Montana is known for perpetually supporting a larger population of cattle than people. Though the cow-to-person ratio has narrowed a bit in recent years, data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in early 2024 reveal 2.12 million cattle roaming the state alongside 1.14 million people.
As
we might say in my hometown of East Helena, Montana, that’s a plethora of cows.
Just kidding. We would never say that. First, we call them cattle around these
parts. Second, saying “plethora” might earn you a disciplinary punch in the
shoulder.
The
other afternoon, as Desiree and I were driving home, we fell in behind—of all
things—an old-fashioned cattle drive just as we reached the causeway.
Droving
cattle from place to place is no small task. Pushing them in the desired
direction can be about as effective as shoveling dirt with a pitchfork. In this
instance, two sheriff’s officers and about a dozen cowboys and cowgirls—some on
horseback, others in trucks or bouncing along on ATVs—strove to move the herd
and keep them together at the same time.
The
causeway confounded the cattle. They didn’t appreciate crossing that narrow
strip of pavement with water jostling on both sides. The drovers frenzied
around the knot of restless animals to keep the herd from blowing up or turning
back. In the end, the process of urging them on cost us about a half hour, but
Desiree and I enjoyed the event all the same.
—Mitchell
Hegman
No comments:
Post a Comment