There was no crowd to energize, no babies to kiss nor hundreds of hands to shake. No stem-winder of a political speech was delivered.
This was just a cowboy and a little kid comparing their hand-me-down belt buckles and getting to know each other.
It happened last Friday in Cheyenne when Sen. Eric Barlow took some time away from the grueling pace of his campaign for governor to meet my four year-old grandson, Dayton, in front of the U.P depot so they could shake, howdy and compare belt buckles.
I consider that just cowboy as hell on Barlow’s part.
Here’s the story of those buckles.
I had just returned to the ranch where I grew up after several years in Italy.
I decided to get belt buckles made for my dad Frank, my brother Mark, and myself with the family’s I Lazy D brand emblazoned thereon.
A belt buckle with the family brand is wearable heritage. Passing it down to the next generation is an act of love and shared history.
I Lazy D is an old brand, recorded in the Wyoming territorial brand book around 1870.
Cattle and horses wore it before Wyoming became a state. But more on brands later.
I ran my trapline in Rawlins and found out that the best bucklemaker was doing time in the old penitentiary for forgery.
Seems that if a man is good at engraving plates for counterfeit money, he’s also good at crafting belt buckles.
I had three I Lazy D buckles made, and Dad, Mark and I wore them for years. I recently handed mine down to Dayton.
Mark was State Archaeologist at the time, and got permission from Bill Barlow, Eric’s dad, to excavate an archaeological site on the Barlow ranch.
To express his thanks, Mark had a belt buckle made by the same silversmith with Barlow’s Bar L O brand and gave it to Bill.
When you see Eric on the campaign trail, he’s wearing that same belt buckle.
It’s the one his dad wore, then handed down to him, and for my money, it’s one of the cleverest brands in the Wyoming brand book.
I asked the candidate if he had time to meet Dayton so they could show off the buckles that held their britches up. He graciously said yes, and the photo is in this column.
The expression “riding for the brand” is often misused, and has nothing to do with politics.
It comes from Wyoming’s open range days in the late 19th century, It describes a cowboy who is skilled and dependable enough to be kept on long term, roundup after roundup, by a big cow outfit.
A lesser cowhand would be paid his wages after roundup, and sent back out on the grubline to find work somewhere else.
Top hands rode for the brand because the brand gave the cowboy a home.
Riding for a brand, a cowboy learns the landscape of the outfit. He knows where to find good grass and water, and where to avoid larkspur and locoweed. He learns where to cross the mountains and rivers without losing livestock.
And the cowboy doesn’t choose the brand.
The brand chooses the cowboy. Loyalty cuts both ways.
That’s why a brand on a belt buckle is worn with a deep sense of pride, like young Dayton Miller and candidate Eric Barlow wear theirs.
Contrast this brand ethic with a Freedom Caucus member getting busted for DUI, and bragging about his “Honor Wyoming” belt buckle during his booking at the jail.
A brand means different things to different people. But I digress.
I suppose the aforesaid is a long-winded and flowery way for me to tell you who will get my vote for Wyoming’s governor, and why.
Barlow rides for the brand, as I understand the term.
He shows up. He does the work. And Dayton Miller took a real liking to him.
Rod Miller can be reached at RodsMillerWyo@yahoo.com
