The Forgotten Winchester
A New Novel - Now Available!
An Excerpt
(Bob and Todd are two of the main characters, and are cowboys on a cattle drive in Western US in the 1880's.)
Cattle drives are hot. And dusty. And stinky. Not just the cows. The cowboys too.
But all that is something that you get used to. You don't even smell the stinky after a day or two. Besides, you are used to the stinky. Baths were uncommon in the Old West. You'd be lucky to get one on Saturday night. And even then, only if you had to go somewhere. Not many places to go to that require a bath on a cattle drive.
The best most cowboys did was washing their hands in the dirty water of a stream or pond. This was also used by the cattle and horses as a drinking area, and a place to cool off. Not to mention that cattle and horses don't worry about where they piss or crap.
When you were on a cattle drive and got to water, you would get off your horse. You'd grab your canteen. That was the first thing. You didn't want to have an empty canteen. So you would fill that first. Right next to where the horse was drinking, probably. You might brush at the water a bit to try to get some that was a bit cleaner and maybe had less dirt in it.
After filling your canteen, you would take off your bandana. Everyone wore one. It was good for keeping the sweat from running down your back. And for putting over your face, because riding around cattle is dusty.
Your bandana was an important part of your daily wear. You'd put the bandana in the water, and rinse off the dirt and sweat as much as you can. Then you'd use it to wipe off your face and neck, and maybe your arms if you had rolled up the long sleeves of your shirt. That would help you cool off, at least temporarily. You might take the wet bandana and run it around the inside of your hat.
You'd put the bandana back in the water again, rinsing it again, but leaving it wet. You'd put it wet around your neck again, to help cool off. Maybe you'd take a drink out of your canteen, refilling it afterwards. No empty canteens, remember?
Grabbing your canteen, and maybe one last splash of water, you'd get back on the horse. Back to the dust. And heat.
And the stinky.
Bob and Todd got to the next water hole. The cattle got there first, because they needed to keep the cattle moving. It didn't take much to get the cattle to the water hole. They were just as hot and thirsty as you were. And the cattle always got first dibs on the water.
After making sure there were no stragglers, Bob and Todd got to a spot at the water hole that was less crowded with cattle. Maybe the water would be a bit cleaner there. No matter, though.
They both got off their horses, and filled their canteens. They both used their bandanas to help them cool off. They both got a drink of the water.
"The only good thing that you can say about this water is that it is wet," said Todd.
Bob nodded in agreement.
"Not very cold, though. But I don't know that it is wet. This water is really thick with mud. I had to chew it a bit to get any water out of it."
Bob got his bandana wet again and used it to wipe off his face and neck a few times.
"Been thinking about that ranching idea. If we pool our money from this cattle drive, we might be able to get a good start at it."
"I'm agreeable with that," replied Todd. "It will be lean times until we get started. But I reckon we are used to lean times."
"Yep. What say we finish this drive, get a few supplies, and head back down to where I saw that valley? We should get there in about 10 days after we finish up this drive."
"Yep," said Todd.
They both got on their horses.
One of the things Bob liked about Todd is that he didn't talk your ear off. Talking takes a lot of energy. And being a cowboy on a cattle drive is hard work. You are in the saddle all day long. And the days are long. There's dust and dirt and stinky cows.
Come to think of it, Bob thought, the cattle aren't the only stinky things around here. He was a bit ripe himself.
"When we get done with this drive, I may take a bath. Not sure if there is enough clean water in town to get rid of all of this dirt and stink, though," said Todd.
The Forgotten Winchester - Get the story here - I think you will enjoy it!
Richard Hellewell - July 2019
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The Forgotten Winchester
As it was found in 2014 at Strawberry Creek,
Great Basin National Park, Baker, NV