We celebrate mom for all she is this Sunday
Sunday, May 9, is Mother’s Day, and we are fortunate to have the opportunity to celebrate a day set aside to honor our Mothers.
Abraham Lincoln quoted, “All that I am, or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” And Washington Irving noted that, “A mother’s love endures through all.” And the poet Robert Browning stated, “Motherhood: All love begins and ends there.”
Honor your Mother on this Mother’s Day weekend, knowing that every day should be Mother’s Day!
We enjoy and …yes…expect our “Moms” to do the menial everyday tasks that keep a family operating. Yet, we also expect them to drop everything and give us their full attention the very minute that we have a particular need arise! They are comforter, counselor, healer, provider, and our rock! And it doesn’t matter that they are worn an’ frazzled from a full day’s work, or that they may be sick or feeling bad, or maybe pulled in several directions because of other needs.
Nope! You need what you need, and you need it now! Try this, give this special lady a hug and a smile or even a little peck on the cheek, then tell her thanks and ask her if you could carry part of her load. You will not believe the warmth of her smile or the bright twinkle in her eye that occurs when you do that tiny little bit! A box of candy or some flowers will get you more mileage than you will ever need! Mothers are extremely important… Mary brought us Jesus, our Savior. And others throughout history have brought children into this world that has helped write that history.
They are the very backbone of our universe. Volumes have been written about them. History has depended on them. Our own nation has become great because of them. Democracy has thrived because of them. Families have survived because of them. And you and I are here because of them. A void, caused by their absence or incapacity, leaves each of us cold and scared and helpless. Yes, even the West was won because of them! But we still expect them to do it all and you will seldom hear them utter the word “can’t!” My dear Ol’ Mom always said, “Can’t never cooked a biscuit!” God bless our Mothers!
Spring round-up is a preparation for the cattle drive to the northern railheads, and the Chisholm Trail will be our route. Today will begin the Chisholm Trail series and on this Mother’s Day weekend, we will be entertaining at the Salado Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering. www.saladocowboypoetry.com
The Chisholm Trail came through Salado and crossed the Salado Creek on its way north. “Head ‘em up an’ move em’ out!” Texas cowboys start the perilous drive north. The end of the Civil war, or as it was pegged, The War of Northern Aggression, found the United States, a divided nation, struggling to reunite. The economy had cratered and in the industrial Northeast there was a fresh demand for items that were not available or at least in short supply during wartime. Confederate soldiers returning to their homes in Texas found that cattle herds had multiplied and were virtually worthless.
According to one historical account, a Texas rancher claimed that a man’s poverty was measured by the number of cattle that grazed his land. Many were taken to slaughter houses for their hides and tallow which would often bring less than $3 a head. But, an entrepreneur from Abilene, Kansas, Joseph McCoy was a visionary and he realized that fortunes would be made with the arrival of the railroad.
He asked Texas ranchers to drive cattle to his newly constructed stockyards in Abilene, Kansas, where the cattle would then be shipped to markets back east. The ranchers would see their $3 cattle increase in value to as much as $40 a head.
Large Texas outfits began gathering these wild longhorns to form trail herds that numbered in the 100s. Texas would see many trails that would start as far south as Donna or San Antonio and funnel toward a crossing on the Red River near Jessie Chisholm’s trading post. Men and boys, sometimes as young as ten years of age would find employment that would pay as much as $30 dollars a month. These massive herds could travel near 10 miles per day, often taking 100 days or more to reach the railheads.
Cattle drives often proved to be filled with danger. These cowboys would face weather, fording flood swollen rivers, stampedes, marauding Indians and outlaws. Many would perish on the trail, but Texas cowboys showed “no fear and no quit” for they were bred and born from hide and horn! My Ol’ Daddy would say, “They was tougher than boot leather an’ harder than nails!”
Fightin’ the Chisholm Trail (Part one)
The war of northern aggression was past,
an’ men headed for home.
Back to families an’ sweethearts at last,
from here they would not roam.
But disappointment reared its ugly head,
things had changed; homes were burned.
Special loved ones were gone an’ sometimes dead,
hopes an’ dreams must now be turned.
Now times was hard in this wild western land,
just livin’ was mighty tough!
But there was backbone in a Texas man,
he liked it just that rough!
An’ Texas resilience would persevere,
as history would tell.
They each stood tall, with no quit an’ no fear…
they’d face the devil in hell!
Now, fate often sets the stage for life’s way;
wild beeves filled the Texas land.
An’ the markets back east were willin’ to pay,
Texas would fill that demand.
Some fellers put together quite a spread,
where they planned to hold the herd.
They figgered to drive them to the railhead,
an’ soon that’s what occurred.
They caught wild cattle an’ slapped on a brand,
a time when cowboys were born.
They learned a life an’ shore ‘nuff made a good hand,
a life forged from hide an’ horn.
These herds were built an’ readied for the trail,
now the task before them stood.
The hardships that came, they’d face without fail,
this fight they understood.
© Ol’ Jim Cathey
Happy Mother’s Day! God Bless the Mothers that gave us the American cowboy!