Driving Cattle the Old-Fashioned Way
In the late 1960s and the 1970s, I would buy my stocker calves for the next green grass season mostly in the month of June. My two favorite auction barns were the Templeton Livestock Auction and the Famosa Livestock Auction near Bakersfield. In those days, as one cattle buyer said to me, “You're going to run out of money before the central part of California runs out of stocker calves, so why don’t you back off a little and let me get a few bought!” I didn’t listen much in those days as I had bought a second ranch near San Luis Obispo at a courthouse sale that needed stock also. My new ranch would need about a thousand head.
Jack processing cattle, mid 1970s
When I would go to an auction and the sale was over, I would call Zee and tell her how many I had bought so she could relay to our hired man how much hay to feed. The next day our two daughters, Zee, myself, and my hired man would brand and give a shot that would hopefully stop an outbreak of Shipping Fever, a form of pneumonia. We knew some calves would get sick regardless, so it was Zee's job to ride twice a day, sorting out any that looked under the weather using one of her well-trained horses, then run them through the doctoring chute for a shipping fever shot. Oh, by the way we also had four children that needed lots of love and care that Zee gladly gave.
The month of June, 1974 was over and so was all of the Shipping Fever in my calves. I was ready to move them to “stubble”, the leftover straw after a crop of barley had been harvested. It was just after the Fourth of July I got a call from the owners of the Camp 11 Ranch. It was located a few miles west of a small settlement with one cafe called Whitley Gardens. Camp 11 was ready for me to put 1200 calves to graze till the start of the upcoming rainy season, usually starting in November or December.
Jack and Gene Rambo branding calves, 1973
Camp 11 was about 20 miles away and a two day trek with 1200 stockers. Hauling them by truck there and back when the rainy season started would have cost several thousand dollars, so we made the drive ourselves: the stockers, Zee, our kids Katy (15), Lilly (13), John (11), and Greg (9), my hired hand Roy, and a few neighbors. If we waited several days for a full moon it meant I could start about three o’clock in the morning driving the cattle in the cool of the night. It always amazed me how well lit the moon made the night sky.
Gene Rambo was a neighbor whose ranch was half way to my destination. Being a good friend he said I could use his holding field to let the cattle sleep, eat and drink after the first day's drive. It was also the easiest day as our trail was a little used county road that was an easy all-downhill trek. We arrived at Gene Rambo’s holding field by noon the first day before the afternoon heat.
Jack & Zee, 1974
The second day we had a sizable hill to climb and the last four miles we would be using the shoulder of Highway 46 for our trail. I had the right of way to block the highway from time to time because 19th century herding laws were still in my favor.
Soon we had arrived at an obstacle that meant I had to move the cattle on to Highway 46 for a short distance. Suddenly I heard the sharp crack of my friend Doug Kester's lasso hit the front windshield of a passenger car. An impatient driver had started to enter the herd, scattering the cattle. Doug rode his horse in front of Mr Impatient and started to swing his rope. Needless to say, the now very obedient driver backed up while we moved the cattle back to the road shoulder and continued on our journey.
Shortly after our return to the shoulder of Highway 46, a highway patrol officer pulled up behind me. I turned to greet him as he stepped out of his patrol car and said “I can help you control any traffic until I get a call!” I said that would be much appreciated. His presence sure slowed any car that came by and he was able to follow along for about half an hour. Eventually he must have gotten a call and had to leave. By then the herd was almost to our turnoff so there were no more incidents with impatient drivers. The cattle were getting a little sore and tired so the last couple of miles took until mid-afternoon to reach Camp 11. All in all the drive was a success and I didn’t have a big freight bill to pay.
See Ya,
Jack
December, 1962 after a similar journey, driving over 1000 steers home from Estrella, 24 miles in 2 days. L. to R.: Doug Kester, Elden Tucker, Jack Varian, & Johnny Bermudas.