Tallie's Hero by Sara Luck

Author:Sara Luck
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Books

THIRTEEN

When the coach and outriders reached the 76 Ranch at nearly eight o’clock in the evening, the passengers disembarked and cautiously began stretching their legs after the long ride from the fort.

“Well, Clara, what do you think of your new home?” Moreton asked, taking everything in with a sweep of his arm. The sun was just dipping low toward the Big Horn Mountains, painting the sky red, while purple haze was gathering in the small fissures, chimneys, and narrow canyons.

“Oh, my, Moreton, it is absolutely beautiful!”

Moreton smiled broadly. “I knew you would like it. I just knew you would.”

“Oh,” Marie said, “it is so…empty!”

“Yes,” Moreton said. “Isn’t that wonderful?”

To be sure, the house was more than adequate, especially when compared to others Tallie had seen on this trip, but she felt that Clara was trying a little too hard to see the grandeur of the house as Moreton had portrayed it. The one thing he had not exaggerated was the scenery, and Tallie looked toward the mountains with awe.

Then Jeb, still mounted, rode up. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s magnificent,” she said with genuine enthusiasm. “But I thought this was a cattle ranch, and I haven’t seen any cows.”

“They’re here, but they pretty much take care of themselves.”

“If they take care of themselves, who needs a cowboy?”

Jeb smiled, but didn’t answer. Instead, he tipped his hat and, grabbing his bag from one of the men, rode away, following the path that wound through the copse to his cabin.

Once inside, Jeb stripped out of the Eastern duds he had been wearing for nearly a month and got into his old jeans and chambray shirt. He had just lain down on the bed when there was a knock at his door.

Without waiting for Jeb to rise, Richard threw open the door and said by way of a greeting, “We’ve got some trouble brewing.”

“Yeah, I had a good time. But, I’m glad to be back.”

“Oh? Oh, yes, how was the trip?”

“What’s the trouble?”

“It’s John R. Jones. He’s diverting water from Crazy Woman into an irrigation ditch, and besides that, he’s fenced in some of the range.”

“And you don’t think he has a right to do that?”

“Well, of course he doesn’t have the right. It’s been preempted by the doctrine of prior appropriation.”

“Prior appropriation. Now that’s one I’ve not heard of.” Jeb swung his legs over the bed and sat.

“It is a doctrine that the first ranchers into the Territory have adopted. It states that the rangeland is closed to any further settling.”

“Richard, have you thought about what you just said? A group of cattlemen can’t just declare a thing so and have it take on the authority of law. This prior appropriation doctrine would have to be enacted by the government. And since Wyoming isn’t yet a state, I don’t even think the territorial government could make such a thing law. Besides, in my opinion, it’s just plain wrong.”

“What John R. Jones is doing is stealing our grass and our water.”

“Correct me

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.