Howdy! This will likely be my final Cowboy Month Salute. Marrying Minda's still on the best seller list and I'm super-stoked. Join me here Monday for the "Stop and Smell the Roses" Blog Bouquet Day for twenty Wild Rose Press authors. Visit each of our blogs...every author is awarding a prize.
Mine is an e-copy of Marrying Minda!
Well, for today, I thought I'd mention the grand-daddy danger of them all:
The Stampede
The trail was a dangerous place. Cowboys kept alert for wolves, scorpions, bears, and rattlesnakes. Then there was the weather. Blizzards and dry watering holes come quickly to mind.
But most dangerous of all was the stampede. Cattle got scared, ran close together, stumbling and falling, endangering cowboys and their horses with trampling and even the sharp edges of longhorns. Sometimes stampeding cattle ran over cliffs or fell into gullies or raging rivers. In one gull-washer mishap, 2,000 steers died!
In addition to dead beeves, surviving cows could have broken limbs and horns or bruises and other injuries that prevented their sale. That meant lost money for the rancher.
What causes a stampede?
Any noise in the dark--even a cowboy lighting a match.
Thunder, lightning or hail.
A rabbit or deer jumping in the brush.
Pots and pans clanking.
Coyotes howling.
Even a tumblewood rolling into the herd.
Wow. No wonder those cowpokes sang lullabies to keep those beeves calm!
Have a wonderful weekend. And see you Monday when you stop and smell the roses.
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