“That’s true, Mr. Barnes, Laramie is a very big county, but this particular meeting refers only to those of us who have ranches here in the Valley of the Chug,” Houser replied.
“Yeah, well, there are a lot more ranches in the Valley of the Chug than are here, too. Where are the other ranchers?”
“You would be talking about the small ranchers, of course.”
“Yeah, men like Prosser, Terrell, Gaines, Patterson, and ten or twelve others at least,” Barnes said. “They’re cattlemen, and they have ranches in the valley. Why is it, then, that none of them are here?”
“Yes, and I heard that Vazquez tried to get in, and he was turned away,” Burt Rowe said. “It wasn’t because he’s Mexican, is it? Vazquez used to work for me, ’n I can tell you now, that he is a damn good man.”
“No, it has nothing to do with the fact that Señor Vazquez is Mexican. He was turned away for the same reason that the other men you have mentioned were not invited.”
“And what reason is that?” Lewis asked.
“Before I answer that question, I have a question of my own,” Houser replied. “How many of you have noticed, of late, a gradual diminution of your herds?”
“A what?” Dale Allen asked.
“Have any of you have been losing cattle?”
“Yeah,” Goodman said. “I’ve lost some cattle, a hundred or more head, for sure. ’N they didn’t die on me, neither, ’cause we ain’t found no carcasses, nor even bones.”
“I must say that Kensington Place has lost quite a few as well,” Dakota added.
“I have lost several, just recently,” Lewis said resolutely. “I’m glad that’s the subject of this meeting, because I was going to bring it up myself.”
“I share that problem with you, only more so. I have now lost over three hundred head, and I suspect it’s because the rustlers realize I am new to the valley, and perhaps it has given them the mistaken idea that I am an easy victim.”
“Rustlers?” Allen asked.
“Yes, rustlers. Gentlemen, that’s precisely the problem we’re going to be talking about, a problem that, primarily, only we large ranchers have to deal with. And therein lies the answer to the question as to why the smaller ranchers were not invited to this gathering.”
“Mr. Houser, are you suggesting something about the small ranchers?” Rowe asked.
“Indeed I am, Mr. Rowe. I’m suggesting that these upstart little ranchers have been augmenting their herds with our cattle.”
“Here, now, Houser,” Lewis said. “I know that the small ranchers may be rounding up mavericks. Hell, we all do that. But I wouldn’t be callin’ that rustling. Besides which, I didn’t start losing cattle until just the last month. If it was the small ranchers, don’t you expect it would have been going on all along?”
“Eddie Webb, the small rancher adjacent to Kensington Place, has been a very good neighbor, and quite often helpful,” Dakota said. “I would have a most difficult time believing that he might be a rustler.”
“Then who is doing it?” Houser asked. “I’ve already heard from some of you that you have lost cattle.”
“But what makes you think it’s the small ranchers who are doing the rustling?” Dale Allen asked.
“Tell me this. If it was anyone else, what are they doing with the cattle? I would estimate that, by now, nearly a thousand head have been stolen. That is a significant number of cows that would have to be sold in order to make the effort worthwhile. And in this valley nobody, who isn’t a known cattleman, could do that without raising suspicion. No, sir, it has to be the smaller ranchers who could incorporate the purloined beeves within their own herds. All logic points to that inescapable fact.”
“I don’t know, you may be right,” Allen said. “Like the rest of you, I’ve been losing cattle, and they have to be going somewhere.”
“Yeah, I’ve lost a bunch, too,” Burt Rowe said. “I didn’t want to think it might be some of the smaller ranchers, but it’s like Dale says, they have to be going somewhere. And this is the first year I’ve ever actually had this problem.”
“What about you, MacCallister?” Barnes asked. “You got the biggest ranch of any of us. Have you lost ’ny cows to rustlers?”
“None to my recollection.”
“It could be, Mr. MacCallister, that Sky Meadow is so large that you are incapable of taking an accurate inventory,” Goodman suggested.
“No, gentlemen, as I have pointed out to Captain MacCallister in previous discussions with him, he is protected by the fact that he is running Angus, and as most of the rest of the cattlemen in the valley are running Herefords, it would be very difficult for any thief to hide any Angus they may have stolen from Sky Meadows, among their own cattle.”
“Yeah, that’s right, ain’t it?” Barnes said. “Thieves ain’t very likely to steal cows that can’t be hid.”
“Be that as it may, however, we can all agree that cattle are being stolen, and the purpose of this meeting is to address that problem.”
“All right, we all agree there is a problem,” Lewis said. “You called this meeting, Mr. Houser. I assume you have something in mind. So what do you propose to do about it?”
“Oh, I have already done something about it. That is, I have taken the first step. Where we go from here, is up to you.”
“What is this first step you have taken?” Rowe asked.
“Gentlemen, I have contacted the governor, and he has granted me authorization to take specific action to locate, and bring to justice, those men who are stealing cattle from us.”
“What sort of authorization?” Dale Allen asked.
“He has commissioned territorial deputies to look into the matter,” Houser replied.
“Territorial deputies? I’ve never heard of such a thing. Who are these deputies?” Allen asked.
“I am one. I will introduce the other one in a minute. By the commission he and I both hold, we are duly appointed and certified by the governor to
