the weaver mountains.

when we lived in congress  I was looking after a ranch in the weaver mountains. it was as rough as I ever been on.  when you finally topped out on a eyebrow of a trail you were in basins divided by high rock ridges. if you went to the north the date creek canyon would cut you off from  half of the ranch. only a trail or two would let you down into the canyon unless you rode down country to a lower end of the canyon to cross. the upper trailes were so narrow that  a horses could just barely manage with the stirrups tied up to the saddle horn. if you met another animal coming up you were stuck. no place to turn around. the canyon wall over hung the trail so a tall horse would rub the saddle horn on the overhang.
        the ranch owner had turned 500 Mexican brahma steers on this rock pile, and my job was to gather the remnant.  they had been gathered by some wild west types and the remnant was spoiled pretty bad. they had gotten away a couple three times and some had even broke out a corral and gone back to the mountain.  there were 35 steers runnin on a 30 section ranch  that if you mashed it out flat would be 100. the only fences were the short pieces between rock ridges that were un crossable.   I had started out with a helper but it became real evident real soon that if you found these steers there wasn't room for two men to get around. and it was going to take enough time the helper wouldn't make his wages.  I had been prowling around for a week with out seeing anything but hoof prints when I stumbled upon the upper trail into date creek. it was narrow, steep and wound around a rock outcrop in such a way that you couldn't see what was down bwlow coming up.  I tied my horse and set out a foot to look around  that outcrop. the trail was cleat and I could see where it ended down below in a jumble of white boulders that didn't look like you could ride through.  as I set there trying to figure a plan one of those big white boulders got up and walked a few stepps and laid back down! I counted 31 head of those steers down there and me scared stiff of that trail!! my horse was a high strung race track reject and I didn't know if I could even push him down that trail with out him falling off.  after a while the whole bunch got to their feet and started ambling down country. date creek ran live water down close to the flat and I figured  they were going for a drink.  as best as I could I ambled along the edge of the canyon keeping those steers in sight best as I could.  the way the creek twisted around  those steers got a good lead on me. finally they got  out of sight and when I found a way down into the canyon all I found was the tracks still headed down country. up ahead the creek widened out and big tall cotton wood trees lined the banks. from there to the edge of the hills on each side it was mesquite thicket. the trail wound around through the thicket and continued on. i stayed as quiet as I could because I knew we were goin to the flat country and I had a better chance penning them. we came out of the thicket  at the edge of the corrals and there in the biggest corral stood 29 steers and a maverick cow!! all I needed to do was shut the gate and tie it! in that corral was 2 salt blocks and those steers were busy on them and didn't know the gate was shute or I was there until I tied the gate shut with a piggen string! those 2 blocks of salt got more done in half a day than I did in a month!