevada's Black Rock Desert. U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials say they'll accept public comments on the request through Dec. 13. Burning Man occupies about 4,400 acres of public land for a seven-week period before and after the gathering, which is held the week leading up to Labor Day. The last festival drew a record crowd of more than 50,000 people from around the world...more

I wonder what the response would be if I started a Burning Cow festival and sought a permit to put 50,000 cows on that acreage for a seven week period?

U.S. miners await outcome of congressional musical chairmanships

The good news for U.S. hardrock miners is that the son of a hardrock miner, Harry Reid, the majority leader of the U.S. Senate, was re-elected by his fellow Nevadans. The bad news for U.S. coal miners is that Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, was re-elected to the U.S. Senate and should retain his post as majority leader of the U.S. Senate, as well as his disdain for coal-fired power plants. More bad news for U.S. mining, however, as President Barack Obama still controls the executive branch, including all federal agencies which regulate domestic mining. Mountaintop mining will remain a hot button issue for the administration, as will the EPA's insistence on regulatory supremacy in permitting of Clean Water Act permits pertaining to mining. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski's write-in re-election bid remains a hot race that may take weeks to decide. However, if pro-hardrock mining Murkowski retains her Senate seat, she may also remain the ranking minority member on the Senate Natural Resources Committee. To the delight of gold miners and the consternation of coal miners, Rep. Nick Rahall, D-West Virginia, is no longer the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. The presumptive chairman of Resources is Rep. Doc Hastings of Washington State...more