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Show Page 2 girl's horse became frantic-kicking, plunging and rearing. The girl finally was thrown clear, scrambled toward a scrubby piUon tree and climbed into its branches. She reached a safe perch just in time to see the bear raise a massive paw and strike. The girl's horse slumped to the ground dead. Two cowboys, hearing the ruckus, came galloping up, yelling and firing their revolvers into the air. Nothing frightened the angry bear. Reluctantly, the cowboys shot the mother grizzly. One of the cowboys leaned down and cut the rope which still shackled the shivering bear cub to the dead horse. The cub scurried off into the timber, rolling over and over in its hurry to escape. Then the cowboy, Old Mack, stalked over to the tree where the girl still clung and jerked her down. "I'm going to give you a lickin' your father has put off years too long," he told her angrily. "See that dead horse over there?" he asked, pointing to where the girl's horse lay. "That's what I'm lickin' you for." The girl on the receiving end of the spanking was thirteen years old and had already been described by some people as a cross between a Ute Indian and a Texas cowpuncher. She was a girl who defied custom, who came to be known by such names as Queen Ann; The Original Cowgirl; Queen of the Cattle Rustlers. Her real name was Ann Bassett and from |
