Tending the Sheep Camps

photo from flickr

One summer when I was about 10 year old I went to my Grandfather Davis’ ranch in Haswell for the summer. One of my favorite things to do was to go with my Uncle Johnny when he would go to “tend the sheep camps.” At both Haswell (Grandpa Davis and Uncle Johnny) and Fowler (Uncle Frank Harriman) I had many times tended sheep camps.

To tend sheep camps meant to take supplies to the sheep herders’ camps and to move their camp to another area where there would be more grass for the sheep to eat. The herder’s living area was a tent constructed on a wooden platform mounted on two 6”x6”x10’ wooden gliders which could easily be pulled across the prairie.

Usually the herder spoke little or no English, so I did usually not understand the talk with them, but it was always interesting to hear and to watch them communicate. Grandpa Davis and Uncle Frank could communicate with them, but the others knew key words and lots of sign language.

It seems like most of the herders would work for about six months, never leaving the sheep, and then go to town for a week or so and sometimes return. If they asked to return in a week, they were usually so drunk we would have to carry them (or someone in their family would carry them) to the car and we would dump them out at camp, making sure they had no whiskey on them.

The usual pattern was to go to the camp once a week or every two weeks depending on the amount of grass near the camp. The camp was usually a tent on a wooden platform mounted on two 6” x 6” runners – later on wheels. There was always a barrel for water on the platform. Inside the tent was a stove that used coal or wood, a cot, and a cupboard for food. Usually we carried a 100# sack of pinto beans, slabs of bacon, flour, salt and pepper, sugar, matches, tobacco, and a 25# box of prunes.

If it was time to move the camp because of the grass, we would hook on to the camp and pull it across the prairie for a couple of miles after telling the herders. If he needed meat we would kill and dress out a sheep and leave part of the meat and take the rest to other camps. The herder always had a pot of beans and a pot with prunes on the stove.

It may not sound exciting, but it was always an adventure to me. We most always saw a coyote or two and rabbits and rattlesnakes which we sometimes could shoot as we always carried rifles in the car or truck. I first remember using a Model A four door Ford, but later it was always in pickups. Uncle Frank usually had Chevrolets.

It was always fun to go with Clark [Harriman] as we never missed the chance to do something more exciting!