ed to rest the only shade you could find would be in the
shadow of your horse, which at noon meant your sitting right under him;
and your saddle, on remounting, would be so hot as to be really very
uncomfortable. Between round-ups there was not much work to do. Before
round-up a general shoeing of the horses had to be gone through. I shod
my own, except in cases of young ones undergoing the operation for the
first time, when assistance was needed. Except poker every night we had
few amusements. It was almost a daily programme, however, to get our
carbines and six-shooters out and practise at targets, firing away box
after box of ammunition. No wonder we were pretty expert shots, but
indeed it needs much practice to become so.

It should be said that amongst our visitors there were, no doubt, many
angels whom we entertained unawares; but also, and no doubt of this,
many blackguards and desperadoes, "toughs" and horse-thieves.

An old English sailor, who had farmed a little in the mountains, was on
one occasion left alone at our headquarters to take charge of it during
our absence on the work. Two men came along and demanded something which
the old man would not give and they deliberately shot him dead. We
caught the miscreants, but could not convict them, their plea being
self-defence. They really should have been hung without trial.

Lynchings of cattle and horse thieves and other criminals were not then
uncommon. I have twice come on corpses swinging in the wind, hung from
trees or telegraph posts. But the most distressing sight witnessed was
in Denver's fair city when a man, still alive, was dragged to death all
through the streets by a rope round his neck, followed by a howling mob!

By the way, a strange couple once surprised me at my mountain camp,
viz., two individuals dressed much alike, both wearing the hair in a
long pigtail, both dressed in leather "chaps," high-heeled boots,
woollen shirts, big felt hats, rifles and six-shooters, and both as
"hard"-looking as they ever make them. One was a man, the other a woman!
They volunteered to me nothing of their business, but I watched the
horses a little closer. And I may as well here give another little
incident that occurred in my summer camp.

A United States cavalry officer appeared one day at my door and demanded
that I at once move the cattle off the Reservation. This was a sudden
and rather big order. I told him that I was alone and could not possibly
do it