(Roc8j> Qftounfoin TJ?onb*rfcmb 



aroused, and each "critter" was looking west- 

 ward as though good news had been scented 

 afar. Across the mountain-tops toward which 

 the stock were looking, great wind-blown clouds 

 were flying toward the plains. In less than an 

 hour the rescuing Chinook rushed upon the 

 scene. The temperature rose forty degrees in 

 less than half as many minutes; then it steadied 

 and rose more slowly. The warm, dry wind 

 quickly increased to a gale. By noon both the 

 sleet and the snow were gone, and thousands 

 of cattle were eagerly feeding in the brown and 

 curly grass of the wide, bleached plain. 



This experience enabled me to understand 

 the "Waiting for a Chinook" picture of the 

 "Cowboy Artist." This picture was originally 

 intended to be the spring report, after a stormy 

 Montana winter, to the eastern stockholders of 

 a big cattle company. It showed a spotted soli- 

 tary cow standing humped in a snowy plain. One 

 horn is broken and her tail is frozen off. Near 

 are three hungry coyotes in different waiting at- 

 titudes. The picture bore the legend "The Last 

 of Five Thousand, Waiting for a Chinook." 



70 



