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Grandpa Kolb and The Western Cattle

I have mentioned before that Grandpa Joe Kolb was always looking for ways to make some money and keep his boys and hired men busy, just like any “Dutchman” would do. Grandpa found that he could get a really good deal on some cattle from the open range in Western United States. He decided to purchase several of the cattle and found that they would be shipped by rail.

Grandpa assumed the cattle would come to Patoka and they would be driven the three miles east to the home place. The U.S. Government had made it a law that livestock shipped by rail had to be allowed to unload at pens established along the railroad to eat, drink and rest at required intervals. Princeton had just such a facility, pens for cattle, horses, mules, sheep or any livestock. This is where Grandpa Kolb’s western open range raised cattle were to be unloaded.

My guess is that Grandpa didn’t think western cattle would be much different than our Gibson County cattle. According to stories told by my Dad and my Uncles there was a big difference between our cows and the open range cows. One of the big differences was that these cows had never seen a fence or a gate. They were used to being herded by men on horseback and by stock dogs. Besides not getting his cattle in Patoka, Grandpa Kolb had some other surprises in store for him. Grandpa had his brothers, his sons, the hired men (people like Uncle Will Hart) and anyone in the community that he could get to help. These were all people who had been around cattle all their lives, but not this kind of cattle.

When the day arrived to drive the cattle from the railroad pens to Grandpa’s pasture about four miles north of town, men and boys lined the street with cow sticks and canes. They had chosen a route through Princeton that would cause the least destruction of property. When the cattle were released from the pens they reacted just s they were raised, they went where ever they wanted and men and boys waving sticks and canes only excited them more. The cattle might have reacted better to men on horseback, but we will never know, they went through gardens, yards and scattered all over town. The cattle finally were headed north and showed little regard for fences, but did end up in Grandpa’s pasture by the end of the day.

Most of the next day was spent with Grandpa and his brothers going through Princeton repairing what they could and settling up with residents that had damage. The open range cattle often jumped fences and took a long time to adjust being Washington Township cows.