Tales from Corral Fences — John Duncklee

Countless yarns begin from storytellers sitting atop corral fences while waiting for whatever the sitters are waiting for. Or, the sitters might be sitting just to sit. But, the stories that are born from these locations emanate from real experience, generally involving livestock and the men and women that husband them. When a story starts on a corral fence it might be embellished in part by the storyteller to capture a better understanding of the event or give reason for a laugh or two. These tales from corral fences are, for the most part real happenings with real people like "Semaforo," "Silent Mike,"The Horseshoer or "The Ginger Ale Horse Trade." They come from the vivid memory of the writer who lived happily during those times and in those places. Then there is a sprinkling of total fiction as in "The Dove And Mister McCall" and "The Unknown Horseman." "Where Did All The Cows Go?" is a little of both. The writer still laughs when he thinks back to the day when the truck driver sat on another corral fence pronouncing the black bull in the corral a mean SOB. "The Horseshoer" is also true all the way. It was Carlos Vasquez who taught this writer how to speak Spanish as well as how to shoe horses. Corrals have changed drastically over the years. As the old Estacada mesquite corrals finally gave way to the elements, they have been replaced by corrals made from pipe welded together, often portable. It is difficult to imagine anyone sitting on these pipe corrals long enough to tell a good story."