John Hard - The Hard Drive: The Hard Ranch Series, #2

By George M. Goodwin

The railroads could not keep up with the men who ventured farther and farther into the west. That meant the first cattle ranchers in these new lands had to push large herds of cattle for many miles to reach the nearest rail head. They crossed vast plains, arid deserts and even mountains. All the while hunting for most of their food, crossing rivers and fighting bands of roving Indians or gangs of bad white men. When a man ask if it had been a hard drive, you knew he had never been on one before or he would know the answer, they all were.
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pale Horse Publications
• Release date: May 31, 2024
• ISBN: 9798227345554

George M. Goodwin

George was born in 1960 in Jefferson County Alabama. The fifth of nine children, eight boys and one girl. The family was raised poor, but not poorly raised. At home, George was taught morals, ethics and respect. Reading, writing and arithmetic at school. Love, honor and obedience to God at church. He grew up on John Wayne movies, country music and the writings of Louis L' Amour, Robert Louis Stevenson, H.G. Wells and Jules Verne.  

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

He had not found time to ride over himself, but Walter had and some of the men from the Hard Way Ranch had ridden over a few times to help Mace Wesson’s men with the raising of their buildings. When they had free time, of course, which wasn’t often. With now over two thousand head of cattle in two separate valleys, they had their hands full right there most of the time.

The lakes of the Joshua Valley seemed to be holding up fine. Even though there had not been a heavy winter of snow in the valley, up in the higher peaks there had been plenty and as it began to melt, it trickled down the rocks and into the big lake. There were calves on the way from the first herd they’d bought from Mace. So it was that in March of 1863, Walter and John made the decision that a herd of six hundred head of the older steers they’d gotten from Virgil Thorpe would be taken to the rail head in Independence Missouri.

Their decision had been partly brought on by a man passing through Virginia City. He was some kind of official from Washington. He had told Walter that because of the war in the East the Union Army’s need for beef was great to feed their soldiers and that they were paying the highest price he’d ever heard of. Twenty eight dollars a head, he’d told Walter.

At present the railroad was finished to the town of Sedalia, eighty miles east of Independence. The war had slowed progress, but they hoped to reach Independence within a couple of months.

CHAPTER 2

John and Walter both talked with Mace about making it another double ranch drive, but Mace said he was planning to wait until next year to make his drive. Even after hearing about the high price that was being paid, he still wasn’t going.

We still have a lot of work to do around there to make that place a decent ranch, he said. If all of us takes off on a half a year long drive it ain’t likely that it’ll get done by itself.

Of the seven men working at the Hard Way Ranch, it was decided that Walter and Amos would be staying behind. They would handle things there while the rest went on the drive. With the Indian troubles now pretty much over, the two of them could manage things just fine, Walter told him. In fact, once you’re gone, he told John, I figure me and Amos are gonna drive most of these cattle over to Joshua Valley. His idea was to leave only the ones about to throw a calf in the ranch valley and bring back any from Joshua Valley about to do the same. Just in case they needed help.

John thought that it was a great idea and decided it was something they should continue to do from now on.

Walter didn’t talk a lot most of the time, but when he did, what he said made a lot of sense. Plans were made to pull out in the middle of May, but in the meantime, there was plenty of work that needed to be done.

John talked to Walter about taking half of the horses they’d gotten from Thorpe along to sale to the Army.

CHAPTER 3

I ’m sure the Army is in need of good horses too, he told Walter.

They probably are, Walter said, but horses and cattle are hard to drive in the same herd. They move at a different pace and it’s hard to drive them both together.

Mace brought em both up here together, he told Walter.

I know, Walter told him. He and I talked about that very thing when I was over there a few days ago. The thing is he had a lot more men than you’re gonna have John. Mace said that four of ‘em with him did nothing, but wrangle the horses. Walter told him. He only bunched ‘em up into one herd just before they reached the foot of the peaks. So the idea of taking the horses was forgotten for the time being.

Still each man on the drive would need to have at least two spare horses at least and spares for the wagon. Four men driving six hundred head of cattle could really wear a horse down. So they set to work with the horses from the Thorpe bunch. Most of them had already been rough broke. They just hadn’t been rode in a while and needed