chasin ole crooked horn.

when i worked for toveras they had pastured some steers with a outfit that had irrigated pasture next to the gila river indian reservation.  the gila river passes through the middle of that land, and growing along its banks for miles is  a little patch of mesquite forrest called the new york thicket.  it is one of the largest, continous mesquite thickets in arizona, maybe the southwest.  the river is usualy dry, but in protected places water comes to the surface for short distances. when toveras shipped off the irrigated pasture they found they were short 50 head or so. these had ended up in the thicket.  there were already a untold number of escapee cattle there not to mention hundreds of wild horses.  toveras put a 50 doller bounty on those steers that they were missing, so when we got a day off some of us went to the river to try to get a little reward mony. 
   this one particular sunday afternoon the old timer and myself were prowling in the thicket. the tracks were thick and the cow sighn was every where . we started tracking this one bunch of cattle down river, and as we entered a clearing there would be a little dust hanging in the air and maybe the smell of cow, we were that close. in the trails powdery dust was one track that looked like a ski, long narrow and it belonged to a big animal. as the day progressed we kept after this bunch hoping they would poop out. they never did. dark found us 6 miles from our tuck and a long dry ride back. the next morning at the feedlot we had weighed up the fat cattle to ship and were waitting for the brand inspecter.  his truck turned into the yard pullin a open top , bumper pull stock trailer. in this trailer, standing about a foot above the side boards was 2 of the biggest steers i ever saw. one was a herford, his head tied down to the floor board to keep him from jumping out. next to him and standing another foot taller than the herford was a crossbred mexican steer. he had a 4  foot horn on one side and the horn on the other had been broken and turned down and grew under the steers neck and up to a point it almost touched the good horn on the other side!!
    the old timer was looking around when something struck him and he looked at the steers feet. sure enough that long toed track belonged to ole crooked horn. when asked how they came by these steers the indian brand inspecter explained that a couple white cowboys had run them all day sunday and when the moon came out he and another indian cowboy had caught these cattle on a alkali flat!!  ole crooked horn had gored and killed one horse and hadnt given up very easy.
    they took those steers to the old paramount packing house in casa grande and that old crooked horn steer lived out his life there as a curiosity. the only brand that could be read on him was last used in 1948, the year of my birth!!that made that ole steer 21 years old when he was caught. as maxwell smart said"missed him by that much"!!