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57 Tamale Ridge by: Chuck Cusimano

By the time spring was upon us, my cows were all calved out. Joe Simmons helped us

brand, as we had helped him brand his bunch. We branded two small bunches and Gilberto

proved to be a real hand with a rope. I’d watch in amazement as he would throw a loop from

either side of his mount and catch a calf by both hind feet, one after another. He’d then drag the

calf to the fire. We’d hold him down, while Gilberto would ride back into the herd and find

another “slick” hide. Things were in good shape around here.

Electricity was the rage with everyone. I didn’t have it and wasn’t missing it. I was happy to

have a good fire in the stove and a coal oil lamp to read by, or draw up new plans that were in

my head. I went to the sawmill at the top of the Dillon Canyon trail and paid for a couple

wagonloads of lumber. I guess them fellers had a hard time getting to Tamale Ridge with that

first load and they made me promise to work on the road into the place. They told me they could

even get a truck that they had, in there if I’d widen it a little. I didn’t want to use dynamite

unless I had to, so I told them to just bring another wagonload. Automobiles were something

that everyone talked about. They had Juan scared to death of them and Gilberto really interested

in how they worked.

They sure did cost a lot of money. A new Ford model T cost about $300.00! You could even

buy one in Trinidad. I’d rode in different kinds of automobiles by that time but never figured to

own one. Some guys that I knew didn’t figure they would still be around in another ten to fifteen

years. I had suspicions that they were wrong about that. Machinery was here to stay. We were

still doing roadwork with teams and fresnos in this part of the country. We worked two days on

the road and got it in pretty good shape. There were a few road machines they called graders but

I sure wasn’t going to pay to get one up here. I had seen some big machinery when I was in the

Marines and it was amazing how many men one of them steam shovels could replace.

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