Initiation

image borrowed from southwestart.com

Initiation

“Beyond a certain point, the whole universe becomes

a continuous process of initiation.”--Robert Anton Wilson.

In 1871, Bobby Dunstan had heard tall tales of cattle drives out

across the Great Plains since he was knee-high to a milk bucket.

He was the eldest, growing up on a small horse ranch about five

miles out of Ft. Griffin, TX--so he was the first to be able to leave

home on a cowpoke adventure.

He was 17, & tall as a healthy stalk of corn; more than anything in

this world he wanted to test his grit on a real cattle drive. His father

let him take the mule, Old Gus, & it was a long 75 mile ride up north

to the Red River Station at Spanish Fort; only a three day trip as the

hawk flies. Soon the blisters on his backside made him wish that he

too had wings--but the rough ride readied him, making his insides

rawhide tough.

His experience with horses paid off in aces, for he was hired by the

Burning B bunch literally the day he arrived in town; made head

wrangler, in charge of a 100 horse remuda, plenty of broncs for the

dozen cowboys that would drive the 2,000 head of longhorns 24 hours

a day. They would use the popular Chisholm Trail all the dusty way up

to Abilene, Kansas--more than two months work at $40.00 every month.

Red River Station was the jumping off place for dozens of drives that

Spring. The seasoned hands in his bunch were wild-eyed, but all of

them seemed to possess a clarity of purpose. Before they hit the trail,

he willingly swam naked in the Red for his initiation. They were damn

lucky that late April because the river was running shallow, & they stayed

off the sand bars, & avoided the quick sand--because he heard that a

week later after a Texas rain squall, it became turbulent & treacherous.  

“Abilene or Bust!”

the pokes yelled, spurring their mounts

north up the Chisholm.

Glenn Buttkus

Posted over on Brenda's Sunday Whirl

using her 12 word list on Wordle227.
Also posted over on dVerse Poets Pub "Haibun Monday"