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251
would be held with all the pomp and ceremony of a royal fete. Negotiations are progressing, and it is safe to predict that this ambition of an old comrade will soon be realized.
I was raised at Blanco City, and at the age of twenty I started out to be a cowboy and go "up the trail" in company with my brother, R. P. Carson, J. J. Cage and Felix Stubbs. We went to Round Mountain, where Johnnie Blocker was receiving cattle, and he employed us at $30.00 per month and agreed to furnish us. He instructed us to meet him at the old Bundick ranch on the Perdinales River the 10th of March, 1878, to begin branding. We were right there on time, and found plenty to do. One day while engaged in branding, a fouryear-old cow refused to go into the chute, but made a run for Ab. Blocker, who lost no time in climbing to the very top of the high fence. She then turned in my direction, and I downed her with a stone which I threw with all my might. I thought I had killed her, and felt that I would be given a hasty discharge. I looked around to see Johnnie Blocker standing near, and he said in a very pleasant way, "Don't throw rocks at the cattle, boys," and I knew right then that my job was still secure. The cow recovered in a few minutes, and when she got to her feet again she made a bee-line for the chute. We put the reversed seven brand on her and gave her a free pass to Cheyenne. When we had finished branding we drove the cattle across the country between Austin and Lockhart and met another herd, where we cut the cattle and shaped up for the trail about the 15th of March. John Golden was boss, and we had about sixteen men in the crew. We pointed the herd, numbering about 3,000