Those years on the Washington coast with 60 inches of rain. Most of the rain fell Nov-April. By March you were so tired of the rain and mud. But by late August you were praying for rain. But it could have been worse. I know people over there who run cows in areas which get 100+ inches a year.
One time I was talking to a rancher for Shoshoni Wyoming. He was saying how many sets of insulated coverall he had. I had none. Told told him how many sets of rain gear I had. He had none
Those old boys were tough. Dad rode all that country in the late 50's early 60's. He spent some very cold day out on the desert; he said not one single cowboy quit because of the cold. He talks about getting off his horse to break ice cycles off his horses nose; he said they were about 12" long. He rode all the way from Wamsutter to Shoshoni, and almost to Casper. Back in those days all the ranches ran in common, and during roundup there would be several ranches gathering cattle. They would be sorting cattle back and forth our of three herds; like in the Charles Russel painting. When It came time to ween calves they saved their best horse, they ween out on the open desert. One group of cowboys would take the cows one direction, and the others would take the calves the other way, going as fast as they could go. Back in those days they didn't have insulated coveralls, they were just tough.
A couple years ago when we moved my cows off the desert west of Rawlins late in October it never got above freezing. I froze my butt off, last year at the end of October it was not near as cold, and this year it was the best I have ever seen for the middle of October; it was a great day to ride, I just wish the horse I was riding was not so much of a plug. He belongs to my uncle, and he said that horse is even to lazy to buck; he did try with me once or twice. Before we got to the corals he was done, I was almost afoot with him, as he was done, and didn't want anything to do with cow.
Send us the rain, please!
