NO MAN’S LAND by JAKE FAST

For 70 years, I’ve been proud to call the Panhandle my home

Though in my younger days, a few other places I did roam

No Man’s Land pioneers, my hat is off to you

It is hard to even imagine some of the hardships you went through

For hundreds of years the Indians like this land of clear running creeks and many a grassy hill

A stampede over a tall bluff is the way the buffalo they would kill to get meat and hides they took only as many as they needed

“Waste not want not” is a saying that they heeded

When the Spanish explorers came, the horse they did bring

Soon the Indians were moving across the prairie like a bird on the wing

You’ve heard the saying “good times don’t last”

Soon they are over and in the past.

The White man came and said, “Big Chief, we want your land,”

We’ll send you to the reservation with your band

The army said the buffalo will have to go

Then they will have no food and clothing, you know

About 1870, the slaughter began

They were pretty well all gone in ten

There’s free grass and water out in No Man’s Land

Come make a living here, if you can

About 1860, the first pioneers came from the southwest driving sheep

They settled in the Kenton area, where the cedars grew and the canyons were steep

Around 1864, the outlaws came to Robber’s Roost

We have nothing to fear

The long arm of the law can't reach us here

Further east came Jack Hardesty and his cowboy band

At big time cattle ranching they would try their hand

The Hitches established their headquarters on Coldwater Creek

To bring in supplies from Dodge City would take almost a week

Followed soon by Beasleys, Millers and Keens

Some were poor and some of considerable means

One of the first in Beaver County was Kermit Ray

He registered his brand and came to stay

By 1890, settlers were coming from all over for 160 acre of free land

Build a dugout or shanty and live on it five years, if you can

Some years there was plenty of rain and snow

A good variety of crops they could grow

My friend, if you have lived in this land long

You know it grows grass that is nutritious and strong

But then we have those years when it don’t hardly rain

Makes you want to catch an outbound train

On second thought, we are made of tougher stuff

Can’t no little ole drought make us say, “I’ve had enough”

For a few short years, each generation is in charge of this land

It is up to us to take care of it the best that we can