He Came to Cowboys
by
Anderson (Tad) M. Rearick III
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I know you’ve heard I’m crazy, and you’ll notice I’m a telling you this story afore we’ve had more than this here round on account of I don’t want you later to say I was drunk. You’all take note, I ain’t drunk now, and I wasn’t back then, so what I’m about to tell you is the truth. It was just a little after the shortest day of the year that Zeke, Jed, Dan, old Hawk, and myself saw the lights in the sky.
We were making our way through the Shawnee Trail doing a fall cattle drive on our way to Kansas City and had just hunkered down for the evening. Jed—Jed Collins—being the trail boss, was sitting up with Zeke, taking the first watch. Those two went way back as partners, but had parted ways a few years back and had only recently gotten together again. Meanwhile the rest of us were either getting ready to sleep or were still sitting around the campfire, just a-jawing about this and that. The night was cold but clear and the stars filled the sky. Hawk, an old Sioux whose real name as I recall was Chentan but we all took to calling him Hawk after learning that was what his name meant, was just telling us some crazy injun story about how the milky way was actually the dribblings of corn meal from some celestial dog who had been sticking his nose where it didn’t belong, got beat for it, only to leave a big old mess in the sky as he ran yowling home. It was pretty funny stuff, but looking up you had to admit it sure looked like something got splattered up there.
Anyway, other than it being so cold on account of us making this run so late, there was nothing special about the night when out of nowhere this fella is suddenly standing right amongst us. I ain’t saying who but there was a couple of squawks of fear. Jed and Zeke jump up, pulling out their six shooters, and there was that ticka-click of hammers being pulled back and bullets falling into their chambers.
“Don’t be afeared boys” he said, raising his hands.
“Stranger who the "Blazes" are you?” Zeke weren’t taking no chances. He’d been part of a group that had been jumped by rustlers a few years back. Nasty business; shot his partner dead and shot him too but weren’t careful. They paid for that mistake. But that’s another story. Anyway, at the word “Blazes,” the stranger just kinda of smiled like Zeke had said something funny.
“I’ve come to tell you-all some great news” he said.
“Zeke, Mr. Collins,” Hawk called from the shadows. “I think you’d better put your guns down.” Old Hawk had quickly and silently slipped out of the campfire light as soon as the fellow had appeared and only now stepped back into the fire’s glow right behind the stranger. Nobody ever got the drop on Old Hawk.
“Are there more of them Hawk? Jed’s gun never wavered its aim from the intruder’s heart.
“None that I can tell. In fact, there ain’t no tracks out here at all.”
“What?”
“No tracks.”
“Mister,” Jed shifted his eyes towards the stranger, “You’d better tell us who you are but keep your hands up.” Jed holstered his firearm; Zeke did likewise but a bit slower than Jed. “Hawk check him out.” The old red skin seemed to hesitate as if he were afraid that there would be nothing there. In fact, he later told me that was exactly what he was afraid of. Spirit messengers were talked about a lot among his people. Still the young man felt solid as he patted around all the important spots. I say “young” cause when we got a good look at him we realized he barely seemed to be in his twenties. He wore a white, collarless cotton shirt and light tan trousers held up by brown suspenders; good but not fancy boots were on his feet: Just a cowboy. No wings like some people have claimed I said or glowing eyes or hair. He was just a simple feller who somehow left no tracks on the prairie.
“Like I said before,” he said “I’m just here to give you fellers some good news.” By this time we were all up, standing around him.
“Nothing here Mr. Collins.” Hawk came around a looked closely at the boy’s face. He never told us what he was looking for. Jed, however, seemed to relax after that.
“All right, well I recken you can put your hands down. So what is this good news you want to tell us?”
“You see over yonder? There’s a small town there called Davidsvile. Tonight the most important leader of the world has been born.
“Davidsville?” I said “There ain’t nothing in Davidsville, but average folk, some homesteaders nearby and a well.”
“Nevertheless, that’s where he is. To prove it; I’ll even tell you what to look for. You’ll find him with his family in the Sweet Rest Hotel’s barn. They just arrived this evening but the Sweet Rest’s full tonight. He’s sleeping there now in the mule’s feeding trough wrapped in some spar cloth his mother brought a long.
“Don’t sound like an auspicious beginning for the most important man of the world.” We all laughed; Zeke can be pretty funny when he ain’t scared. The stranger laughed too. He seemed used to laugher like he swam in joy all his life. And then he was gone. We would have looked for him around the ground figuring it was some joke when the sky just tore open.
It was like the black of the stars was a curtain and behind it was daylight. It parted and we could see our young man standing high above us with hundreds of other people. I ain’t ashamed to admit it, but I dropped to my knees. Hawk was right next to me saying something I didn’t understand.
“Hawk old pard,” I whispered. “If you’re a-praying put in a good word for me.” And then they started to sing.
I’ve lived my life on the prairie. Never spent much time in towns except to get supplies and some occasional recreation. I do remember one Sabbath when I was waiting for a new cattle-drive to be organized that I happened to walk by a building where a group of people were singing about God, and I thought then that it was the prettiest thing I had ever heard. And it was happy too, happy like a sing-along in a good saloon when you’re feeling loose and just enjoying yourselves before some angry drunk ruins it for everyone. Well it was like that, but way beyond all that. It’s like I’m trying to describe a waterfall by pointing to the drippel that comes from a hand pump. They sang “Glory to God and good will to all of us on the earth.” It went on and on and when it finally faded away, I got a sense that a curtain had just been dropped but that the song was still going on beyond our hearing. I never wanted to hear more of something in my whole life.
When the light faded and we stood up and dusted ourselves off. We didn’t know what to do; then Zeke speaks up.
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m a-going to Davidsville and check this out.” We all agreed and began saddling up the horses when Jed calls a halt.
“Boys, we are responsible for this cattle. What are you thinking?”
“Mr. Collins,” Hawk was putting the blanket on his horse. I personally think that if the Great Spirit has told us about this new chief and bothered with us, that we can trust Him to take care of the cattle. And even if not; what has been given to us is worth more than all the cattle in this territory. Well, you can’t argue with Old Hawk. When he’s right; he’s right and even Jed saddled up his pinto and rode off with the rest of us to Davidsville.
We found the Sweet Rest Hotel and its barn and sure enough in the barn was a young family. Mrs. Williams had told us that they had arrived just tuckered out and the poor girl was so close to giving birth that she looked like she might burst right there. The young husband stood up when we trundled in and seemed mighty surprised to have company. As for the mother she just lay there looking worn out but happy. And there by her in a donkey trough lay a little baby. Nothing special. This kind of thing happens every day. Just a young couple on the road.
“I couldn’t send them anywhere else” Mrs. Williams said, “so I got some fresh hay and put it out back and stayed with her until her time came around. I never gave it any thought until you all turned up. But how did you men know about this?”
And so we told her. We’ve been telling everyone since. We’ve been called drunks, dreamers, lunatics, and Injun converts—especially when they hear us agreeing with Old Hawk that that boy must have been some sort of Heavenly messenger. They’ve been saying it so much that I have to admit there are times when I almost wonder about myself. But then I remember how my eyes hurt with the blaze of light in the sky and I remember the song that I want to hear more of so bad it makes my heart ache. And I’m telling you all; something is afoot. Something new is going on upon this here Earth and for some reason we poor cowboys were given a chance to hear it all and see its beginning first.
The background comes from the Anvil Motel in Wyoming which features the "Cowboy's Prayer"
Merry Christmas From Scott and Tad
