FORT KEOGH COTTONWOOD
Fanning the Embers, © 1971, Range Rider Reps, Miles City, Montana

Gazing through the window next to my desk, I can see the bleak lines of the winter-stripped branches of a tall, gnarled cottonwood. It stands in the pale December sun, patient and waiting.

The old cottonwood has been there since first planted as a seedling from the banks of the muddy Yellowstone. It is one of the many bordering the parade ground of old Fort Keogh. As it crept from the warm earth it must have listened to the jargon of many tongues listened attentively to the War Councils of the Sioux and Cheyenne chieftains as they planned the downfall of General Custer. It heard the murmurings of a Warrior-brave as he whispered his farewells to a dark-eyed maiden, then rode off to do battle for his expanse of hunting-grounds.

The tree watched the comings and goings of the Military as they set about to make the West safe for the first settler. It saw the feverish haste with which horses were broken for the Cavalry during World War I.

Abandoned as a Military Post, Fort Keogh became a Livestock Experiment Station and the tree has watched the bawling cattle as they plodded along through drought and rain.

The custodian of Fort Keogh's history stands patient and waiting.