Paul Magnani

Related to Everett Sutton by James Gorthy on 8-16-1939

Paul Magnani

Paul Magnani was one man you couldn’t bulldoze, and he wasn’t afraid of nothing.

Ketchum, at that time owned the Hour Glass Ranch and Paul was their cook.

Ketchum told me the story. It was the last day of the cattle drive from the south and in order to get home that night, they trailed the herd until ten o'clock. The men were all tired, and they were ravenously hungry. As was usual, Paul had gone ahead of the herd to prepare supper. Instead of stopping, the herd was kept on the move and the punchers grabbed a handfull as they went past the chuck-wagon. They trailed three or four hours after the light handout, and upon arriving, Jim, the trail-boss, told Paul to throw up some grub.

Later, when he returned, he discovered there was nothing to eat, and naturally, he was mad. Paul had told him he would not fix chuck, but Jim assumed Pual would go ahead anyway. There was a hot exchange of words, and Jim threatened to clean up the earth, using Paul for a mop-rag, unless grub was immediately provided. The threat had no effect upon Paul whatever.

Some time later Jim returned, this time he meant business, and when he again found no supper provided, and Paul serenely occupied otherwise, Jim went hog wild. Anyone knowing Jim, knew he was a dangerous man when properly riled up -- and this was one time he was on edge for a fight. He and his men were dog-tired, they were chilled, and they were hungry--and Paul made no effort to provide food--in fact he absolutely refused.

Jim went into action with a vitriolic barrage of cowhand language, and when that failed to make a dent in Paul’s armor, he walked over to the wagon, procured is six shooter, and started back toward Paul. Everyone knew that when Jim went after his gun, he intended to use it, and this looked like a time that the outfit would be forced to attend to a midnight burial. But nothing happened, at least nothing that the rest of the crew could detect. Jim's gun threat had no effect whatever. Paul merely shrugged his Italian shoulders--and did nothing.

Perhaps Jim sensed the fact, from the way Paul stood, and from the way his arms were folded, that Paul’s hand was too close to the place he carried his knife. No one knows though. There was but one thing really definite; Paul was unperturbed, and the men went to bed hungry.

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