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The following story was provided to me by a Great Grandson of Daniel L. Epler.
The story was written by Bernice Margaret Gresham Roberts about her Grandfather.
Daniel and his family are recognized as a "MY GRANDFATHER"
My grandfather died when I was only six years old, so my memories of him are somewhat sketchy. I can pretty well remember what he looked like with his long beard and rather long gray hair, (which my mother told me he never had cut in the winter time for fear of catching cold,) so it has always been easy when hearing anything that he said or did for me to incorporate it into my image of him as if I actually remembered it. He was a great story-teller and one story that my father particularly liked to repeat an incident connected with life on the round-ups that were once held on the high plains of Colorado.
All the ranchers who pastured cattle on the plains, assembled with their cowboys at round-up time to brand the young cattle and sort out their herds for whatever reason. If any strays were found, whoever branded them owned them. Calves following cows were not strays and belonged to the owner of the cow. This was unwritten law just like western movies.
Some ranchers brought a cook and chuck-wagon to feed their help and some brought their whole families, so the wife could cook for the cowboys and the children could help her and those who were big enough could help with the branding. Grandpa's story was of a German cattleman who brought his family and had sons big enough to help him with the branding.
This man saw a likely- looking calf and got it well on the way to the branding area, when not only the calf's mother but the mother cows owner, showed up to claim the calf. The owner attempted to herd the calf away from the German rancher and the rancher's wife, working near the branding area, saw what was happening and shouted to her husband that the owner of the calf was coming after it. Ignoring all these shouts and approaching interference, the rancher and his sons hurriedly dragged the calf to the branding fire and slapped a brand on him before the owner, still shouting and swearing at him loudly, could stop him.
The rancher's wife, continued to yell at him, as well, saying, "What do you mean? That man is calling to you that the calf is his and that cow is the mother. Yet, you have branded it with your brand and he is swearing at you about it right now!' The rancher imperturbably started on toward the chuck-wagon, saying, "You just never mind, vimmen know nutting about business! I got the calf!"
Grandpa probably did not witness this incident himself because he was not physically able to ride the round-up but his brother Ike did go on round-up year after year for quite a period of time and may have related it to him.
Grandpa
had a
repertoire of Civil War stories that he told and re-told many times. The mystery is that he had so many interesting experiences to relate, when only five months after he enlisted. be was wounded in the
shoulder
in such a manner that the wound never healed and he spent the rest of the war in army hospitals, shuttled from one to another. When the war
ended, he
was
mustered
out and given
$150.00
indemnity and a small pension for life.
He never did entirely recover and died at sixty-nine of anemia, the result of that wound. He never wavered in his patriotism, always praising General Sherman as the greatest of generals. He never missed an opportunity to don his uniform and march in a military parade. As might be expected, he named his oldest child William Sherman.
This William Sherman became the father of the first Epler grandchild and this
granddaughter,
Hazel, now ninety-five years old, told me, only
this
summer, an interesting tidbit about Grandpa. I was the first Epler grandchild and Grandpa spent a lot of time with me. He taught me to speak German and we talked in German enough that it was easy for me. One day when he was visiting with one of his German-speaking cronies, in English, when I was present, the friend switched from English to German to say something he did not want me to hear, not aware that Grandpa had seen to it that I knew German. When be finished whatever he wanted only Grandpa to bear, I proceeded to answer him in German."
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