UNCLE BOB & The Road to the Devil Saloon
by
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UNCLE BOB BACKUP 2-22-2016
THE CATTLE DRIVE TO MONTANA
Robert E. Lee Leavitt, “Uncle Bob,” was a lean six footer, and quite a character. He was a right good cowman, and well-liked by everyone who knew him.
Uncle Bob possessed excellent judgment and was as honest as a man could be. There was not a lazy bone in his body. Rough and rowdy when appropriate but still a gentleman, he was courteous and respectful to everyone. No matter how tough things were, he always maintained good humor and rarely failed to see the bright side of things.
He was something of a cattle drive poet, and turned his spontaneous rhymes into tunes to sing from the saddle or around the camp fire;
“I spent a long day in the saddle, thinkin’ of grabbin’ some land,
Maybe buyin’ some stock and havin’ my own brand,
But it’s a dream I know that will never come true,
Dust I’ll be eatin’ until I’m ninety-two.”
The night before the trail drive began, Uncle Bob shared some hot coffee and a can of cold tomatoes in his cabin with Robbie, Bob’s nephew, and one of the young cowboys.
As the youngster choked down his first sip of cowboy coffee, Bob laughed and said, “You gotta chew that stuff first, else use a knife and fork.”
Bob turned to Robbie and warned him about what was ahead of him.
“Can you sit a horse?” Bob asked “I don’t mean to ride around in the park on a pretty day, with some old girlfriend. I mean sit in a saddle eighteen maybe twenty-four hours a day?
“It ain’t no nickel romance book, son. There’s awful little glory and heaven’s share of hardship, a lot of work and little pay and you got a fair chance of getting killed. You know by the Injuns, the buffalos, drowning, horse stomped, fever and bandits.
“You’re a boy,” Bob said, “and it’s cowmen that you’ll be working with and they don’t have much use for a green kid who don’t pull his own weight. Do you know what I mean?
“Why, you’ll be on drag all the way up to Montana eatin’ dust from two thousand head of cattle plus the horse herd. Well now, get all of your stuff together, put it in that poke that I gave you and finish off that coffee.”
Uncle Bob handed Robbie a piece of paper and pencil and said he had one last thing for Robbie to do before they left for Montana.
“Write me a note in big letters,” Bob said.
Bob told Robbie what to write, then he took back the note and nailed the paper to the cabin door with the butt of his .44.
“Let’s ride,” Bob said.
Robbie followed, hopped on his horse and kicked her to a trot. Riding away, he looked back at the note nailed on the cabin door.
GONE TO MONTANA, BACK NEXT FALL
“Robbie, you go on ahead and meet up with the herd. Check in with Mr. Doug. I’ve got one other thing that I gotta do.” Bob wants to say his final goodbye to his longtime girlfriend, Betty Braun.
“Did you really mean all of those things that you said to me last night?” Bob asks Betty. “About us getting married and having babies and raising a family and growing fat and old together, like normal people do?
Of course I am serious, Bob. I have loved you ever since we first met back in grade school. I have never been happier than when I am with you. Why do you have to go off and do something so foolish as this crazy cattle drive?
Besides, you will probably go off and get yourself killed along the way and I will never see you again. Bob, we can have a wonderful life here, together. Your father has passed and this great ranch here is yours and it can be ours, together, like we have talked about many times.” Says Betty.
As she begins to cry, Bob holds her tightly and says, “I love you very much too, Betty, and I do mean all of those things that we have said to each other. It’s just that I am not ready to settle down like that right now.
When I think about the adventure of the cattle trail and going to a place that very few people have ever been to, I, I just can’t get it out of my mind. If we did get married now and I gave up this cattle drive, it would just knaw on the inside of me and I would be no good to you or anyone else like that.” Bob says.
“Some men just have to get that one big adventure out of their system before they can settle down. Wait for me and I will be back. Shoot, I’m not gonna die, I’m gonna live. You and me are just starting to live and everything is going great. When I come back, we will get married and start our family.
Besides all of that, I am going to make us a ton of money selling those cows to the Government and I will be able to buy you just about anything that your sweet little heart desires.
We will have a fine wedding, a huge one. We will invite the whole country. How about having it on that pretty spot on the Guadalupe River where we first made out?” Bob replies.
“I don’t care about the money, Bob, I just don’t want to lose you.” Betty says. Bob turns to his horse and reaches into his saddle bag and pulls out a Bible. “Here, hold on to my father’s old Bible until I get back. That Bible means a lot to me.”
The cowboys kept the cattle moving at a good clip, stopping only for noon meals and to change horses. They ate in two shifts, gulping down coffee, beans and bacon and biscuits by the chuck wagon.
They are following 2,000 head of prime Texas beef all of the way to Montana. Bob has a contract in his saddle bag to deliver the half wild cattle to the Calvary Post at Fort Keogh.
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About the Book
Uncle Bob, Robert E. Lee Leavitt, was a true pioneer of the Wild West. This is his story, and that of his family, friends and fellow pioneers.
The story tells of Uncle Bob’s forbearer’s as they ventured from Germany and Ireland to America’s shores, and traveled to what is now the city of Victoria, in southeast Texas.
From there, Uncle Bob leads a historic cattle drive to Montana, participated in crucial battles with the Comanche Indians, ultimately settling in a small Montana town where he ends up staying to run a red-light saloon.
Uncle Bobs story is told by himself, as well as by those who knew him best.
Uncle Bob, a man who knew triumph and defeat, jubilation and sorrow, displays the American Experience with all of its true grit, as well as its uncanny humor.
About the Author
Patrick D. Patterson and his wife Susan live on the working cattle ranch in South Texas where Uncle Bob was born and raised. The ranch was homesteaded by Bob’s father, AB Leavitt in 1858. Patrick was always fascinated and intrigued about his family’s history and their struggle to travel from Germany to Germantown, Texas. Patrick’s grandmother passed on to him many colorful stories about the adventurous family.
As a young boy, Patrick found in the attic of the old homestead some buffalo horns and an old Indian peace pipe and said, “Someday, someone ought to write a book about Uncle Bob and his adventures on the cattle drive to Montana.” Little did Patrick know that it would be him who would be the one to write his family’s account of their adventures.
Patrick was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He is also the author of a book about his High School days there, JEFF ’68 – It’s Our Party ©, is the name of that book.
He is currently writing a sequel to Uncle Bob & The Road to the Devil Saloon. Mr. Leavitt Goes to Washington is the title of that upcoming book. The book is an adventure thriller about young cowboy Robbie Leavitt, taking up the cause of the oppressed Indians in Montana. Some remarkable and unfortunate incidences motivate Robbie to run for and win a seat in the United States Senate, where he becomes a powerful voice for the struggling Indians of Montana. The interaction between the characters will challenge your lifelong beliefs and motivate you to action. You will not remain the same after reading this unusual book.