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Cowboys |
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Cowboys |
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The CowboyAs long as there's one cow left in the country, there'll have to be a cowboy to take here where she doesn't want to go and bring her back when she doesn't want to come.He'll have to cut her loose when she gets hung up in a fence, or rope and drag her out of a swamp when he can't figure out why in the heck she wandered out there in the first place. Every now and then, the cowboy will have to try to get a cow's calf back to her after it has crawled through the fence. He'll cut the fence and run the calf back and forth past the hole until his horse is played out chasing the little fella, who is now half-deer and half-antelope. In the meantime, the cow jumps the fence, mothers the calf, and then they both calmly stroll back through the hole the cowboy cut. He has to act as a midwife when the cow is having trouble calving, but he'll grin from ear to ear when he pulls the calf and it's alive and finally stands up to get that first drink of milk. On occasion, the cowboy will swear to his wife, "By gosh, come next spring, we're gonna sell this dang ranch, 'cuz I'm tired of freezin' my rear off in the winter and fryin' my brains in the summer. We'll move to town and get a job that pays better than the starvation wages we make here!" Yet, when the first calf is born that next spring, the cowboy will grin at his wife kinda sheepishly and say, "Aw shucks, maw, let's try it another year." |
It laid out the rules of the range lands,
Though it wasn't set down in a book.
It lived in the heart of the cowboy,
Rode hard on each action he took.
It was carved by the winds on the high buttes.
It was burned on the range by the sun.
It was sometimes learned at the hangin' tree
Or taught by the roar of a gun.
A man never spoke "The Code Of The West."
He'd a had a hard time with the word.
He just went and lived it to the best that he could.
Out on the range with the herds.
A cowboy had to have sand in his craw.
True grit when he had to be tough.
Hell, that was expected. 'Cause life it was hard.
He smiled when the going got tough.
He didn't complain when a blizzard bit,
Or he rode for days without rest.
Or turned a stampede or buried a pard.
That was part of "The Code Of The West."
A man didn't need watching over,
His calling was a matter of pride.
He worked just the same by his lonesome,
As he did with the boss at his side.
A puncher was loyal to his outfit.
He'd stick by his brand to the end.
He was tongue-tied and gentle with women,
He never went back on a friend.
"The Code" was unyielding as granite.
It said that you beat a man square.
You didn't backside it it came to a fight.
You gave him a chance that was fair.
A cowman talked straight and was honest.
His handshake might buy a man's herd.
No lawyers or contracts, just gave him his hand.
A man was a good as his word.
So, here's to that old-timed cowboy code,
It still lives out here in the West.
The world might find, it if tried it today,
That cow country code's still the best.
A L Gordon
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© 1997-2007
NW Breyer Horse Club & Refiner of Gold Creations Equinealities in place since 1997, Section in place 2001, Updated 3/13/2007 |
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