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What is a "Tucson Bed"? A waddie (cowboy) used such a sleeping bag while at work and on the trail. Properly made, the bed comprised of "lying on your stomach and covering that with your back. It was allowable to put your saddle and saddle blanket over your head, should you happen to have such articles with you, when any hailstones larger than hen's eggs came along". This and much more are included in Jim Cook's book - Fifty Years on the Old Frontier. No one, other than JC, could have written about the lust for life during the evolution of our West from a raw, natural, dangerous but beautiful home of buffalo, wild hogs, longhorn cattle, countless birds and small game (and of course Indians), to a society concerned more with itself than the environment that it inhabits. Here is writing at its best. And it continues from Jim Cook's recording of history in the making, to include writings by his granddaughter, Dorothy Cook Meade and his son, Harold.
If for no other reason, you should read Cook's book to appreciate his humor and writing style. Where was the frontier? Texas extended from the Red River to the Rio Grande, from the Gulf of Mexico to an area encompassing parts of today's Colorado. The early Texans didn't really care where the border was. There was free range for the livestock and settlers took up a spot where water was available. So properly put, anything west of the Mississippi was fair game. Jefferson's purchase was more to settle disputes than to actually acquire rights as there was no way in which the French could have defended their territory. After Lewis and Clark explored the limited areas along the Missouri, the land was for the most part unsettled until discovery of gold.
Early settlers in Texas included the Wortham and Shelton families who settled in Texas in 1832 or thereabouts. The Shelton's home place was along the Old Buffalo road which connected the state capitol, Buffalo, to the more heavily settled area to the South. After one hundred and fifty years, the ruts of the road are still apparent as they pass through woodlands and fields. The deed to the Shelton home place is written on sheep skin and signed by the Governor of Texas with the metes and bounds established by the distance a man could ride on a horse in a day. An old oak tree still stands with and X underlined with a slash, to mark one of the corners of the property. There were no Indians in the area when the Sheltons and Worthams settled, they were either driven out of Texas, killed or went into hiding in the big thicket. The Government made treaties with the Indians, and discarded them (both the treaties and the Indians) on a whim.
A high society existed on the East Coast with P.T. Barnum, Tom Draper and others writing about a "civilized life style". While a civilized form of living was being established in Texas (see William Cowper Brann writing) and the West as reported by Clements, Hart and others. These writers were observes, while Jim Cook lived the life that he wrote about. But make no mistake, the life written about by Jim Cook was one of survival by ones wits, chance happenings that either ended in death or living to play another day. The frontier was what one made of it. His rifle (Cook was an excellent shot), knife and rope were the waddie's most valuable possessions. Wealthy English and East Coast folks loved to visit the "West" and were dependent upon Cook and others for protection as well as providing them the entertainment they sought. Without care by their guides they often found themselves on the end of an arrow.
How is it possible that an uneducated boy living by his wits in late 1800s, could emerge as a friend of noted scientist, businessmen, and scholars? In his own words, "Jimmie" tailed cattle, learned the territory from the Mexican border to the Colorado mountains, survived Indian attacks, became a provisionaire of wild game to the East Coast, established a ranch in Indian territory and in the end was probably the best friend that the American Indian ever had or will have. However, he will be best remembered as the one person responsible for creation of a National Park. Agate Springs (or simply Agate) as it is now referred to is located in Western Nebraska, not far from the Pine Ridge Indian reservation. Two prominent hills rise from the otherwise rolling grasslands of the Niobrara watershed. Jim Cook discovered an amazing accumulation of fossilized remains of prehistoric animals in the relatively narrow band of lime-rock accretions and his efforts to interest scholars from Yale and other colleges, led to uncovering literally tons of bones from the sites. His efforts and those of his son and granddaughter resulted in this site being named a National Park.
I believe that his most noteworthy accomplishment however, is in another far more important area. JC opened his ranch and home to Indians who were, after all his neighbors. As the Indians were permitted to leave the reservation and visit JC and his family, a bond grew which had its many rewards. Few places existed for the Indian to come and refresh their lives as a tribe. They recognized JC as a friend and compassionate believer in their rights as human beings. And, as is customary, they were generous to a fault, bringing to the Cook family, their finest possessions as gifts. We are indeed fortunate that these "Heart Bags and Hand Shakes" have been preserved by the Dorothy Cook and are a gift to the American people as the Cook Collection which is to be housed in the Park Headquarters building. No greater complement can be gained, to have, in the closing pages of the book, Red Cloud and the Sioux Problem, by James Olson (University of Nebraska Press) the testimonial to Red Cloud, "During Red Cloud's life he and his people had to meet such conditions as never before had confronted his tribe..." as a quote from Captain Cook. This, James Cook wrote of his friend Red Cloud who spent his last days visiting and camping on the banks of the Niobrara River at Cook's ranch. Having said all this, it is unfortunate to have to report that when the Federal Government gets involved in a project, they can screw up a one car funeral. Dorothy Cook Mead in correspondence to Jim Moore reported that the United States Park Service had damn near destroyed the cattle ranches by buying so much of the surrounding land that the remaining entities were not large enough to be economic. She rushed ahead with her book, Heart Bags (a heart bag is a ditty bag in which the pipe was kept. So called because once one had partaken of the pipe one must speak only from the heart. Perhaps this is why our current president is so much opposed to smoking?) and Hand Shakes, to see it published so that it would be available at the opening of her grandfather's Indian collection. Alas, while the Government has spent millions on the site, as of October, 1996, the museum housing the artifacts is still unopened, and sad to say, Dorothy and her husband, Grayson both passed away this past year without seeing this memorial to Jimmie.
Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota lay in a zone not unlike the Amazon River basin of today when the critters ranged over the land. It is surmised that the amazing depositing of the fossil remains at Agate Springs occurred as the result of flooding in the area during the time of their lives. The carcasses washed or floated to the edge of lakes in the area where the bones accumulated and over time became impregnated with silica and other minerals, preserving them as we see them today.
Quite another event occurred not too far distant from Agate Springs. At Ashfall, in central Nebraska, an amazing accumulation of intact skeletal remains of horses, rhinos, elephants and other creatures is found. Here, the animals sought water from a familiar watering hole after a volcanic eruption covered the land with ash. As the ash continued to fall, the animals in seeking water, became mired in the accumulating ash, water and mud. Animal after animal tried to find water only to become entrapped. Finally, they all died, were covered with the continuing fall of ash and were preserved intact. The State of Nebraska has done an amazing job of protecting this site which is still being developed. No where in the world is such a record of animal life so carefully preserved. So, in come cases Government can do a commendable job. Too bad there are so few examples.
Would not William Bartram have been amazed to have seen such sights. One can only imagine his reporting it in prose that would capture and enthrall the reader. Of course, detractors would have said that such things don't exist, as they said regarding some of the creature he described in his writings and drawings.
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