I may have posted this before

[AZ Jim]

[FONT=&quot]Just a cowboy[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]By Jim[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I went out like the others
Full of breakfast knowing
From now on for two weeks
I had to survive on Cookies food

Mornings came early, too early
The ground was hard but I slept
The day was long and the sun hot

The saddle gets to a man in a painful
Way after sittin in it all day and
Riding hard. But on we rode, all of
Us.

These cattle had to make it to
Market and it was we who got
'em there. Counted, put in pens
The cattle, not us.

Now many of those cows are in
Your grocery store, under plastic
Put there by folks who didn't really
Know about them like we do.
Butchered, put on grills, served
To laughing friends with beer,
I didn't put 'em there....

I was just one of the cowboys....[/FONT]

 

[Warrigal]

The romance of the cattle drive.

Here's one from that era from DownUnder.
The old stock routes still exist and even today sometimes graziers drive their stock along them to feed on the roadside plants.
It is known as going down the long paddock. Road traffic is held up while the cattle are moved off the road by a couple of drovers and their dogs.

Andy's Gone with Cattle Now

Our Andy's gone to battle now
'Gainst Drought, the red marauder;
Our Andy's gone with cattle now
Across the Queensland border.

He's left us in dejection now;
Our hearts with him are roving.
It's dull on this selection now,
Since Andy went a-droving.

Who now shall wear the cheerful face
In times when things are slackest?
And who shall whistle round the place
When Fortune frowns her blackest?

Oh, who shall cheek the squatter now
When he comes round us snarling?
His tongue is growing hotter now
Since Andy cross'd the Darling.

The gates are out of order now,
In storms the `riders' rattle;
For far across the border now
Our Andy's gone with cattle.

Poor Aunty's looking thin and white;
And Uncle's cross with worry;
And poor old Blucher howls all night
Since Andy left Macquarie.

Oh, may the showers in torrents fall,
And all the tanks run over;
And may the grass grow green and tall
In pathways of the drover;

And may good angels send the rain
On desert stretches sandy;
And when the summer comes again
God grant 'twill bring us Andy.
Henry Lawson

 

[jerry old]

There is a short story I must remember to post about a mommy cow telling the story of what happens once the cowboys begin roundup/
will try to locate it, certainly made an impression on me.

 

[Sunny]

I love cowboy poetry.