While there, I met up with a man that spent many years in, and still has strong ties to the Anahim Lake area. (I was also astounded that he knew of this blog saga!) He runs the stagecoaches in Barkerville and has done so for many years. He told me his love of the Percheron draft horses came from spending time with Lester Dorsey (my grandfather) and told me of one of Lesters stallions "Murray" that "if you had a piece of rope for around his nose and could find some way of getting on the big bugger" would let you ride him away from his mare herd with out a complaint.
Stagecoach ride with Glen E. in Barkerville. When he saw me taking the photo he said "blow that one up for your Uncle Dave!"
That reminds me of another of my Grandmothers stories from her book. It is quite a long story, so I won't write it out tonight, but here is a small taste.....
We went on with the meal until Lester spoke."Round-up starts next Sunday. The cowboys from Cless Pocket Ranch will meet us at the flats. I also have to make arrangements about getting the new stallion from Vanderhoof."
Instantly my thoughts turned to the wonderful chance of a saddle horse journey to Vanderhoof, 250 miles to the north through a country of beautiful lakes, rivers and mountains. I looked at Peggy and I knew she read my thoughts because she nodded her head. I looked at Nan and she nodded too. I felt I had all the support I needed.
"I'll get the stud for you, Lester." I said as calmly as possible.
"Good idea." he answered with a nod and went on with his meal.
I could see he wasn't giving much thought to the project but he had agreed and that was all I needed.
And off they went.
Moving cattle earlier this spring, near the "Holding Grounds" which was the communal pasture and corral system for the area for many years. This is what Lester and the others would have been rounding up in to in preparation for the cattle drive.
The "flats" that Lester is referring to is range we still have and use. In fact, I rode through much of it today as I looked for and then moved some cows within it. The rains have come nice and steady this year and the grass is really amazing. The bulls all appear sound and are well distributed. The cows are fat and sassy and the calves are healthy and gaining well. Knock on wood, the predators are finding something else to eat, and besides one smaller grizzly track, I've hardly seen much sign of them at all so far.
I have taken a few photos lately, but I'm too lazy to go out to the tack shed and get my camera off my saddle at the moment, so I'm going to add a few of our mountain creatures. Our trail ride season is just around the corner!
Wishing you all the best.
Punky
Oh, and one more thing I wanted to mention....well, two actually. If you are enjoying this blog and want to receive new posts to your inbox, you can 'sign up by email' at the top right of this page. If you are reading this on a smart phone or tablet, you may have to go to the bottom of your page and click on "see web version" to see where you can put your email address in.
Also, many of you have written to me your own stories and memories and I would really love to have them shared for others to enjoy. I've spent a few minutes tonight trying to make the 'comments' a bit easier to find, so hopefully you can write in there. Between posts (when you look on the web) you should see a light green box that tells the author (me) and the time of posting as well as options to share. You should also see "Comments" (if someone else has written) or "No comments". Click on that link (the words) and you should then have the option to comment yourself.
Clear as mud right?
Ha, welcome to my world. A computer tech I am not! Good luck and I look forward to hearing from you!
Photo credits to Kris A.
1 comment:
To get your very difficult to find comments box, I had to click on the little arrow to the right of the title of the post. After quite a long wait, the post came up again in another window - and there, finally, between the posts, was the comments box. There must be an easier way!
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