Cecil Dahlgren was an old-time cowboy from this area who died back in the '80's. He was a legendary roper and great story teller, as well as a walking encyclopedia of area history. I loved spending time listening to him.
Once he told me, "If you are having trouble moving cattle, sometimes it is best to just stop your horse, stick your leg up over the saddle horn, and roll a smoke. By the time the smoke is over, you will have cooled off and so will the cattle. Everything will just work a lot better after that." He was right. :wink:
My dad always proclaimed that "the only way to move cattle fast is to move them slow." Patience pays.
Another notable observation is that sometimes persistence gains more results than talent. This was pointed out to me when I was a young man. A ranching neighbor that was going broke was commenting on one of his boyhood classmates. The comment made to me was, " 'So-and-so' wasn't even smart enough to tie his own shoes in grade school, and look at him now." ('So-and-so' became a very successful rancher because he didn't necessarily try to set the world on fire, but he worked slow and steady, day after day.) His persistence paid off.
