Belvidere, The Sequeal

Hey guys, wake up. Tracy got his gas shipment late last night. I know, it’s 4:00 A.M., but I want to be on top of that hill behind Belvidere to watch the sun come up. If we get there early enough we’ll be able to see the lights from Medicine Lodge, Pratt, Dodge City, and if it’s clear enough, Great Bend. We used to sit on that hill to watch meteor showers. After several nights of searching, Eric and I found Haley’s Comet from the top of that same hill many years ago. Come on, I’ve already filled up and Tracy’s wife fixed us coffee. Let’s go.
Hear those coyotes? They know we‘re here, but don’t worry they won’t come anywhere close to us. Unless they have rabies I guess. In that case they might kill us. Who knows? Hey look, there’s Medicine Lodge. I told you this would be cool. And there it is, the sun’s coming up. I still remember my first sunrise. My dad showed it to me when I was about seven I guess. He was a roughneck and worked morning tower which means he worked third shift on an oil rig. I went to work with him for years but usually slept through this part of the morning. Anyway, one of those mornings he woke me up to see a show I still remember after all these years. Thank you dad.
Three or four miles up the road is an old, wrecked truck I want to show you. A couple weeks ago I mentioned a cowboy friend of mine named Tim. Well Tim worked here on the ranch, in fact he’s the one who showed me around here in the first place. Like most cowboys Tim worked hard but lived even harder. He was coming home one night when he crashed his ranch truck into that cattle guard. It wasn’t a horrendous crash or anything like that, but it was enough to get him fired. Dick Robbins, the owner of the ranch left the truck right where it was as a warning to others who might drink and drive one of his trucks. There it is, eighteen years later. Talk about holding a grudge!
Another mile or so up the road is the house Tim was trying to get to that night. Normally I’d show it to you, but I have no idea who lives there today. We‘ll just keep going. Like Tim, these are all good people if they know you. But if they don’t, they have no problem running you off. Besides, I want to introduce you to a friend of mine. Rosa Smith.
We’re going to turn off the road here, hang on, it’s really rough. We’re headed down along the creek toward that flat spot. Hi Rosa, hope you don’t mind that I brought a few friends. Hey, looks like the cowboys are taking good care of the place. The fence looks good and the grass has been cut. I brought you flowers but it looks like someone beat me to it. That’s good.
Actually, I never met Rosa. You see, this is where she was buried in 1889. Her tombstone says she was born in 1873, making her only sixteen years old. It also says she died fighting prairie fires. I have no idea who takes care of her grave, but you can bet it’s one of those hard living cowboys like my friend and you can bet he’s a good person. Thank you for sharing your world with me Tim. Hope you guys enjoyed the trip, but we’d better get home. My wife is going to kill me!
This old guy can be reached at: kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net