Baxter Black: Leroy and Tom
Everybody has a Christmas that stands out in their memory like dandruff on Superman’s cape! Mine was several years ago. Bah Humbug Bill, the cow buyer made a deal on a set of cows down...
Baxter Black: Goddess of the hunt
Diana, goddess of the hunt, stands as a Roman heroine to a long line of female hunters. Even today there are many who have followed in her spoor that deserve to have their name written...
Baxter Black: An Old Story
Stop me if this sounds familiar… Jake had some trouble with his folks. So to keep peace in the family he let the ranch and headed east where his reputation hadn’t preceded him. He wound...
Baxter Black: Remains of a Party
We all have great memories of ‘the best party’. I had a party. It lasted 48 hours. I lost my socks, my dignity, two days of my life, six ping-pong balls and four pounds. I...
Baxter Black: Medical or Nutritional
One of the most important traits of a good feedlot manager is the ability to assign blame. That is the reason they often employ consulting vets and nutritionists. It keeps them from having to fire...
Baxter Black: “Climate Change” Cowboy Logic
The sea level is rising. We are in an “interglacial period” within the Pleistocene Ice Age, according to the learned. It has been melting ice for the last ten thousand years. So, we miniscule Earthlings...
A Hundred Years From Now
Life has always been a balancing act between the haves and have-nots. Less populated industrial countries use the major portion of fossil fuel while third world countries still farm by hand and recreate. The world...
Baxter Black: Farm Animals In History
Mankind from prehistory to space exploration has always depended on animals for help in their quest for advancing civilization. Granted, often as bait or as guinea pigs but we have depended on them, nonetheless. After...
Baxter Black: Gypsy Cow
I was just about to cull the cow when the boss sees me swingin’ the gate. “Hold it there, Doc, for a minute yet, ‘cause I’ve not quite decided her fate. There’s somethin’ about this...
Back to Nature
Harold has been dismantling his feedlot. He built it over 40 years ago and eventually achieved a 30,000 head capacity. You can imagine the accumulation of steel, rubber, railroad ties, nails, car bodies, pipe, chains,...
Baxter Black: In The Doghouse
It’s not easy being a missionary distributing religious pamphlets door to door. Home-owners will go to extremes to avoid listening to you. Audrey and her husband, Walter, have a ranch in British Columbia around Fraser...
Baxter Black: Rich Farming
If wheat gets up to seven bucks I’ll hoard it, yessiree Till the grain bin’s overflowin’ Or it gets back down to three. There’s too much ridin’ on it To sell it right away, The...
Baxter Black: Trolling for Buffalo
Buffalo Bob took the call on his cellular phone. I caught the last of the conversation, “and if that don’t work try a shot. No . . . not a tranquilizer, a 30-30. At least...
The Lost Chicken
Lynne parked her car in the little lot behind Cookies Du Moi. It was an odd little corner of Salt Lake City mixing pawn shops, liquor stores with barred windows and an invasion of upscale...
Baxter Black: The Feedlot Hand
Life is just a bowl of cherries to a first rate feedlot hand, All the gates swing free and easy, every day’s precisely planned. The boss is always pleasant and lavish with his praise. And...
Baxter Black: Talkin’ Dirty
In this column I have often mentioned scours, abscesses, big tits, bad bags, cancer eyes, foot rot, slurry pits, afterbirth, retained placenta, castration, heat cycles, sheep pellets and snotty noses. Over the years I have...
Baxter Black: Cowboy Wedding
When one of my cowboy friends tells me he’s getting married, my first question is “Does she have a job?” This particular wedding took place in the pines of Arizona. I thought that I would...
Baxter Black: Good Dawg
Every genuine or would be cowboy’s pride and joy is his ‘good dawg!’ One of the highlights at a Stock Show is the stock dog trials. Now, allowin’ for the fact that all my exposure...
Baxter Black: Ol’ Rookie
Old dogs. They write songs about’em and watermelon wine. They have sayings about ‘em learning new tricks. They even name feet after them, i.e., “My ol’ dogs are shore tired!” In a dog’s lifespan they...
Baxter Black: I Guess You Forgot
This year we recognized the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the beginning of the end of the 2nd World War. Europe had been completely conquered except for England, an island about the size of Wyoming. President...
