| |
I had no column a while back because I quadruple
booked my weekend. Friday evening, I spoke to an
enthusiastic crowd at the Park County Farm Bureau
Annual Meeting in Powell, Wyoming. Saturday, I spoke
at a fundraiser in Broadus for the fledgling Powder
River Farm in the Dell; a Christian based ranch home
for the mentally handicapped. Well after dark, the
trophy wife and I zoomed out of Broadus headed to
our third commitment at our ranch out of Parkman,
Wyoming. On the nearly deserted highways south of
Busby we vaporized a deer. Thanks to the grill guard
on my old Ford crew-cab, my pickup versus deer score
is two to zero.
Sunday morning, my son, Tyler, and I saddled and
rode up the TR Bench on the east face of the Big
Horns. My brother, Dana, had recently secured a
grazing permit including the old Charlie Miller Cow
Camp; a cabin we frequented in the 1970s. The cabin,
corral and barn need substantial repair, something
in which Tyler expressed interest for next summer’s
project. I showed him two poorly marked trails
leading to the cabin; routes I hadn’t ridden for 37
years. On our return trip, we crossed the North Fork
of West Pass Creek and followed the Dana Ditch from
the canyon bottom to the top of the TR Bench.
Theopholis Rice Dana, my great, great, grandfather
built this ditch around 1887 so as to both irrigate
hay ground and fill the cistern at his homestead; a
house in which his wife, Deborah, refused to live.
Apparently trophy wives of the 1800s, had higher
standards than those of today. As we plodded along,
Tyler and I agreed the ditch construction on the
steep, rocky hillside was a remarkable feat
considering it was done using only horse and
man-power. We surmised the ditch never ran water due
to the crumbling granite soil, but later learned we
were wrong.
Back at the ranch over bowls of chili, we asked my
father about the Dana Ditch. Dad is 82-years-old and
is the last of the generation to have actually
harvested hay on the TR Bench. A few years back he
developed an interest in local history, so he is our
go-to guy for questions which stump Google. Note to
readers: Do not let your family’s senior members
quietly take their memories with them when they
pass. As a young boy, my father spent hours drying
dishes with his grandmother, Rose; an area pioneer
who in 1886 as a 14-year-old, walked behind the
Power’s family wagon as they ventured from Half
Rock, Missouri to Parkman, Wyoming. My father
regrets never asking his grandmother about her
personal experiences on her September walk to
Wyoming and I vow to not make the same mistake. Now,
back to my story.
Dad explained the ditch was built with teams and an
iron drag called a Fresno. In 1946 as a 14-year-old,
Dad tried operating a Fresno pulled by a tractor,
but every time the blade hooked a rock the long
operator’s handle launched him over the drag much to
the amusement of his two older brothers. The effort
it took to build the Dana Ditch is numbing and
contrary to our previous assumptions, the ditch did
run water and crops of native hay were harvested for
several decades. TR Dana’s generation was all God,
guns and guts; traits foreign to many Americans
today. Karl Marx published his Communist Manifesto
in 1848, and although his principles were gaining
traction in Europe 40 years later, the idea one
person is due the bounty produced by the sweat of
others was lunacy to America’s homesteaders.
In the century since, Americans softened by
government programs incrementally and completely
bought the lie of Marxism. However, the recent
mid-term elections indicate an awakening has
occurred with the unwashed demanding a change back
to the founding principles of limited government. We
will not tolerate politicians buying the leftist lie
this election was about compromise and we fully
expect expect the GOP to undo the damage President
Obama and his ilk have done to our republic.
Regardless the probability of success, if the GOP
fails to engage there will be wailing and gnashing
of teeth in 2016.
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
