Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, and Willie Morgan

If that's the answer, the question has to be, "Can you name three cowboys who were in Dodge City, Kansas, back in 1880?"

Actually, Masterson and Earp would probably take offense to that. They weren't cowboys, they were . . . er . . . uh . . . "lawmen."

And, my great-great-grandfather would probably like to clarify that he wasn't just a cowboy, he was a "drag rider."

No, that doesn't mean that he rode side saddle in a dress.

In researching my next book about Willie Morgan's adventures along the Chisholm Trail, I have found that a drag rider was one of the unfortunate souls who had to follow the herd to round-up strays.

I say "unfortunate" not only because they had to ride thru a river of cow pies, but also because they pretty much sucked dust the whole time. I mean, 2,500-3,000 longhorns can sure kick up the dirt, you know?

But, the thing I never realized was that all that bovine body mass all squeezed together in a herd gave off a TREMENDOUS amount of HEAT! In fact, that was the one thing the drag riders complained most about: the infernal heat given off by those cows! They said it was as intense as a furnace at times.

You learn something new every day . . . at least, you should!