A bit ago, someone asked what a “drover’s car” was. I gave a short answer,
but have been thinking about it all day, and decided to post this little essay.
The old man was sitting next to me at the bar, in Hannegan’s very pleasant restaurant, in
Los Gatos, California. The reason I hang out in bars is to talk to people, hoping for an
interesting one now-and-then. This one was.
He was a small man, perhaps 5’8”, wiry, with not an ounce of fat on him. He was the
most bow-legged man I have ever met. Even there in the sophisticated Silicon Valley, he
projected “cowboy”. We ended up being fairly good friends, telling each other various
stories and lies, etc.
It turned out he had been involved with cattle most of his life. He started in the stock
yards at San Francisco, but somehow became involved in the management of rodeo stock.
In that capacity, he traveled all over the west, on trains, making sure that these valuable
animals were properly cared for, and delivered to the rodeo grounds on time. It, of course,
was a bigger hassle to get the creatures back on the train, ready for the next rodeo.
Give a little thought to what he was dealing with. Bulls. Bucking Brocos. Calves, for the
roping contests. None of them household pets.
Beside the problem of the nature of the animals, is the fact that the law is very strict about
how they are treated on the trains. I forget the details, but they must be let off
now-and-then, for exercise, feeding, and watering. That involves a lot of cowboy work.
Here’s a tidbit for you C&TS RR freaks. Down behind the roundhouse, out toward the
river, there are dipping pens for the sheep that were to be shipped to Denver. The sheep
had to be disinfected before leaving. (Chama was, in fact, a major shipper of sheep. Also,
the wool warehouse there, next to the depot, was an immense, ugly thing.)
I would imagine that, after delivering rodeo stock, or cattle, or sheep, the people in charge
partied pretty well. And then, they had to ride home in a lousy “drover’s car”, attached to
a freight train. What are the chances they had a few bottles of whisky along?
Now a question: Jim Peeler, you know far more than I about ranching matters. Have I
gotten this more-or-less correct?
Bob Keller, abc
