Wherever buffalo grazed, cattle were rounded up, or mustangs tossed their tails in flight, men talked of Bijah Catlow.
He was a brush-buster from the brazada country down along the Nueces, and he could ride anything that had hair. He made his brag that he could outfight, outride, outtalk, and outlove any man in the world, and he was prepared to accept challenges, any time or place.
Around chuck-wagon fires or line camps from the Brazos to the Musselshell, men talked of Bijah Catlow. They talked of his riding, his shooting, or the wild brawls in which, no matter how angry others became, Bijah never lost his temper — or the fight.
Abijah was his name, shortened in the manner of the frontier to Bijah. He was a broad-shouldered, deep-chested,…