WILD
COWS OF THE SAN JUAN BY KARL Y O U N G DRAWINGS BY J . R O M A N A N D R U S
"See all them trees down there?" said Zeke Johnson to a bunch of dudes on the south rim of Elk Mountain. They reined up and looked out over the vast forest of pifions and junipers that sweeps south toward the San Juan River and Monument Valley and west to the Colorado. "Sure thick," Zeke went on, "And I've had a wild cow tied to every one of 'em." The remark was no more exaggerated than the country at which they were looking. It was the wild canyon country of southeastern Utah, a wilderness of pinnacles and spires, of slickrocks and sudden gorges, of box canyons and rimrocks; a place that called for absurd boasts like Zeke's. But the boast was no more than a match for the trouble it took to catch a wild cow and get her out to market. In July of 1962, I rounded up seven of Zeke's old-time cowboy companions who chased wild cattle here when they were spring-heeled and reckless. Unfortunately, Zeke was not among them, as he had drifted on Mr. Young is professor of English, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. Professor Young is presently preparing a book, Ordeal in Mexico, dealing with stories of Mormon colonists in the Mexican revolution. Mr. Andrus is professor of art, Brigham Young University.
