Swimming the Platte, portion of engraving by E. Boyd Smith.
As indicated on the previous page, the dangers of the trail were not limited to stampedes.
Many were killed at the very beginning of
the drive at the Red River. There were three crossings: Red River Station, Doan's Crossing, and
Ringgold.
Trail Outfit at Rocky Bluffs Ford of the Red River
Andy Adams described Doan's Crossing:
"Red River, this boundary river on the northern border of Texas, was a terror to trail drivers.
The majestic grandeur of the river was apparent on every hand, with its
red bluff banks, the sediment of its red waters marking the timber along
its course, while the driftwood, lodged in trees and high on the banks,
indicated what might be expected when she became sportive or angry.
The crossing had been in use only a year or two when we forded, yet five
graves, one of which was less than ten days made, attested her disregard
for human life. It can safely be asserted that at this and lower trail
crossings on Red River, the lives of more trail men were lost by drowning
than on all other rivers together."
River Crossing, Alfred R. Waud, Harper's 1867
For information as to Alfred R. Waud, see Yellowstone.
Monument at Doan's Crossing
Today, the crossing at Red River Station is on privately owned land and is not
accessible. Instead, the visitor may gaze upon a monument and a wheat field, but the
river is not to be seen. At Doan's Crossing there is the adobe store which
provided the last place for the purchase of supplies before the end of the
trail and another monument bearing
the brands of many of the outfits passing by.
Addison Spaugh, later a foreman for the Converse Cattle Company when it was located on
Old Woman Creek north of Manville, later observed:
Outfits had gaily started north, only to reach their destinations months later with
half their cattle gone, some of their men laying in shallow graves along the trail, or
lost in the waters of angry rushing rivers.
Besides the danger of drowning, the river bottoms were often quicksand. E. E. Smith,
"The Passing of the Cattle-Trail" X Transactions of the
Kansas State Historical Society, 1907-1908, described
an 1880 cattle drive undertaken for Robert A. Harper:
When
the Canadian river was reached it was bank full and still rising, and constant rains kept
it up for several days. Each day while thus kept waiting outfits were constantly arriving,
till at last, worn out with the delay, the managers of the several cattle and horse herds
held a council, which resulted in a decision to force a passage. This was very dangerous,
for the Canadian was full of quicksand, and, like the Cimarron, "buries its dead." Rafts
were made, camp-equipage, wagons, etc., were crossed safely over. Following this the herds
were rounded up with men in position, and a small bunch of 500 head of cattle was driven
into the river, for cattle will take water more readily than horses and swim better.
The cattle served to set the quicksands in motion and to lead the horses across. Some of
the men swam their horses to guide their cattle and keep them moving to the farther shore.
The horses were put into the river immediately behind the cattle, and crossed with the loss
of five head. While crossing another bunch of cattle, a few got upon a sand-bar and began
"milling" (moving around in a circle). and several head were drowned before the "mill"
could be broken up. A number of Indians who were watching at once fell to rescuing carcasses,
and succeeded in getting four or five out of the water, when they at once proceeded to have a
feast.
One method of avoiding drowning
on a river crossing was to unsaddle one's horse and to ride across naked. In that manner, one would
not be weighed down by clothing, boots, and gear. Samuel Dunn Houston, a
cowboy who rode for Tom Moore, a contract drover, recalled of an 1879 trail drive:
When we reached Fort Laramie we made ready to cross. I pulled my saddle off and then my clothes.
Tom came up and said, "Sam you are doing the right thing." I told him I had crossed
the river before and that I had a good friend who once started to cross the
river and he was lost in the quicksand. His name was Theodore Luce of Lockhart, Texas.
He was lost just above the old Seven Crook Ranch above Ogallala.
And Andy Adams similarly described in his The Log of a Cowboy a young cowboy who drowned crossing the
North Platte near Fort Laramie. In his pocket was found a letter from his mother bidding him
to take care. His two brothers had drowned on the trail. A minister from a nearby emigrants' train delivered a
service. Thus, a young lad far from his home in Texas was laid to rest beside the Platte while the
minister's two daughters sang How Firm a Foundation, the same hymn as sung at the funeral
of General Lee. The third verse:
When thro' the deep waters I call thee to go
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress
River Crossing, Jean Andre Castaigne, Scribner's Magazine
J. A. Castaigne (1861-1929) was a French artist who provided art work
in the 1890's for American periodicals, Scribner's, Century Magazine,
Harper's, and McClure's. He is sometimes listed as a Western artist, mainly
due to drawings of American Indians. He was a recipient of
Legion d' Honneur.
On the trail besides the dangers, the
cowboys were faced with dust, heat, and boredom. At the rear of the herd the least experienced rode drag. Their
job was to prod along the slow, the infirm, or the lazy cattle. Occasionally,
a cow would drop out to give birth to a calf. Since new born calves could not
keep up with the herd, it was an unpleasant duty of the drag riders to dispatch the calves and
drive the cow back into the main herd. At the back of the herd the dust was such that the
color of the men's clothes could scarely be discerned. Indeed, as recalled by one cowboy,
Ben Kinchlow:
"I went up the Chisholm Trail five or six times. Charley Word, Blocker,
George West, W.G.B. Grimes, Abel an' John Pierce was all big trail drivers
then. Goin' up the trail you never was out of sight of a herd. The trail
was so worn, that the dust would be knee deep to the cattle. You could ride
right up to the rear of the cattle an' you couldn't see the cattle for the
dust.
"Holding Up the Lead," undated
To the sides of the herd would ride the flankers and ahead of them the swingmen whose jobs were to
keep the herd aligned. The dust was hardly less and in some instances they faced the incredible heat
given off by the herd. At the front of the herd several of the more experienced rode point, for it was
there that the more rambunctious cattle would be found. It was the
job of the pointmen to keep the herd aimed correctly. Ahead was the trail boss and ahead of him would be the
cook who would, among other things gather the occasional fuel, and set up for
the evening dinner. The cook was generally recognized as the second most
important man in the trail crew and would receive as much as $5.00 a month more than other drovers.
He was often experienced in all aspects of
trail work and could fill in where needed. Additionally, there were wranglers to tend to the horses. For each cowboy would
ride three or more horses in a day, so as to preclude horses from becoming winded.
Music this page:
Red River Valley
From this valley they say you are going.
I will miss your bright eyes and sweet smile.
For they say you are taking the sunshine.
That has brightened our pathway awhile.
Chorus:
Come and sit by my side if you love me.
Do not hasten to bid me adieu.
But remember the Red River Valley
and the cowboy that loves you so true.
From this valley they say your are going.
I will miss your sweet face and your smile.
Just because you are weary and tired,
You are changing your range for awhile.
Repeat Chorus
I've been waiting a long time my darling
For the sweet words you never say.
Now at last all my fond hopes have vanished.
For they say you are going away.
Repeat Chorus
O there never could be such a longing
In the heart of a poor cowboy's breast.
That now dwell in the heart you are breaking.
As I wait in my home in the west.
Repeat chorus
Do you think of the valley you're leaving?
O how lonely and drear it will be!
Do you think of the kind heart you're breaking.
And the pain you are causing to me?
Repeat Chorus
As you go to your home by the ocean,
May you never forget those sweet hours
That we spent in the Red River Valley,
And the love we exchanged mid the flowers.
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The origins of "Red River Valley" are uncertain. It has been variously traced to
the Prairie Provences of Canada and to Iowa. Various valleys have been used in the words,
Sherman Valley, Mohawk Valley, as well as the Red River. It is uncertain whether it
originally referenced the Red River of the North or the Red River that the cowboys crossed
on the way to the north along the cattle trails to Wyoming and Montana. It has even found its way
across the Atlantic where the melody is used in the traditional Liverpool song, "Poor Scouser Tommy:"
Let me tell you the story of a poor boy
Who was sent far away from his home
To fight for his king and his country
And also the old folks back home
Now they put him in a Highland division
Sent him off to a far foreign land
Where the flies flew around in their thousands
And there's nothing to see but the sand
Well the battle started next morning
Under the Libyan sun
I remember that poor Scouser Tommy
Who was shot by an old nazi gun
As he lay on the battle field dying (dying dying)
With blood gushing out of his head
As he lay on the battle field dying (dying dying)
These were the last words he said...
[Remaining verses sung to the tune of "The Sash."]
Ohhhhhh... I am a Liverpudlian
I come from the Spion Kop
I love to sing, I love to shout
I go there quite a lot (Every Week)
We support the team thats dressed in Red
A team that you all know
A team that we call Liverpool
And to glory we will go
We've won the League, we've won the Cup
And we've been to Europe too
We played the toffees for a laugh
And we left them feeling blue - Five Nil!
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Writer's note: "Spion Kop" refers to the steep stands behind the goal occupied by the most
vociferous liverpudlians. They are so called because of
the stands supposed resemblance to a hill which was the site of a Boer victory near Ladysmith, Natal, South Africa,
during the Boer Wars.
Next Page, Cattle drives continued.
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