WYOLA MONTANA COWBOY 

John Hammet as published in the Hardin Press.

“John Hammet has been punching cows for a living since he was a kid and still carried a bullet in his shoulder from a shooting scrape with outlaws in 1896.
There’s no Hollywood glamour attached to John Hammett of Wyola, Montana. But if your looking for the “real thing” in rugged cowpunchers, he’s it!

John’s about 83and has ridden more miles, punched more cows and been in more odd situations than all the screen heroes whoever passed before a camera, put together.
For John was transferred, practically from the cradle to the saddle soon after his birth. About May 28, 1875, in Lampasas county, Texas. Trained by his stockman father, John started punching cows professionally in childhood, working for a neighbor, Henry Roder. At the age of 14, he landed his first job with a big outfit, the Littlefield Cattle Co. ranging east of Roswell, N.M. When this company closed out three years later, he joined up with the famous Diamond A, on the Hondo River, west of Roswell, where the celebrated Capt. Burton C. Mossman, an original Arizona Ranger, was wagon boss.

In 1893 a herd of 5,000 two year old steers of mixed brands was assembled at Del Rio, TX, for trailing to the Canadian line by way of Lamar, CO. , under Sug Robertson, one of the last of the colorful trail bosses. John, “repping” for the Diamond A. and joined up with Sug,s outfit for the long and lonely ride north.

“In those days, : he recalls, fondly, “there wasn’t a fence from the Rio Grande to the Canadian border, except around little homesteads, here and there. Open range all the way. But look at it now! He gazed wistfully over the Crow Reservation, his adopted home for 63 years. “On that ride, I went as far as the Milk River, in northern Montana, and we never opened a gate all the way.”

From the Milk River, John came down to the Crow Reservation of southern Montana in 1894 at the age of 19 he went to work for the Custer Cattle Co. McCormick, Johnson and Powers, owners branding 7 Bar 7. Except for a short sojourn around Thermopolis, WY, he has been based in the Reservation country ever since punching cows, and is still at it, with the Antler Ranch of Matt Tschirgi, on the Little Big Horn of Custer massacre fame. During the 50 years from 1898 to 1948, he never missed a day from his chosen profession.

The 7 bar 7 ran upwards of 25,000 cattle, from which John would cut 450 head a month under government contracts to feed the Indians and the militia.

“Steak were steaks in those day,” John explains. “None of this modern baby beef stuff. There are 4-5 year steers, grass fat, and they had to weight 1,100 pounds delivered at the Agency.

The price: 4 ¼ cents a pound. Between deliveries of beef, he had other duties for the 7 bar 7, sometimes far a field.

In April, 1896, he tangled with a pack of Canadian outlaws in the Missouri Brakes, 125 miles from the nearest human habitation. In an exchange of shots that followed, John caught a bullet in his right forearm, which lodged in the shoulder. A companion staunched the wound with a torn up shirttail, their only first aid. But it worked. So well, in fact, that he never has had the slug removed. He lets you feel it and try to guess the caliber.

During the Boer War years of 1899-1902, the Custer company joined with the other ranches in providing horses for the British cavalry. These had to be 4 year olds, “ridden” horses and were delivered at Brush, CO. for $65 to $80 a head under contracts let by Malcolm Moncrieffe of Big Horn, near Sheridan, WY. representing the British. John took part in this operation and describes how he and the other cowpokes would “break” these horses.

We used to ride them three times and let the ocean voyage do the rest” he chuckles.

On a trip to Brush with a consignment of horses, John met and was entertained by Theodore Roosevelt and his daughter, Alice. “She was real nice and we got on fine”.T.R. guessed that the horses were so wild they could kill more British than Boers.

The 7 bar 7 closed out in 1906, and for the next 10 years John worked for such a famous old outfits as the Flying E,of B.K.Hysham , running 40,000 head; Smith Bro. Of Hardin, MT, one of the first large steer outfits, operating on the vast “Ceded Strip,” branding Bar Z bar; and the Quarter-circle Z L. of Mack Daniels.
After that, I worked for the government four years” he says.

“Doing g what?”That’s not all the cow punching he’s done; just the unbroken stretch

When the Quarter circle Z L went to Frank Heinrich, John went too.

Cupid slipped into Joh’s life in 1920 when he made a trip to KS. With a shipment of cattle. He found his future wife and quite naturally in a cow pasture and spread his loop for her immediately.

After his marriage and a short absence, he returned to the Crow Reservation and worked for the Dana Cattle Co. until 1937. When Ed Dana sold out to Charles Miller, John went along, working there for another 10 years under the Bird head brand until it was sold again, 1848.

Since then he has been with the Antler Ranch of Tschirgi, at Wyola, Montana. The Antler is a famous old brand of Frank Heinrich, John’s former employer and uncle of Tschirgi.

There John may be found today, doing business as usual- saddling up a bronc; branding or shipping cattle; or with his wife in their neat little Wyola home between times.

Perhaps business is not quite “as usual” with John, according to his former standards, for the reservation is being cut up into little pastures of 50,000 acres and less. But with the Antler, he still can feel at home surrounded by 10,000-15,000 steers and several thousands of acres of leg room.

John is spry and alert about modern space developments. He keeps informed about the satellites and looks forward to moon travel. “They’ll get there some day” he predicts. “When they do, I hope they don’ find it all fenced up. Maybe there’s some more open range, up there.”

John’s health remains rugged, his eye clear and piercing. Recently he tossed off the Asiatic flue lightly, without a doctor. In fact, doctors” pickings are reported slim with this patient.

It’s rumored around the ranch that lately he suspected arthritis and decided on a X ray. Scanning the plate, a doctor concluded, “No sign of arthritis , but there’s a bullet in your shoulder!

John had plumb forgotten about it.

(Web Masters) comments: John worked for my Fathers ranch in between other jobs, I grew up listening to those stories and I just wish I had paid more attention. His favorite saying was “well by gunny, let me tell you about.....”

 How many of you know the recipe for “cowboy” coffee? Fill an enamel 20 qt. coffee pot with water, place on a wood fired stove, shake in enough coffee to cover the top by three inches. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. The next day, do not empty the pot, add more water and 3 cups of coffee grounds. Empty out contents each week and start over. As John would say: “will put hair on your chest!”

In John’s “retirement” my Dad hired him to live at a remote ranch and go out every day and “check” on the cattle. There was a problem at that time for poachers...they would come in with some horses and trucks, kill some cattle and then truck the meat out...then they went door to door with frozen beef trying to sell it. John saved our cattle by his very presence. He was an amazing person. Just before he passed over the great divide (western slang) he “guessed” he was about 105. He was never sure of his age, He never had a birth certiticate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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