Charley Siringo asked us to go over to Oro Grande a mining town North of El Paso Texas to see about brewing up a cattle war there. It had not yet reached violence, there were about 40 men on both sides total ready to get after each other. Charlie hoped we could fix it all up nice and neat without him having to send a posse over that would have to stay there forever to keep the boys apart. Maybe because of the work we did with Judge Roy Bean or the Shakespeare solution. Or the stolen ore recovery or the Bonito thing. Most people would wait to see what we had to say before they started shooting each other. Maybe they knew no matter what Rob and Steve would go “ass holes and elbows” with any one or any group wanting to harm the normal order of things and they did not want to get in the middle of that.
We bring along the moan machine . In cases like this one here, introducing an ethereal, unexplainable situation sometimes distracted those involved in an argument. We get there and find out it’s all about a water hole in an Arroyo. It did not flow enough water to supply both herds and ownership was disputed. Now without water out in the desert you were not going to have a cattle ranch, so this was serious indeed and could easily turn into something for the history books. After examining the Arroyo and hole we decided to build a three foot high dam with a few pipes on top for overflow then another dam further down the Arroyo. We get all sides together at the site one night around a bust head and bbq rib dinner. We took all firearms. And explained our solution, everyone agreed to give it a go before massacring each other. The shovel work would start in the morning
Around 2am , on a mesa top about a mile from where they all were asleep Rob and Steve bring out the moan machine and commence. In the morning we find most of them in pairs back to back sitting with drawn knives. We never said anything to them about the moan machine and they never told us they were scared poop less. In the end the two dams did collect enough water to make two ponds and supply both herds.
Around 1997 we went by and, “by God these ponds” , now in cement were supporting both herds for the descendants of the bunch we dealt with back in 1902. The two ranch owners Great Great Grandsons of the men we dealt with thanked us for the solution back in 1902. They had been saving an item all these years waiting for our return and gave it to us in 1997. It was a long horn cattle horn, carved reading ^to the two buckhorn boys. never to be forgotten ^
We both got some trail dust in our eyes seeing that thing , we left it with them till the next trip and saw them hang it back over the front door
The Moan Machine
Construction
Take a 25 gallon tin canister take the top off , pierce the bottom with a small hole
Thread a 1/2 inch wide 15 foot long piece of rawhide through the hole on the bottom pull it out a foot or two make a loop place a wood dowel in the loop twist and tie off so you have a handle do the same at the other end. With leather gloves, rub a light coat of Rosen on the rawhide
Operation
One fella holds one dowel another the front dowel. A third fella rubs the rawhide in his palm with leather gloves. Depending on how taught the rawhide is held and how you pull over the rawhide with practice you can create sounds ranging from snorts, growls, snarling, yelping, howling, singing, and some noises you cant describe. All seemingly emanating from a very large animal of unknown species. In a starlite sky out in the desert hearing this for miles and not being able to tell where it was coming from , like it surrounded you. Made even the toughest dudes get wide eyed at night especially