Land With No Rider

Announcer: Funding in part is provided by: Corporation for Public Broadcasting; New York State Council on the arts.

Additional funding provided by: Keep the Lights on Fund; Jack Oakie and Vicotria Horne Oakie Charitable Foundation; Cedar Creek Productions; Foothill Productions.

Support for this film was made possible by more than 42 individuals.

A complete list is available at ITVS.org.

[Insects chirping] [Birds chirping] [Wind blowing] [Insects continue chirping] [Wildlife chirping] [Insects continue chirping] [Hooves thudding] [Horse neighing] [Cattle lowing] Man: Whoo!

Cowboy: Cowboys is kind of a dying breed because there used to be thousands of cattle running on the forest.

But now, where there used to be thousands of cattle, there's hardly any here anymore.

[Horse neighing] [Cattle lowing] [Man speaking indistinctly on TV] [Lighter clicks] Well, they're getting to where there's less and less cowboys.

And the ones mostly that are left are what we call drugstore cowboys.

In other words, they love horses and have horses, but that's all.

They don't have no cows.

Most of them wouldn't even know how to brand a calf or castrate a calf and earmark 'em, all that.

It's a dying breed, a...profession, is what cowboys are.

[Birds chirping] [Cowboy two chirping] All right.

The sunset and the sunup.

Sunup.

Sundown.

Call me up.

[Cattle lowing] [Cowboy humming] Muy bonito, muy bonito.

[Cowboy vocalizing] Muy bonito.

[Cow lows] They drink a lot of water, the cows.

Yeah, they drink about 10 gallons each.

They drink all, they look like they're gonna blow up, like a tire.

[Chuckles] They can hardly walk when they get outta here.

Them cows, they drink a lot of water.

I can't put 'em on the river 'cause the flood comes and takes it, so I don't do it.

Oh, lordy.

My grandpa homesteaded this place in 1865.

[Cattle lowing] 1865.

You know, I--I got some-- some real good dirt.

See how--how black it is?

My neighbors here up the river, not too far, Their ground is, uh-- their ground is like sand, sand.

It's funny, huh?

It's funny how it is.

It's funny how it is.

I got real good dirt.

I got real good dirt.

[Thunder rumbling] Singer: I can settle down And be doing just fine Till I hear an old train [Horns honking] Cowboy 3: Well you could get over, you [bleep]!

Singer: Then I hurry [Music grows faint] Straight home and pack And if I didn't go Cowboy 3: Come on.

Come out here.

Come on.

Katy Too.

How many times have I told you to make sure these hooks are secure?

[Rain pattering] Damn it!

Cowboy 3, voice-over: I grew up country.

Broke and trained horses from the time I was 12 years old or a little younger.

I was a bronc, bareback, bull rider.

My fifth wife... she didn't like this country.

She'd look out here and say, "There ain't no trees."

I said, "Woman... "lower your eyeballs.

They're closer to the ground."

[Chuckles] "You're in the high desert."

Ha!

And my last wife, she loved it out here.

And then I got this... terrible guard dog over here.

Vicious critter.

Katy Too.

Mama.

[Engine rumbling] [Horn honking] [Horn honking] [Thudding] Come on!

Ahh lo!

[Thudding] From Hendricks Peak right here all the way to almost the sunrise there's part of the ranch.

Down that way we got another 5 miles, 6 miles.

Then on the other side we got Noonday.

But this is another well that we drilled.

It's 960 feet, this one right here.

Takes us 9 panels to do it.

This is one where every mile down this road we got--we got a drinker.

I was a caretaker for the previous owners.

And then the new owner said, "Will you stay on?"

He gave me a checkbook and a credit card.

He says, "You [bleep] up one time and it's over with."

This ranch used to depend on nothing but rainwater.

No rain, you had to sell your cows.

But we got 4 new wells on the place.

It's all solar--solar pumps.

We're going to the modern-day ranch is what we're doing.

[Door creaking] [Door thuds] Cowboy, voice-over: I was born in 1933 in Silver City.

Well, my dad heard about they're building a new road all the way to Beaverhead, so he went to the Forest Service and hit 'em up for a job.

Well, that was the first road ever built through here.

There was wagon roads, good for horses and wagons, but they wasn't good for cars.

[Cattle lowing] In all, there's been a lot of changes in the 81 years I've been around.

[Cattle lowing] [Birds cawing] This is the world's largest Arizona black walnut tree.

I think it's at least 300, 400 years old, at least.

Of course, the Mimbreo Indians, they was here about 300 years ago.

It was a long time ago.

They was all up and down the Mimbres River and on the Gila River.

They think that they had some kind of a disease that probably wiped them out.

And the later Indians were Geronimo.

They figure he was born in one of those caves up Taylor Creek.

He was born probably on one of our ranches.

[Man on radio singing indistinctly in Spanish] Todo su amor Cowboy two: Todo su amor Hold it right there.

Now, how in the world did you get in there?

How in the world did you get in there?

And how am I gonna get you out?

You can't back out.

You can't back out, girl.

Get out.

Oh, boy, you're in trouble.

You're in trouble to the bone.

I don't know how you got in there, you old bull, you.

How did you get in there?

[Gate clattering] [Cow huffing] You can't get out, girl.

You're gonna have to stay there till I get the cutter, girl.

Ain't no way out, buddy.

[Flies buzzing] [Birds chirping] Why did you have to do this?

Why did you have to do this?

You had to mess up the whole party.

Eh, you tightened-- tightened son of a buck.

[Gate clattering] [Cow lowing] It's your fault.

You bubble-eyed little thing.

I got it.

I got it.

[Cow mooing] The party's over.

[Chuckles] The party's over.

The party's over.

Son of a buck.

[Engine rumbling] [Engine revving] [Cowboy humming] OK, cowboys.

[Insects chirping] Oh, this crazy river.

I was born here.

I was born on this crazy river.

Muy bonito, muy bonito.

The Indians that were here, they were the Mimbreos, Mimbreos.

Mimbreo Indians.

That's the reason they call it the Mimbres River.

You can never tell about this crazy river.

I don't cross when it's high.

No.

'Cause there've been a lot of accidents on this crazy river.

I wait till it goes down.

Sometimes, it takes me 10 days before I can cross.

But how did you make it 10 days over there?

I killed me a calf, so I had a lot of meat.

And then I got me a deer.

So I had a lot of meat.

[Laughs] I got a lot of bullets.

I got my rifle, so I'm not gonna starve.

Heck, I was happy.

[Chuckles] I said, "Rain again.

Rain again, neighbor.

It used to rain every day."

More water come.

More water.

[Water lapping] [Insects chirping] Cowboy 3: Ah!

Did you forget how to fish?

You hear that cow?

I heard a cow, Mama.

That's better.

You're a good girl.

Are you happy?

Mama, are you happy?

Not everybody... can feel... this part of the country.

The mountains, the--the lake, the-- they give off their own feelings.

They really do.

I mean... you have to-- Not everybody was a cowboy.

It's all God's country.

From sea to shining sea.

From the mountains to the valleys to the deserts far below.

There's a song in there somewhere.

Each...peak... means something to somebody.

[Vehicle rumbling] Got a little--not much rain.

There ain't no rain up here.

Look, this grass... is supposed to be another-- at least another two inches taller.

[Vehicle rumbling] [Vehicle creaking] We got some good grass up here.

Got a little more rain up here.

This little draw right here should be running, but it ain't nothing.

This is about the prettiest part of the Mimbres River right here.

I remember when we were kids, this was all ranch land.

There was no subdevelopment.

There was no houses.

The ranch we're on right now was called the Christmas Ranch.

And we used to drive-- it used to be a dirt road, a gravel road all the way down.

We used to come and visit Mr.

Christmas.

But really from the San Lorenzo store way over there, all that, I remember when it was just--it was a-- her la--it was a lady.

Nacha was her name.

She... She was a rancher, an old lady by herself.

And as soon as she passed away and her kids got ahold of it, they subdivided everything, became millionaires, and they probably blew all the money now.

No tellin' where they're at.

All the old timers are about gone.

We're next.

We're gonna be called old timers here pretty quick.

[Wildlife chirping] [Calf suckling] Come on, girl.

She didn't drink the first milk from the mama.

When they're born, they gotta suck the first milk.

And they hardly make it when they don't suck.

If you can get the mama in the chute and milk her-- be careful 'cause she'll kick you-- but if you can get some milk out of her and then put it in the bottle and give it to the calf, she'll make it, they'll make it.

But I'm not gonna-- I'm too old to be fighting the cow in the chute.

It'll break my hands.

You stick your hand in there, try to get some milk, they'll kick you, you know, it might hurt me.

[Cows lowing] Come on.

They're not gonna hurt you.

Come on.

Come on!

Don't go.

[Cow lowing] Come and get me, girl.

Hey, come here.

[Cow lowing] Singer: Don't you miss her Since she upped and left and walked away Cowboy 3: I hate losing twice in a row.

I hate losing once in a row.

I hate losing.

[Pool balls clattering] Oh, you're too nice to me.

[Pool balls clattering] Why must you treat me like a worn out shoe?

[Pool balls clattering] Singer: Aren't you lonely?

Cowboy 3 and singer: Since our darling disappeared?

Look here, is that a teardrop On the corner of your pane?

Don't you try to tell me that it's rain Singer: She went away Cowboy 3: Somewhere throughout my life I've learned not to remember the bad times near as much as I do the good times.

But life has been good throughout the years.

Many beautiful wives, even though they weren't tough enough to hang with me.

Number 3, she wouldn't leave Dallas.

She was too much of a city girl.

Number 4, she met a marine while I was working, I guess, and they got together, and...she went his way, and I went...mine.

Number 5's the one with all the cabins back in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, actually Hochatown now.

I don't think that was a shot you wanted to make.

I might make this.

I might not.

[Pool stick thuds] Maybe not.

I should've banked it, huh, Sylvia?

Uh-huh.

Cowboy 3: I quit.

Friend: Me too.

You keep cheating.

[Friend laughs] [Insects chirping] [Country music playing on radio] Singer: Wishing she... Cowboy 3: Was mine Singer: It's that same old... Cowboy 3: Lost love story Singer: It's sad but true Cowboy 3: But true Singer: There was a time when she was mine Cowboy 3, voice-over: Someday, there'll be another one walk my way, can't live without me.

Maybe.

If not, I got my Katy Too.

She's my girl.

Radio announcer: Songs we're watching that you ought to listen for.

Dustin Lynch.

Cowboy 3: You want ribs?

You want ribs, Mama?

Are you cooking tonight or am I?

[Insects chirping] [Dog barking] [Dog howls] Man: Hyah!

Man two: Get back, get back!

[Cattle lowing] [Cowboys whooping] -Hyah!

-Hyah!

Man: Hup!

Hup!

Hup!

Hup!

-Hyah!

-Hup!

Hup!

Hup!

Hup!

[Hooves thudding] [Gates clattering] [Dog yaps] Hup!

Hup!

Hup!

Hyah!

Hup!

Hup!

Hup!

Hyah!

[Cattle continue lowing] Come on!

Get in!

[Cage clattering] [Cattle lowing] [Calf groaning] [Flesh sizzling] Cowboy, voice-over: The upper pasture goes up in the high country, clear up to 10,000 feet and better.

But we used to take the cattle up there in May and leave 'em there until October.

The Forest Service, they said, "Well, there's too many cattle out there."

So they took that away from us completely, said the spotted owl's endangered, and therefore the cattle's gotta go off... permanently.

[Cattle lowing] If they take any more away from us here, we're out of business.

[Cowboys shouting] [Insects chirping] [Insects chirping] [Wind blowing] Cowboy two: Hey.

[Whistles] Scrambled eggs, boy.

[Spatula scraping] It gets pretty lonely out here sometimes.

When I can't cross the river, it gets pretty boring out here after--after 10 days, and I'm running out of food.

[Chuckles] I'm low on food... no groceries.

But I'll make it, I'll make it.

I'll make it.

I gotta have a lot of beans to cook.

I'll never starve.

I'll never starve.

It's not hard 'cause I'm used to it, but...nobody to talk to.

When somebody comes it's like, "Hey!"

The day goes by fast.

Oh, little things like that.

Little things like that.

[Cattle lowing] [Cowboy vocalizing] [Cowboy shouting] [Thudding] [Vehicle rumbling] Cowboy 4, voice-over: I lived 8 years in Las Vegas, Nevada, like to kill me.

I made myself a million dollars there.

I was a crane operator.

Flipping homes, too.

I was flipping houses.

Like to kill me though.

I was on antidepressants... all kinds of-- the doctor says, "You know what?

"You better get back to the country life, or you're gonna die."

I know every corner of this ranch, I know every draw, I know every arroyo.

Like, I go into town, I'm ready to come home.

I hate to go to town.

Just come home.

When I need groceries, I'll go.

Although it don't belong to me... this is heaven right here, this is.

I'll be here till I can't work no more.

I'll probably die on this ranch.

[Cattle lowing] Come on, girls.

Come on.

There you go.

It's all yours.

[Cattle lowing] [Birds chirping] [Engine rumbling] [Cattle lowing] [Hooves thudding] [Gate clattering] [Bellowing] [Bellowing] Naw.

No more milk for that boy.

No more milk for that boy.

She's gone.

She's gone, and that's life.

You gotta just fight it.

That's it, that's it.

There's no coming back.

There's no coming back.

It's just a waste of-- a waste of money.

Pero now I gotta wait another year for the mama to have another one.

It's a long time, huh?

It's my loss.

My loss, my loss.

My God knows--my God knows... what to do, what to do.

The coyotes will come tonight and take care of it.

That little calf, you come tomorrow, and it'll be all pieces.

How can they tell, them coyotes, at night?

You can--you can-- you can hear 'em... [Imitates coyotes yapping] They're talking or something.

There's a lot of coyotes here.

They'll eat it.

They'll eat it.

[Distant coyotes howling] [Wind blowing] [Cattle munching] [Engine rumbling] [Horn honking] Cowboy 4: Come on, girls!

Come on!

[Horn honking] Come on, girlfriends.

Come on, girlfriends.

Here.

Come on, girlfriends.

Come on.

Right there.

That's all you got.

You guys are spoiled.

Come on.

Come on!

Come on!

Come on!

[Birds chirping] Just about got her.

[Cows lowing] This right here.

Back about two years ago, we converted this windmill from wind power to solar power.

And this panel right here is what pumps the water now.

We need to come down with the towers, but they're not really hurting nothing right there, but it's just like an eyesore.

You make the ranch look modern.

That's what we're doing.

Year before last, man, it was easy.

The last--well, the last year and a half, it's been pretty hard.

The river, I've never seen it run this low in 12 years.

I've never seen the water that low.

At times, it's overwhelming.

It's like--man, it's like, man, is it worth it?

Do I--do I walk off and let somebody else try it?

There ain't nobody else gonna run this place the way I run it.

I wake up at 2: 00 in the morning worrying about this place, and it's not even mine.

You know?

Worrying about the cattle, worrying about what I'm gonna do next.

We might be on foot.

This son of a bitch is on its last leg.

I gotta get a new fuel pump put in the bastard.

[Insects chirping] [Engine rumbling] Cowboy two: Oh, by golly, by golly, by golly.

[River running] They wrote me a letter from Nevada.

They told me if I was interested in selling the property.

If I was, call them.

And if I wasn't, don't answer.

So I never did answer.

It's getting that way now.

And they coming from other states, and they buying ridiculous up here in the mountains.

And they're building houses up here on top of the mountains.

Pero I won't sell it.

My dads died here.

My grandpas, Bacas, all of my great grandpas, Bacas, they died here, they're buried out there in the cemetery over there.

But... when I go, you know, what--what-- what's gonna happen?

Johnny Horton: I'm a honky tonk man And I can't seem to stop I love to give the girls a whirl To the music of an old jukebox But when my money's all gone, I'm on the telephone Callin' "Hey, hey, mama can your daddy come home" I'm livin' fast and dangerously But I've got plenty of company When the moon comes up and the sun goes down Cowboy 3: Here, Mama.

Horton: 'Cause I'm a honky tonk man Pre-wash.

You're falling down on the job.

Horton: I love to give the girls a whirl Cowboy 3: Hurry up before the water gets cold, girl.

That's enough.

Good girl.

You gonna put shoes on?

No?

OK.

[Door creaking] [Fire crackling] [Wind blowing] These are the kind of days when my dad would say... "Get the chainsaw.

Let's go cut wood."

"Why?"

[Laughs] "It's snowing, Dad."

"Maybe we'll see some game."

He didn't have good sense.

All he knew was work all his life.

Yes, sir.

Work, hunt, and fish.

Can y'all imagine... being out in the woods... with the wind blowing, freezing your butt off... waiting for a deer to come by so you can shoot it and put it in the freezer to have something to eat?

I remember many times... walking through the woods, the snow crunching under your feet... find you a place to sit down and watch.

And then just sit there and listen to the wind blowing through the pines.

You can actually hear snow fall.

[Ice pattering] Singer: I loved her [Pool balls clattering] I won't forget her I miss my pretty Fraulein Fraulein, Fraulein Look up toward the heaven Each night when the stars start to shine By those same stars above you I swear that I love you You are my pretty Fraulein [Insects chirping] [Door creaking] [Lights buzzing] [Door creaking] [Engine rumbling] Roger Miller: Well, I think I finally found me A surefire way to forget.

It's so simple, I'm surprised I hadn't done thought of it before yet.

It's foolproof.

Well, it's foolhardy maybe, but who knows?

Anyway, here I am walking toward where the cold dark water flows 'cause all it takes is One dyin' and a buryin' One dyin' and a buryin' Some cryin' 6 carryin' me I wanna be free Cowboy 3, voice-over: The old country music is stories of truth and things that have happened to people.

When we had the car wreck, my first wife and my boy got throwed outta the car... and he had head injuries, bad head injuries.

And after talking to the doctor several times... I went in the, uh... church, and I said a prayer... 2 or 3 times.

And within an hour, my boy had passed on.

It was a... very difficult time.

Maybe that's why I like the old sad songs and things.

Some of the things that have happened to me.

Miller: One dyin' and a buryin' One dyin' and a buryin' Some cryin' 6 carryin' me I wanna be free [Insects chirping] [Door creaking] [Cattle lowing] Cowboy 4: Come on!

[Shouts] [Cattle lowing] Come on, let's go!

Come on!

[Cowboy bellowing] Come on, come on!

[Cows lowing] Come on, girls.

There you go.

Come on, girls!

It--it--it's dryer than heck.

We're in a--we're in a major drought right now.

These cows are... they're going down pretty quick.

We need to get 'em outta here.

Damn.

This one over here.

Son of a bitch.

Look at their backs.

See how they're starting-- you can see the ribs and all that?

They're losing weight.

They need to get on some more feed.

Poor girls.

I'm gonna give 'em the rest of that sack.

There you go, girls.

[Cattle lowing] [Thudding] OK, we're at 4,000.

We've lost about 1,000 gallons in two days in that one.

[Thudding] We're at 4,000 on this one, too.

So we've lost 2,000.

That's what them cows have drank in two days.

Solar panels can't-- the sun can't keep up with how much the cows are drinking.

We usually got supplement water, rainwater about this time in the dirt tanks, but nothing.

This is all they're dependent on right now.

[Birds chirping] Cowboy two, voice-over: I got water enough in the ditch for my cows, you know, pero no irrigating water, you know.

That's--that's what.

No water.

Nobod-- the neighbors ain't got it, and they ain't got it, nobody's got it on the Mimbres River, you know?

They just outta water.

In the mountains they're dying, you know.

So poor, you know.

If they don't eat and they don't feed 'em, they're going to die.

They having trouble.

Anchor: In New Mexico battling thick smoke to put out large wildfires.

Now residents are preparing for more dangerous conditions.

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center saying almost the entire state is facing critical wildfire conditions.

NewsNation's Alex Caprariello is live with more on the fight to get those blazes under control.

Alex?

Alex: Yeah.

Good afternoon to you, Ruth.

The Hermit's Peak/ Calf Canyon wildfire is the largest one burning right now in America, consuming nearly 200,000 acres of land in Northeast New Mexico.

Come on, air.

Get in here.

It's gonna rain.

It's gonna rain.

It's gonna rain.

Let it rain.

Let it rain.

Karaoke singer: You can see their shadows Wandering off somewhere They won't make it home But they really don't care They won't leave the highway They're happier there today Today [Cheering and applause] Wasted days and wasted nights [Indistinct chatter] I have left for you behind For you don't belong to me Your heart belongs to someone else Why should I keep loving you [Cowboy 3 and woman singing along] When I know that you're not true?

And why should I call your name When you're to blame For making me blue?

Cowboy 3, voice-over: We were going to karaoke, and she started showing up, and pretty soon, she was sitting at the table with me and Tony.

And next thing I knew, we kind of got together, and... Karaoke singer: Praying for you always Cowboy 3, voice-over: here we is.

Why should I keep loving you When I know that you're not true?

And why should I call your name When you're to blame For making me blue?

Cowboy 3: My last chance at auditioning for Statler Brothers Review.

Both: We got married in a fever Hotter than a pepper sprout We've been talkin' 'bout Jackson Ever since the fire went out I'm going to Jackson I'm gonna mess around We're going to Jackson [Fading] Jackson [Insects chirping] [Wind blowing] Cowboy: Grass, tall grass, when it dries out and dies and it gets on fire, that carries a fire worse than anything, is dry grass.

Well, if you got cows eating that grass, it's a whole lot less danger of--of a fire carrying then.

But now where there used to be thousands of cattle, there's hardly any here anymore.

They've taken almost half of the high country away from me for good.

The Forest Service, they don't want us to run cattle even.

They'd rather see it burn up than for-- for cows to eat the grass and manage the place.

I can't never run any more cattle up there.

[Cow lowing] [Helicopter flying] [Fire crackling] [Reverse signal beeping] [Reverse signal beeping] [Reverse signal beeping] [Reverse signal beeping] [Reverse signal beeping] [Siren] [Cowboy shouting] [Cowboy shouting] [Cowboy shouting] Come on!

Ahh!

Come on!

[Siren] [Calf mooing] [Wind blowing] Cowboy two: You know, when the world ended... God told Noah to make the ark.

Yeah, he done it.

He done it.

And... God told him to put every living creature that was clean.

And he did.

They put every living creature that was clean, you know.

And... they got on the-- they got on the ark, and... they shut the doors and everything, and here comes the rain.

40 days and 40 nights.

40 days and 40 nights, y hola.

So they were on top of the water.

They were way up there on top of the water, they couldn't see the land no more.

And... they stayed on the ark till--till the water started... [Cat mews] soaking, I guess, on the ground, on the dirt, and... and they started the new world.

They started the new world.

Yeah it's nice.

It's nice.

Pero it's true.

It's true.

It's true.

But every living creature that stayed behind, they were laughing and joking about, "What are you doing?"

"Oh, we're making an ark 'cause the world is gonna end."

Oh, they were laughing.

[Laughs] "They ain't not gonna end no world.

You crazy."

And by golly, it was true.

So they stayed laughing behind, and here comes the rain.

And they wanted to get on the ark.

They was hollering, "Gimme a ride too.

Gimme a ride."

Heck.

The door was shut already.

Yeah, they all drowned.

They all drowned.

Yeah, it's good that God done that, cleaned the Earth.

Yeah.

It's coming.

A storm's coming.

It's gonna hit tomorrow, maybe tonight, tonight.

You wait, veras.

If it rains real bad, you know, you can hear that river roaring... [Bellows] like the bull.

Like the bull.

Just like the bull.

[Bellowing] [Thunder rumbling] [Wind blowing] [Trees rustling] [Thunder rumbling] [Rain falling] [Thunder rumbling] [Rain clattering on roof] [Distant rain falling] [Thunder] [Cows lowing] Man: Let's go!

[Cows continue lowing] Cowboy 4: This is rainwater.

All rainwater.

This grass right here is hundreds of years old.

Yeah, this is--this is Mother Nature here.

This ain't nothing man planted or everything.

It's all--this is all-- this is Mother Nature.

Cowboy two: Vamanos, vamanos!

[Vocalizing] [Shouts] Lotta water, buddy!

[Cowboy shouts] Lots of water.

Pretty good.

I wanna live 110-- my God gave me 110 years... or more.

Maybe I'll be like Noah, the one that built the ark.

He lived 950 years Or 850 years.

750 years.

Oh, yeah.

670 years.

Look at the skies.

Look.

It's changing colors now.

Hey, look at the-- look at that cloud there.

Look at that cloud.

I know I gotta die someday.

Only my God knows when.

I got a lot of time.

Maybe my God gave me 100 years.

[Vocalizing] [Birds chirping] [Insects buzzing] Well we went to a place called Lemon Lake in Colorado.

Me and the old dog.

Just a fishing trip.

And after I lost about $10 worth of lures and flies in the creek going in there... I decided to get off the lake and go to the house, drink a beer or 9.

And she was right behind me like she usually was, or off to the side of me.

We went to the house and I said, "Well, we got them steaks.

Let's cook 'em," and... so I pulled out the grill and put it together and... cooked us some steaks, and she was out there... [Panting] ready to eat, I thought.

Strangest...thing to me.

She got up and went to the door and... looked at me like she wanted out.

I thought, well, she gotta pee or whatever, so I let her out.

I went back and sat and... finished my steak except for the fat I always saved for her.

And, uh, she didn't come back.

I think she just went off by herself... to die.

She was that age, and her old hips were getting like mine, didn't wanna go up and down hills and stuff very much, and she probably got sick.

Just they do, as dogs will do.

They'll go off and die by theirself.

She was my girl.

I won't forget her.

[Birds chirping] Cowboy 4: My spirit, I want it here in these mountains.

You know, I'm gonna make sure that I get out here where I want to be.

I'm gonna be cremated, and then I'm gonna be loaded in a whole bunch of shotgun shells... and then up there on Mitchell Mesa, I'm going to have 'em shoot me out onto the Mimbres River.

12-gauge shotgun shells.

What is it, ashes to ashes?

Something like that.

I'm not much of a Bible reader or nothing like that, but... I think I'd be better off running up and down these mountains here, my ashes.

Willie Nelson: Maybe I didn't love you Cowboy 3, singing along: Quite as often as I should have Maybe I didn't need you Nelson: Treat you Cowboy 3: Quite as often as I could have Nelson: Quite as good as I should have Both: If I made you feel second best Girl, I'm sorry I was blind You were always on my mind You were always on my mind Cowboy 3, voice-over: Once upon time, a long time ago... Cowboy 3 and Nelson: Didn't hold you Cowboy 3, voice-over: my dad brought home two foxes... and he said, "We'll tame 'em."

My dad thought that I should be able to train... near about any animal.

I could train horses, mules, donkeys, cows, dogs.

Well, after about... 9 months to a year of having 'em caged... you cannot tame 'em.

And I realized... that they had to be turned loose, to go back to... their life in the wild.

We ended up taking them out... and...pointing them towards the woods and turning 'em loose, and--pttt--they was gone.

They wanted no more city life, as they thought it was.

Maybe in--in, uh... my own sort of way... I still have... a wild feeling, a wild streak in me that--that...

don't wanna be tamed, that can be free forever.

[Singer yodeling] Into the canyon with the trail far below Down to the pinions where the sweet water flows Back string behind me in the yellowing light Onto the meadow where we wait for the night Mountains in shadow silver with age Moonlight on aspens, granite and sage Horses graze lonesome where the abbot falls down I roll out my blankets And I sleep on the ground Announcer: Funding in part is provided by: Corporation for Public Broadcasting; New York State Council on the arts.

Additional funding provided by: Keep the Lights on Fund; Jack Oakie and Vicotria Horne Oakie Charitable Foundation; Cedar Creek Productions; Foothill Productions.

Support for this film was made possible by more than 42 individuals.

A complete list is available at ITVS.org.