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HalfofourWestern Livestock Journal Texas "Legacy" Tour decided an early evening wasn't needed, and we enjoyed "Texas" a musical drama, in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Canyon, TX, in its 51st season. If you are near Amarillo between early June and mid-August, don't miss this two and half hours of mu- sic, dancing of 28 young college students, fireworks, light and sound effects, live horses, and not planned were the three deer that wandered on the stage. The 50 members of the cast have ties to West Texas A&M as dancers, singers and production. Unfortunately for me, no recording with camera or cell phone allowed. I would like to see the show again. It was wonderful. A loose history of Texas in late 1880s with a young home- steader, a wealthy rancher with wife and niece, cow- boys and farmers, Texas girls, young children with their mothers. The sets were incredible. Act 1, was overture, the watering hole, Calvin's farm and dugout, girls dressing room, cowboys bunk house, the ranch, and Palo Duro Canyon. Act 2, the ranch, a gulch on farm, dugout, wash tub, parlor. There was a real train for the town scene, then Grand Finale. Music and lyrics were authentic western folk songs, ballads and hymns, with five musicians on side of stage. First time we saw the southern gentleman turned gold prospector, he was leading his donkey, and making camp. While in the background at the base of a 600 foot cliff we saw horseback riders passing in the distance. A lightning and thun- derstorm came up, with flashing lights and thun- der. Then lightning hit a tree and it exploded on the hillside. We all jumped. The lightning caused a for- est fire, and the Dancing Waters of Texas with red lights on dancing waters, but it looked so real. The cowboys and farmers used burlap sacks to beat the flames on the stage. A two story house, with the ladies waving to the cowboys below. The home- steader had heat exhaus- tion, and lay in a cabin, nursed by rancher's niece until he survived. You could smell smoke and see the real flames of the campfire when the cowboys were cooking sup- per out on the range. The Grand Finale was beautiful. Patriotic, with fireworks and music. Thanks to Susie and Zeke Frost, our hosts dur- ing tour, for arranging a highlight of the trip. Forgot to mention the visit to Global Animal Products, Amarillo. Their product is sold to supple- ment companies with Kan- sas, Nebraska and Colo- rado. The large customers use the product as liquid, and small customers use the dry in feedlots. A very low-key sales pitch, and then we enjoyed delicious cross-rib tender- ized on a 25 year old ma- chine, and then seasoned with spices for fajita's. There was beans and rice, guacamole, salsa and chips with large ice chests filled with all brands of beer, soda pop, and wine to go with the meal. The 6th and final morn- ing found us using the bus- ses as a windbreak when we visited Giles Enter- prises, LLC. The Giles fam- ily has ties to South-west Kansas where a great- grandfather settled in 1870s, raising Galloway cat- tle. They had 1,500 com- mercial Hereford cows in Kansas, and when grand- father died in 1977 they changed to Angus because of the Certified Angus Beef brand. Kelly Giles bought his first Angus bulls from Henry Gardiner in 1974. In 1999, Kelly and his son Lo- gan built a registered An- gus operation near Canyon. Kelly was a founding mem- ber on the board of direc- tors of U.S. Premium beef. Because of the caliche clay based soil, and rain- fall of less than 20 inches a year. In spring they rip the soil 8 to 10 inches, leav- ing it open all summer and spraying for weeds. Before planting, they will disc one time in August. April 15 to October 15 is rain time. Triticale is vigorous, and can run one 500 lb calf to an acre in the winter, graz- ing till March 1. There was a blizzard in January 2016, and they spent two days putting the cattle in canyons. They rolled bales of hay over the edge of canyon, to feed the cattle. Winds were 50-60 mph for 36 hours. 47,000 head of feed lot and dairy cattle were lost since they didn't have the shelter, and died in the snow in New Mexico and Western Texas. We drove out to see the cows grazing among the cactus, as well as a pas- ture of weaned heifers. The bulls are sold private treaty at 15 to 16 months of age. Our final ranch visit on the tour was to Zeke and Susie Frost ranch af- ter driving through the town of Happy. Like many farming towns there were empty buildings, but the owners have to keep build- ing in good repair. It was a neat looking town. A local historian told us the area was settled be- cause of creeks and draws. In 1912 the railroad came through, and was a booming town in the '50s because of the farm labor. 1973, the last new home was built. Largest employer now is the schools. The third Saturday in August is the Happy Picnic. The ranch was founded in the early 1900s by Ralph Arnold, grandfather of Ruby Frost, and great- grandfather of Zeke. The Frost family has ranches in New Mexico, when Bill and I visited his parents ranch in 1989 on a WLJ tour. We were the first guests at a new venture, when Su- sie and Zeke built an open air pavilion and refur- bished an old house as an event venue for weddings, family reunions, etc. The women enjoyed seeing all the decorating ideas Susie used; western paintings, long-horn, deer, antelope heads on the walls, quilts, leather furniture. Metal bed springs were painted silver and lights were threaded through for ceil- ing lighting on the porch. Silver boots were the cool- ers for the wines. The only rattlesnake we saw that week was a framed picture with Frost spelled in rattles, and some were 12 rattles long. There was skeet shooting for those that didn't mind the heat after a delicious lunch of brisket, scalloped po- tatoes, beans, okra salad, pickles and peach cobbler. Susie raises club calves that she sells to area kids to show in local and state shows. The cattle on the main ranch are Angus. Go- ing into 2011, the opera- tion had over 550 cows. The drought of 2011 forced the sale of all but 80 head. They are building back, and now have 240 head. When we stopped to see a group of cows with calves, we noticed the fence looked low on our side. The winds had blown tumble- weeds that were caught on the fence, and then the wind blew dirt that was caught in the tumbleweeds. Two wires were buried in the three feet of dirt. A field of wheat oppo- site side of road was a 30 bushel field. I was told, if you rub a head of wheat, then blow on it to remove chaff, it is ready to harvest if seed is there. We had traveled 1,354 miles on our tour of Texas. Another great tour with friends. JeanBartonhasbeen writing her column in the Daily News since the early 1990s. She can be reached by e-mail at jbarton2013@ gmail.com. JEANBARTON An evening of 'Texas' musical drama COURTESYPHOTO Kendra McCluskey, far right, was checking Susie Frost's cows that are bred for show calves on the WLJ Texas "Legacy" Tour. Removing invading coni- fer trees improves the health of sagebrush ecosystems, providing better habitat for wildlife and better forage for livestock. And now, new science shows these efforts may also help improve late- season water availability, which is crucial for ecosys- tems in the arid West. According to the Sage Grouse Initiative (SGI)'s newest Science to Solutions report — which summa- rized research from USDA's Agricultural Research Ser- vice (ARS) — a sagebrush- dominated watershed holds water in snow drifts an av- erage of nine days longer than one dominated by ju- niper trees. Why is holding snow im- portant for rangelands? 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