When They've Finished Shipping Cattle In The Fall
Though you're not exactly blue,
Yet you don't feel like you do
In the winter, or the long hot summer days.
For your feelin's and the weather
Seem to sort of go together,
And you're quiet in the dreamy autumn haze.
When the last big steer is goaded
Down the chute, and safely loaded;
And the summer crew has ceased to hit the
ball;
When a fellow starts to draggin'
To the home ranch with the wagon --
When they've finished shipping cattle in the
fall.
Only two men left a standin'
On the job for winter brandin',
And your pardner, he's a loafing by your
side.
With a bran-new saddle creakin',
But you never hear him speakin',
And you feel it's goin' to be a quiet ride.
But you savvy one another
For you know him like a brother--
He is friendly but he's quiet, that is all;
For he' thinkin' while he's draggin'
To the home ranch with the wagon--
When they've finished shippin' cattle in
the fall.
And the saddle hosses stringin'
At an easy walk a swingin'
In behind the old chuck wagon movin'
slow.
They are weary gaunt and jaded
With the mud and brush they've waded,
And they settled down to business long
ago.
Not a hoss is feelin' sporty,
Not a hoss is actin' snorty;
In the spring the brutes was full of buck
and bawl;
But they 're gentle, when they're draggin'
To the home ranch with the wagon --
When they've finished shippin' cattle in
the fall.
And the cook leads the retreat
Perched high upon his wagon seat,
With his hat pulled 'way down furr'wd on
his head.
Used to make that old team hustle,
Now he hardly moves a muscle,
And a feller might imagine he was dead,
'Cept his old cob pipe is smokin'
As he lets his team go pokin',
Hittin' all the humps and hollers in the
road.
No, the cook has not been drinkin'--
He's just settin' there and thinkin'
'Bout the places and the people that he
knowed
And you watch the dust a trailin'
And two little clouds a sailin',
And a big mirage like lakes and timber tall.
And you're lonesome when you're draggin'
To the home ranch with the wagon--
When they've finished shippin' cattle in
the fall.
When you make the camp that night,
Though the fire is burnin' bright,
Yet nobody seems to have a lot to say,
In the spring you sung and hollered,
Now you git your supper swallered
And you crawl into your blankets right
away.
Then you watch the stars a shinin'
Up there in the soft blue linin'
And you sniff the frosty night air clear
and cool.
You can hear the night hoss shiftin'
As your memory starts driftin'
To the little village where you went to school.
With its narrow gravel streets
And the kids you used to meet,
And the common where you used to play
baseball.
Now you're far away and draggin'
To the home ranch with the wagon
For they've finished shippin' cattle in the fall.
And your school-boy sweetheart too,
With her eyes of honest blue--
Best performer in the old home talent show.
You were nothin' but a kid
But you liked her, sure you did--
Lord! And that was over thirty years ago.
Then your memory starts to roam
From Old Mexico to Nome.
From the Rio Grande to the Powder River,
Of the things you seen and done--
Some of them was lots of fun
And a lot of other things they make you
| shiver.
'Bout that boy by name of Reid
That was killed in a stampede--
'Twas away up north, you helped 'em dig
his grave,
And your old friend Jim the boss
That got tangled with a hoss,
And the fellers couldn't reach in time to
save.
You was there when Ed got his'n--
Boy that killed him's still in prison,
And old Lucky George, he's rich and
livin' high.
Poor old Tom, he come off worst,
Got his leg broke, died of thirst
Lord but that must be an awful way
to die.
Then them winters at the ranches,
And the old time country dances--
Everybody there was sociable and gay.
Used to lead 'em down the middle
Jest a prancin' to the fiddle--
Never thought of goin' home till the break
of day.
No! there ain't no chance for sleepin',
For the memories come a creepin',
And sometimes you think you hear the
voices call;
When a feller starts a draggin'
To the home ranch with the wagon--
When they've finished shippin' cattle in
the fall.
BRUCE KISKADDON
Bruce kiskaddon was born in the state of Pennsylvania in 1878; and he died in 2950. He began hi life as a working cowboy at the age of 20, in a
place called Picket Wire. (This is the cowboy pronunciation for Purgatory; and it is located where the Purgatory River runs in southern Colorado.)
He worked for a man called Tap Duncan who was the owner of the Diamond Bar Ranch in Colorado. In 1915, Kiskaddon started writing cowboy poetry while working on the ranch. Cowboy poets were not popular at this time; but Duncan encouraged him to keep writing. His poems were eventually published by the Los Angeles Times; and they featured his poems for the next 30 years. H:is Book "Rhymes And Ranches" was published in 1947. In this book, Kiskaddon wrote about his cowboy life and work on the ranch.
While at the ranch, Kiskaddon lived the life of a true western cowboy. He was a wrangler, roper, and expert rider. He suffered through all types of intolerable weather from scorching desert heat to bone-chilling blizzards. His poetry has a vivid realism. He told it like it was without embellishment.
