Circle Diamond Cowboys

According to an old ballad, Saturday night was the loneliest night of the week. Not so for the Circle Diamond cowboys. After their once-a-week bath, either in a creek during the heat of summer days or with a tub full of water heated on the kitchen range, the next step was dressing up in clean attire. With permission of the ranch foreman, they were off on horseback to Malta where they encountered a few girls quite interested in accompanying them to a dance at Wagner, a tiny but lively town west of Malta. After locating the off-duty stagecoach driver, they convinced him it would be worth his while to take the young people to the Bar-D dance. Tiny agreed to it only on the condition they return to Malta in time for his “shut eye.” He was stagecoach driver the next morning on the south route to Zortman.

A creek running from bank to bank presented a bit of a problem. Tiny stated that a loaded stagecoach could not cross. Richard, who thought he was God’s gift to women, said he’d carry each of the girls across and so he did while the empty stagecoach was floated to the opposite bank. Richard said, “Anyone else?” A passenger threw herself into Richard’s arms. The passenger was not a girl, but the smallest cowboy of Circle Diamond all gussied up in brand new boots with new clothes to match. He wasn’t going to get wet tonight.

Live music and lively dancers made for an extra good time. When Tiny determined it was time to head back to the old cow town of Malta, he was in for a bit of a surprise. His stagecoach was without wheels. He couldn’t prove it, but it was obvious who the culprits were.

The dancing would be extended until the four wheels could be located and the team once again hitched up for the return trip.

Thanks to the late Don Davison for retelling this event of long ago. His father, Albert Davison, was the smallest Circle Diamond cowboy mentioned.

Helen DePuydt is a regular contributor to the Courier and a member of a homesteading family in the Saco area. All of her stories are true.