Forgotten Cowboy of the Sandhills

The Spade Ranch had the beef issue For the Indians at Pine Ridge And each time that he's take the herd Mollie'd go along with Sid. The Spade had been good to them By now they numbered four, The time had come for them to find A ranch that was their own. They took a homestead east of Gordon, At last they had their chance. And when Sid's brother joined them it became The Irwin Brothers Ranch. They later leased the Ross Ranch And here was born child three, A sickly little daughter So delicate, so wee. To complete their preemption A homestead they did seek. Southeast of Gordon near Lavaca, Down by the Ol' Pole Creek. Here a daughter and a son Were added to their life, Then fire struck and they were left With hearts full of Strife. For years they wandered here and there Seeking out each lead A hope or promise was all they asked For their ailing daughters need. Though the years were fruitless And no cure was found Their last child was born to them A daugher in health abound. Time took it's toil a short seventeen Their daughter would laugh no more, So many years they searched in vain, And now their hearts were sore. The long years over, at last they came home To the hills so sandy and green On a ranch south of Cody, down by the Niobrara, So sparkling fresh and clean. Sid first lost a son, Then two weeks later his own Mollie too, With two such blows he hung up his spurs His cowboy days were through. His life wasn't easy thought it was long He died at age ninety-three In the same sandy hills that a lad of fourteen Once said, "You'll be home to me." Cile Beer This poem first appeared in the Centennial Edition of the Nebraska Cattleman Magazine.