Going North in a Norther

My wife, Linda and I were just in Santa Fe, New Mexico for Christmas (2015) and returned to a blizzard (by our estimations) in El Paso, Texas.  We traveled a little bit in rain mixed with snow and nearly freezing temperatures and after we got home the rain began to turn to snow and overnight we got a bit over 8" of snow.

This scenario got me to thinking about the drovers on the great cattle drives and how they were hell bent to get their "cow hunts" over within a timely fashion so that plenty of time would be had to get their beef to the Northern markets before winter.There were many things that played into the timing of the start of the drive and the cowboys knew of nearly all of the dangers lurking around each bend or over every hill.  The conditions were bad enough during thunderstorms and the inevitability of stampedes.

Too, were the problems of Indians wanting beef because the white man had destroyed their hunting grounds and depleted the buffalo herds.  Another danger was the possibility of a late Norther that could bring  snow and freezing temperatures. Or if they got started to late they ran into the possibility of an early winter storm.  It was these possibilities that got me to thinking what little comforts they actually had on a trail drive.

A good cook was paramount in the necessary comforts for the cowboys because a good meal was one of the very few comforts they had and many times this particular comfort was in short supply. The meals mostly consisting of beans and bread.  The main stay was coffee, and the cowboys sought this "shot of adrenaline" anytime there was a campfire when the chuck wagon stopped at noon or in the evening....and certainly all night for the those on night watch. And it goes without saying the cup of Arbuckles with breakfast was the way to start the day when it would be as much as two hours before daylight. So the comforts were few and far between when it cam to meals and even more so when the drovers tried to get that little bit of sleep at night. (As a side note, notice the water barrel on the side of the wagon in this approximate 1880+ photo. There was a lot of discussion in the ACWA sanctioning as to whether the water barrel was ever on the outside of the wagon.)

I got to thinking about how miserable a cowboy would be in a situation where he had to deal with thunderstorms and rain.  It becomes more difficult to imagine how completely miserable he must be with very little clothing to protect him from the elements and certainly not much of a way to get dry after getting soaked during a rainstorm.  Taking that thought a bit further, how did they actually deal with freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall.  Many of the cowboys only had a canvas sleeping bag with a few sugans to help ward off the cold.  The probability of having a tipi was pretty remote in most Southern camps and the only "roof" over his head at night was the thin layer of canvas bedroll.

Are you imagining this scenario of being freezing cold, wet, sleeping on the ground with nothing to warm you but a couple of blankets?  I began to imagine long years ago how utterly tough these cowboys were in dealing with the elements.

During the time our CALK chuck wagon was competing in cook off's and on some ranches in  places like Capitan, Lincoln, Clovis, Hobbs and Ruidoso, New Mexico and several places in Texas like Dryden our crew was sleeping in the cowboy tipis.  There were times we had to deal with the weather in rain, wind, snow and freezing temperatures as low as 18 F.  We complained like crazy but usually it was for a short while and we would have a change of dry clothes and a place where we could get warm within just a couple of days.  The boys on the trail drive were out there for 2-3 months depending on where their market.  Do you get the picture?

Tough Sum Bitches and I believe it gave them every right to celebrate and let their hair down at the end of a long cattle drive........don't you?

Riding for the Brand

It has been a little while since the ole Calk Wagon went out to cook in competition but decided "it was about time".  A while back I became acquainted with a young man on the internet when he answered a question I had about a Masonic membership card.  We visited back and forth messaging and he became interesed in what was going on with this chuck wagon thing.  It turned out that there was a local event I had scheduled here in El Paso that involved cooking breakfast at a Ford dealership.  I thought it would be a good chance to get acquainted with him and him with chuck wagon cooking.  I had my usual help: Skip Clark, John Cooper, and Joy Leos.  They are all seasoned veterans with cooking, and getting there at 5:30 am was not a problem.  Turned out that John had come down with a bug and was unable to attend so the timing was perfect for the new recruit to get acquainted with some chuck wagon cooking.

Erik Briseno is a self proclaimed City Boy .  He told me that he had never had the opportunity to get out and go camping and the like but was willing to learn.  I think he explained that he once tried to fish but didn't want to get out of the car so they drove as clsoe to water as they could and he "fished" out the window. Right now it is about learning his way around a chuck wagon.  That in itself is quite refreshing.  The fact he is a Masonic brother it doubly cool.

Erik, sweating "it" in San Antonio

The gig at the Ford dealership was breakfast for 150 and that went really well with four of us preparing migas, ham, biscuits and gravy.  Everything was cooked on propane because of the asphalt location.  Even after the event was over he was still interested.  Next came the Fort Sam Houston/Cowboys for Heroes event which was a four hour serving time meal in which we fed 500 people.  He got to see all aspects of preparing many different dishes and multiple cooking techniques.

Still not deterred, we entered a brisket cook off in which we competed valiantly but did not bring home the gold.  We did however vow to come back next year with a vengeance.

He would keep telling me that he really enjoyed learning this totally "new stuff".  He took the ribbing from all the old hands in San Antonio and managed to become a team member.  He was still lacking. He had no cowboy threads and no idea what to buy but was interested in looking the part.  He said that he had never been a person who would try to look like something they were not, BUT added that sense cooking on the wagon he felt he had become the real deal and was ready to get outfitted with some duds that would make him fit in better.  You know, boots, hat, pants, shirt, vest, wild rag, authentic glasses.  You know the drill.  We are well on our way to getting him into the fold and I must say that he is fitting nicely into mold.  Yep, riding for the brand is what he is all about.  He has proclaimed about his time around the camp that everything is heavy, a person can easily get burned, cut, scraped, sun burned, exhausted, and dehydrated, cussed, yelled at, and in all kinds of weather.....and yet is still interested in hanging out with the boys of the wagon.

Pretty cool lad and now part of our wagon crew.

Goodnight & Loving at Fort Stanton Live ...Chapter Two

This blog is a continuation of one I did earlier.  The first one was in preparation for the trip and this one will be at the fort….which is Fort Stanton, New Mexico in about 1866.  

You can take a little time and look on line to find Fort Stanton Live and the website will give you some background on the fort and they even have a Facebook page that will tell you about what the staff at the fort has been doing to upgrade the surroundings.  Larry Pope is the commander of the operation and is the person who “gets things done”.  The fort is quite impressive. 

Talk about re-enactors who know their history.  If you rolled all of the historical knowledge you would have quite an encyclopedia………….wooooo, now that is an old word.  What I am trying to say is the base line knowledge is extremely high.  Many of the historical actors have multiple uniforms.  I ask “James” what the price of the Dragoon uniform he was wearing would cost……..$350 for the headgear and the coat about twice that much.   Hummmmm, I think I will stick to cowboying because I can get into a “uniform” for say…..hat $100, shirt $65, pants $65, boots $150, vest $45, pistol & holster $325, watch $ 300, suspenders $65, wild rag $39,  shotgun $ 225, chuck wagon $16,000, trailer $7000, to say nothing of all of the antique cooking pots, pans, etc….………………hummm on second thought…..well too late now.

We arrived at Fort Stanton mid-morning and got the lay of the land from Larry and we began our methodical camp setup.  We were in a really good location which was where most of the spectators came in to the parade grounds from the parking lot. 

We were to share the fire pit with two other camps, which was no problem and it was especially nice that the fire ban was lifted that very day.  The only annoyance was the distance the fire was from the wagon which sort of limited us on what we were going to prepare.  The plan was to basically prepare food for ourselves and we were going to go Johnny Cakes for the public which requires constant attention to maintaining the fire and cooking the cakes.  We adapted and just provided historically dialog with the spectators about why a chuck wagon would have been at the fort.  We maintained that Charlie Goodnight had indeed invented the chuck wagon for the cattle drive up the Goodnight-Loving Trail, however this little drive of 500 head was a test run for the chuck wagon to see how well it would do and what provisions it would carry.  We further interpreted this drive to Fort Stanton to be just prior to the famous cattle drive up the Goodnight-Loving Trail in which Oliver Loving died from his injuries from an Indian attack.  If you haven’t seen the movie Lonesome Dove, give it a look because this portion of the movie is very accurate to what actually happened with One –Armed Bill Wilson, Charles Goodnight, and Oliver Loving. 

I met some folks in Ruidoso that later showed up at Fort Stanton and brought some Sand Plum jelly for the camp.  This was sort of the way the weekend went, that is to say, meeting people along the way and visiting about history and telling them about why we are doing this historical re-enactment.  It was great fun.  I wish we could have cooked more.

We were very lucky that we got Ann Marie, Jacob, William, and Maggie to camp beside us.  Ann Marie was the laundress and an amazing woman.  She sews all of their period clothes, makes bread, grows vegetables, sets up their camp and, by the way, this is their history class because she also home schools the children.  The other side of the laundress camp was Jennifer Breeding who was amazing in her own right serving as the fort sutler.  She had lots of clothes for sale as well as other period things that she made herself.  Eddie and I contracted her to make us each a period shirt which will be from a historically accurate pattern. 

The three camps shared the fire pit and that worked out just fine.  We made venison steaks the first night with pan de campo.  Breakfast was eggs, bacon, potatoes, onions, and tortillas.  One meal was beans and Navajo tamales.  All of these items would have been available within the premises of the fort at this period.  We brought the venison from a kill just prior to reaching the fort.   We got the pinto beans on to cook early and they were ready for the noon meal.  We had bran bread brought by the “jelly” folks and zucchini bread made from Ann Maries garden zucchini. Late evening the special treat was Shoofly Pie that James and Ann Marie cooked in a Dutch oven buried in the ground.  Quite tasty!  It is a molasses based pie. 

I had noticed on Facebook that Larry Pope’s daughter Emily had received a new guitar so when I saw her I asked if she would come to the camp in the evening to play and sing which she did most energetically.  She is quite a budding musician and has complete confidence in herself and abilities.  Not intimidated in the least.  It was very enjoyable!

The cavalry had, I think it was six cannons on a firing line, one of which was brand new and this was to be the very first firing.  It went off without a hitch. Quite explosive!! James was in charge of one cannon battery and invited me to go and become one of the crew.  The training is precise and sounded interesting but I didn’t get to the area soon enough as the cannons were about ready to fire when I arrived.  Maybe I will get another chance in the future to participate in the firing.

The thing about having a display such as our chuck wagon is that there isn’t much time to spend getting to know any of the other members of the encampment.  Several I have met on prior occasions to Fort Stanton and they were really pleasant folks to visit with.  I am hoping next year that we will know the ropes a little better and can trade off covering what we need to do at the camp and visiting and getting around to some of the scheduled activities.  I never did look at a schedule of activities and therefore missed many things I would have loved to have attended. 

I would have attended the Military Ball on Saturday night but by that time the old dogs were barking pretty good and besides there were a number of people in the wagon camp just swapping historical

Sunka (Eddie Sandoval), our Apache scout, was especially interesting to the visitors and he spent a lot of time visiting and telling about his involvement with the trail drive and how the Apache were utilized for their tracking and scouting abilities. Now on the other hand, Charles Goodnight (Steve Woods), did as he always does….went into teaching mode.  He held the adults attention as well as the younger visitors to the camp.  We had some cowboy belt buckles in a canvas bag up on the seat of the chuck wagon and when a youngster needed a little boost in his/her spirits we got them to climb up on the wheel and pull the bag out of an old boot top and dig out a buckle for their prize. 

A highlight of the activities of the day was the ambush of the cavalry by the Mescalero Apaches.  The event is staged just off the edge of the fort grounds and the cavalry were out on a patrol when they spotted a couple of Indians in the brush…..who then lured the patrol into the ambush from a ridge just about the marching patrol.  The skirmish lasted for quite a while with the soldiers taking the most punishment.  Many of them “died” before retreating to a better cover from which to fight. 

Sunka and Ronald Lah were two of the leaders of the ambush.  Afterwards everyone joined midways on the battlefield for some good natured high fives.  It was quite entertaining for a couple hundred spectators.

Larry Pope had the evening meal catered for all participants and a local group fed a BBQ plate and everyone did a bit of relaxing.  Following the supper was the military ball, which we didn’t participate in which was certainly our loss because my wife, Linda and I have attended in the past and had enormous amounts of fun. Instead of going to the ball we all set around the camp and visited and shared stories and recounted the day’s activities. 

Our plan on Sunday was to get up and have coffee and get loaded and then leisurely spend the day and then the night in Ruidoso before everyone heading home.  For me it is only a about 2-3 hours home but for them about 10-11 hours.  

We did get up and started having coffee and pretty soon there was a circle of chairs with people joining in again with stories and recounting of the weekends activities.  It was evident to all that this was more fun than packing up and leaving this peaceful setting.  It was way late in the morning, in fact, nearly noon when we got everything loaded.  Everyone was helping each other with the duties of loading and Steve and Eddie talked it over and decided to go ahead and hit the road to home.  They were home close to midnight….me …well I was home before very long.  It was Adios to a wonderful weekend and several additional new friends.

Fort Stanton is Aive!

Cup of Coffee

Is it the coffee or is it where you have it or is it who you share a cup with? All are considerations for a good cup of coffee. My suspicion is a good cup of coffee is a combination of all three. Now we have all had that cup of “coffee water” that is just barely a notch above water itself, and it probably still sufficed for that early morning pick me up. However that cup of flavor that is just right is the one that keeps us going back for more. Now on the other hand there are those places that stick in your mind as memorable. Still the last, but not least, is who you may have a cup of coffee with and that too keeps you coming back for more.









As an example of the first, Linda (my wife) and I were at Ardovino’s Desert Crossing, a local restaurant, several years ago and had the most wonderful cup of coffee. The setting was and always is very nice, but the coffee was extraordinarily good. It was a blend of Hawaiian Rain Forest. Magnificent!









An example of the 2nd and 3rd was many years ago in San Antonio, Texas. Linda and I were meeting my brother Max and his wife Jeannette for a weekend…..it may have even been a Thanksgiving family gathering. We were staying in a hotel on the River Walk and I made plans with Max the night before to meet him down on the river at a restaurant for a cup of coffee (he doesn’t even drink coffee) and read the newspaper. I remember nothing about the caliber of coffee or the restaurant. But being there on the River Walk and sharing that quiet time on the river with my brother made a lasting memory.





I have been told many times when making coffee on




a campfire at the back of my chuck wagon “Now that has got to be the best tasting coffee I have ever had.” True probably at the moment, but it also was probably not the best coffee ever, instead it was the ambience of the campfire and the chuck wagon that made the coffee taste so good. I will even go so far as to say the people making those praises of my coffee were most likely tasting some pretty good coffee.







A recent memory of “a good cup of coffee” occurred out in Ft. Thomas, Arizona at a Chuck Wagon Hoorah put on for a bunch of chuck wagon connoisseurs. It was an outstanding morning with Rex Wailes, Dave McDowell, Eddie Sandoval, Steve Woods and I sitting around a little fire out by Rex’s teepee. Rex and Dave had been up for quite some time when I joined them at the fire around 5:30 am. The others joined the campfire coffee brigade shortly after. That particular morning Rex and Dave were probably on their second to fourth cup of coffee. Their line of chat had already taken on a life by itself talking about the enjoyment of the morning and the things the desert has to offer, like the sound of the distant coyote or the cooing of the dove or even the feeling you get when you know you are in the Land of the Apache. Was it the coffee that I remember so well, no….but the times and the people there that we shared coffee with. It was a peaceful time with absolutely no pressure dealing with food




preparation. Some of you may not know that these gatherings are like a chuck wagon cook off without the competition and without anyone having to cook something at a specific time. Well, again the coffee wasn’t exactly special other than the fact that Rex puts his coffee grounds in a lady’s silk stocking and thus has no grounds to be concerned with when pouring coffee.


Now I have said on many occasions when serving cowboy coffee “I will guarantee there will be coffee ground in your cup of coffee.” People don’t mind or at least don’t say anything except for the owner of a big auto dealership where we were cooking breakfast and he said with a big smile, “I have told lots of folks that your coffee is the crunchiest ever.” I don’t know if he liked it or didn’t, I couldn’t tell. What I hope is that he remembered where he had the crunchiest coffee ever.







At home in El Paso my wife Linda and I make coffee every morning and enjoy our southwestern home and the offerings we have inside and outside. We are always searching for the better cup of coffee and have tried many since moving from the instant variety we used for such a long time. (Funny how we can get in a rut and just keep doing the same thing because it may be easier.) We recently tried a New Mexico Dark Roast Pinon Coffee and indeed it was dark roasted and we didn’t care for the nutty taste by itself. We ended up mixing it with some other blends and toning it down a little. Our usual cup of something a little different is a Mexican coffee which has just a bit of cinnamon in the it. The coffee is usually pretty good. We use a French press to achieve the result we like but it is the location and the person with whom you share it that makes the next morning worth getting up early to enjoy.


Just a few weeks ago I was in Bennett, Colorado for another chuck wagon gathering at Rex and Sheryl Wailes farm when we again were enjoying that wonderful aroma of coffee boiling over an open fire, the stillness of the early morning sitting by the fire visiting with friends and enjoying a cup of coffee taking in the distant beauty of the snow topped Colorado Rockies….indeed priceless!







Another time that will live in my memory for a long time will be when Steve Woods and I had set up the chuck wagon at Billy the Kid Days in Lincoln, New Mexico. It was an early morning with a light rain coming down on our wagon fly (this was back when it rained occasionally) with a nice fire going just prior to sunrise and the coffee in hand and as they say…kicked back. Ahhh, now this is what it is all about. Those times are special, and I am always up for the possibility of creating a memory around that cup of coffee. I look forward to those times. I have many, many memories that deal with enjoying a cup of coffee with loved ones and friends and have chosen just a few here to illustrate the meaning of a good cup of coffee





Now some of you might just want the recipe I use and it is very simple. First, I don’t know how much the coffee pot holds, but I stick my hand into the freshly ground coffee and get about 3 fingers of coffee and put into the cold water. I fill the pot up till it is where I can see the water in the spout. When it starts boiling I will place the pot off of the hottest part of the fire and let it do its thing for a little while and then it is ready. Maybe throw a couple of sticks of cinnamon in the pot. Maybe, but what does it matter? If the coffee isn’t that good then maybe the location and the friends or your significant other will make up the difference for a less than perfect cup of coffee.








See you round the campfire. I’ll have the coffee ready.

Sourdough Sunday

Just a couple of days after Valentine's day and really enjoying this 83 degree weather in El Paso, Texas.  I have started on a rather lengthy project for a blog and realized that I needed to write something in the mean time.

This blog is about a sourdough biscuit recipe.  The recipe I have included is one I duplicated from my long time friend Glenn Benson from Del Rio, Texas.  For those who do not know, he was my 8th grade Industrial Arts (shop) Teacher .  It was one time in Del Rio that I had gone to help him out a little after some surgery when I noticed a recipe in his kitchen window. I thought it was pretty cool since one of the recipes was mine and one belonged to our friend Billy Foster.  I noticed that it was written on the back of a shooting target.  I looked around and found the same targets and replicated the recipes just as Glenn had written them.   Well anyway, one morning I asked Glenn if he wanted some biscuits and of course he responed with a "why hell yes". I think I made them a couple of times and they were sure fine.

I have had several sourdough starters in the refrigerator over the years, some lasting a couple of years or so. The last starter died a couple of weeks ago for some unknown reason.  So I had to make some more.  Now those of you who know all about this sort of stuff--don't get your danderuf up--just bear with me cause there are a bunch of folks that might find this useful.  To start a new batch of sourdough starter you need to find some sort of ceramic or crock container that has a lid.  The one I use is about two quarts.  Add three cups of flour, three cups of warm water, about a tablespoon+ of sugar and about 1/2 pack of instant dry yeast.  Just set it back uncovered of a couple of three days and check on it ever now and then and stir it. You will see that it has bubbled and frothed up quite nicely.  The pan of biscuits I made after the dough had been on the kitchen counter for about three days.  I think the sourdough gets more potent after sitting longer.You can then cover your starter and put it  in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it again.  Just set it out on the counter the night before you plan to make something with it.

Now this morning I used nearly two cups of starter and when you take out two cups of starter you must add back the same....ie....two cups of flour and two cups of water....a little sugar and a little sprinkle of yeast.  Now here is something to know......with patience you can skip the adding of the instant yeast and the dough will begin to bubble  because it will get  the natural yeast from the air......it just takes longer.

I thought I would experiment with the cutting of the biscuits using the twist method and the straight pressure down method.  Of course you all know that if you twist the biscuit, it will not rise as tall and have a somewhat stunted rise on the side of the biscuit.  You can't tell from the picture but the twisted ones are about 1/4 shorter than the straight down cut.

You can follow the recipe or change it up according to your tastes.  I sometimes have to cook them about 15 minutes and sometimes 20 minutes plus.  Just keep an eye on them and if you want them browner.....well you know.  The thing to do to get the bottom and tops to crust real good is to put a goodly amount of oil in the bottom of a heavy pan and sop the top of the biscuit and turn it over.  They will be real pretty.  Oh, and of course if you will put some homemade pear preserves on them like your mother use to make then ...well ....they will be scrumptious.

The recipe is special and so was my friend.  If you will allow me to expound on our friendship--After taking his class I guess I retained a lot from his teachings.  I went on to study and teach Industrial Arts myself....then went in to public school administration.  I guess you could say much of this was because of Glenn.  Anyway we remained friends over the years...actually over 50 before he passed away.  So it is easy to remember someone special when there are so many things you do on a daily basis that are attributed to a friend.

Raising a sourdough biscuit..............Here's to you Glenn!!

Music of the Stars......us!

Back when these wild, cantankerous old mossey horned critters were roaming south Texas they had never heard a word from many humans, much less a discouraging word.  So when the trail drives started heading north these critters were pretty skittish.  To keep them somewhat comforted at night at least two cowboys rode in opposite directions around the herd singing to soothe the cattle and give them a sense of security that there was someone nearby who was not going to hurt them.  So began the era of the American cowboy and the great cattle drives, in which cattle were rounded up in Texas and herded north into Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, South Dokota. There they met the railroad lines that would carry their cattle to the demanding markets on the East Coast.  The first trail that was widely used for these long drives was layed out by Jesse Chisholm and called the Chisholm Trail.

The first trail that was widely used for these long drives was called the Chisholm Trail. By the time the trail fell into disuse in 1882, hundreds of cowboys had driven tens of thousands of cattle up the trail, inventing and singing countless verses to Old Chisholm Trail.which  is believed to have at least 143 verses and the author is unknown.  

Cowboys at Austin, Texas cook off

Old Chisholm Trail
Words and Music Adapted by Woody Guthrie

Come along boys and listen to my tale
Tell you of my trouble on the old Chisholm Trail
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yi yippee yay 
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yay

Glenn Moreland Trio

Well, I started up the trail October twenty-third 
Started up the trail with a 2-U herd
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yi yippee yay 
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yay

Ten dollar horse and a forty dollar saddle 
I'm going cut them Texas cattle
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yi yippee yay 
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yay

Woke up one morning on the old Chisholm Trail
My rope in my hand and a cow by the tail
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yi yippee yay 
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yay

Rex Allen Jr. at Lubbock cook off (RAJ stock photo)

Cloudy in the west, looking like rain
My danged old slicker's in the wagon again
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yi yippee yay 
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yay

Jumped in the saddle and I grabbed that horn
The best blamed cowboy ever was born
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yi yippee yay 
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yay

Don't give a damn if I never do stop
Ride just as long as an eight day flop
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yi yippee yay 
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yay

Foot in the stirrup and a hand on the horn 
The best danged cowboy ever was born
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yi yippee yay 
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yay

Stray in the herd and the boss said, "Kill it," 
Hit him in the rump with the handle of a skillet
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yi yippee yay 
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yay

Bacon and beans most every day
Soon to be eating that prairie hay
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yi yippee yay 

Courtney Kattner at Host Wagon..Ruidoso, New Mexico

Come a ki yi yippee yippee yay

Best dang horse, going on a run
Quickest shooting cowboy ever pulled a gun
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yi yippee yay 
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yay

Well, I went to the wagon to get my roll
Had had me figured nine dollars in the hole
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yi yippee yay 
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yay

Well, sell my outfit quick as I can
And I won't punch cattle for no damn man
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yi yippee yay 
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yay

Going to town to draw my money 

K R Wood at Ruisoso Cook off

Going to town to see my honey
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yi yippee yay 
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yay

Knees in the saddle and a seat in the sky
Quit my boss and say goodbye
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yi yippee yay 
Come a ki yi yippee yippee yay

Random picker in Austin

Eddy Harrison at Ft. Seldon, New Mexico

 In Ruidoso

I know that there are a number of singing cowboys out among the STARS and there are a goodly number of musicians out amony us that are STARS.....some shining brightly and others sort of have a satin finish if you know what I mean.......  Here are a few picutes that serve as testimony that there are STARS among us. Rex Allen Jr. played with several pickers in the Holiday Inn lobby after the Lubbock competition.  Of course, Glenn Moreland plays all the time and can be seen with his fiddle in multiple locations at

one time.  Anywhere you find a chuck wagon you will undoubtedly find some cowboys and cowgirls singing and playing some instruments.  Glenn Moreland has some sounds down on CD's as do a number of others. There is another fiddle player from San Angelo, Texas by the name of Dorothy Douthit that plays a mean fiddle and is also a chuck wagon cook.  She and many, many others play, sing, record and have fun....BUT I don't have their pictures.  Of course, the big event venues have big name entertainers that perform before,

during, and after the chuck wagon compettions.  If you are new to this kind of entertainment maybe you should attend one of these events---chuck wagon cook offs--that are held all over the country.  And while you are at it, drag along your musical instrument--look for the fire---'cause that is where we will be having fun, then just jump in and let's jam a while.   We may not sing the Old Chisholm Trail tune, but we have a lot of fun doing just about whatever happens to come to mind.  Now the story about the young fiddle player who

happens to be Ty Robertson from Granbury, Texas and the son of chuck wagon cooker Homer Robertson. There were a bunch of us, including my nephew Mike Carr,  sitting around the campfire in Austin the night before the cookoff and this young man comes up to the fire as says, "Do y'all mind it I sit in?".  All of us were surprised and we looked at each other and Mike says, "well absolutely, what do you want to play?".  Ty says " Twinkle Twinkle".  We all smiled and Mike says "You kick it off and we will fall in.".  So Ty does just that and so the song went....Twinkle twinkle little star..........this was a pretty cool moment in the annals of music by the campfire.

Mke Carr and Wayne Calk at Hondo Cook Off

Eddie Sandoval and Clayton Calk

Jerry Baird ...Austin, Texas

I wish I had more pictures of all the talented musicians I have seen by the fireside and beyond, but hopefully this will give you some idea of what happens when we aren't cooking.  Somewhere along the trail I hope you got to enjoy some of this Music Under the Stars by the Stars.........US!  See you on down the trail......