Baxter Black

Jim said he had the best two-strand bob wire fence in the country. The ranchers who bordered him got together and fixed his fence. Now his pasture is gettin’ thin, and he’s only got half as many cows. That didn’t please Jim’s banker.

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful little valley called Pleasant Valley. Pristine streams ran down from wooded hillsides. Wild game was abundant. Fish flourished. The peasants tilled their farms and irrigated them with mountain water. The livestock grazed the grassy meadows.

Watch Baxter Black's first music video, "Is That Rural Enough For You?"

This is the time of year when cow people don’t get much sleep. If you boiled “raisin’ cattle” down to its bare bones, the whole business revolves around gettin’ a live calf on the ground.

Gerald Two Bears was the foreman of the tribal branding crew.

Lots of Indians who were cowboys came to do what they could do.

There is a state law on the books in Colorado that makes it illegal for a sheepherder to abandon his sheep without notice.

A good law, really, since herders are often left alone on isolated ranges with their entrusted band. The owner or boss checks on the herder once a week or so and brings him or her supplies.