Herding Cows

From Doyle Argyle

 

One of Denece and myself jobs was to herd the milk cows out on the sagebrush during the day time. We would bring them back in the evening ready for milking.  My Mother used to make the best homemade root beer that there ever was.  About once a week we each used to get to take a bottle of this root beer with us to herd the cows.  One day when we were herding these cows, I left herding these cows to Denece and went over the hill and found some young rock chucks and spent a lot of time playing with them.  One thing and another and I let time slip away from me.  I was almost too late to get the cows back to the barn for milking.  In my hurry to get back and stay out of trouble, (Denece was young, not even in school yet and was not to be left alone) because one of our rules was that the cows were always in the barn when it was time for milking.  Anyway I gave my sister Denece, both of the empty root beer bottles to carry.  The only thing I could think of was getting those cows home as quick as I could using both feet and reins and whacking the horse everywhere I should I guess, to try to get home in this rapid succession.  When I came in my Dad looked at me and I could see something was wrong.  I thought boy I’m going to get balled out for being late and making the cows run.  Thus getting a very short supply of milk when milked.  The only thing he said to me was “Do you think your sister could hold on to the rear end of that horse behind the saddle with her hands full those empty root beer bottles and not fall off?”  I never thought of that.  All I knew was that she was always there.  This was the concern that Dad had for each of his children.  He wanted the best he could get for each of us.

(1943 Doyle, Alene, and Denece Argyle)