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“Yeah, probably got used to the company of hugested

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Bull Giles rode out at dawn the next mor

ning Ian work on the ranch buildings It was a hive of noisy activity with axes felling the cottonwood trees along the river and horses dragging the unhewn logs to the building sites, whereup the sod to anized chaos And the brindle steer, Captain, stood on the knoll overlooking the scene as if he was supervising it all

Within teeks the pris were chinked with moss and mud, and the roofs consisted of branches covered with dirt Zeke Taylor was the closest to being the carpenter in the group of cowboys, so he had built the bunks, chairs, and tables They were as rough and crude as the buildings that housed them

Half of the men left when Ely and Mary pulled out to take up their claim on the land Barnie had showed them to the north Their cabin and barn would be up in an equally short ti thehbors even if they were thirty miles apart

The covered wagon was partially dismantled to be converted for ranch use Lorna took the white canvas top and hung it in the cabin toarea from the rest of the one room structure As she set her personal possessions around their new home, she refused to compare its crudeness to the sod house of the farmer’s wife in Kansas

In Septeh she’d experienced nosickness and felt in the best of health When she told Benteen the stork would be visiting the, he pro to be a boy

A week later, Benteen left with the wagon and thirty head of horses Rusty, Jessie Trumbo, and Bob Vernon stayed behind, as did Lorna Benteen didn’t want to risk anything happening to her or their unborn baby by being jolted around on the wagon seat, co journey she had just endured So Lorna stayed home while he purchased their winter supplies, filed their homestead claim with the land office, and sold the extra horses In addition to the supplies, he brought back yard goods so Lorna could make a few additions to their limited wardrobes and three hundred head of the so-called Western cattle Texas horses were in deht top prices

When he returned, he sent Jessie Truather another herd of wild stock to drive north in the spring The brindle steer trotted after the chuck wagon, too anxious to get back on the trail They took hi to lead the next herd north

Barnie’s adjoining clai on the cattle in his area

The first winter was cold and blustery, with subzero temperatures co in early October It wasn’t a severe winter by Montana standards At Christmastime Mary and Ely came for a holiday dinner Ely read the Bethlehem story from the Bible, then Woolie played Christ

When Lorna’s time drew near the first of April, Mary came to stay at the cabin and serve asstories Lorna had heard about childbirth in the wilds, she had an easy time of it Benteen held their newborn son, Webb Matthew Calder, that first day of his life, and on the next, Benteen rode off with the rest of theroundup

Bridle chains clanked as the sroup of riders approached the collection of crude buildings for the ranch’s headquarters on an early May afternoon They sat loosely in the saddle, swaying slightly with the rhyth, so there was hardly any bend in the knee

Haggard lines were drawn across Benteen’s bronzed features fro days of the roundup, but his eyes re losses had been minimal, less than he had expected