April 25, 1963
"Home, home on the range,
(Missile)
"Where the Ajax and Hercules
soar..."
Cowboys have long ridden the range and now in this missile age they ride the missile range.
Ft, Bliss actually employs four persons to do this.
They ride the range, not to keep livestock inside the one million acre area, reserved for Army missile service-practice, but to keep them out.
JOHN ADKINS is range inspector foreman and chief of the Wildlife Division at Ft. Bliss. He and his three range inspector - cowboys ride the range daily to make sure the cattle and sheep are outside the danger zone. Cowboy – inspectors are Billy Long, James Trow and Clarence McDonald, all of El Paso.
Although they dress and look somewhat like the Western movie type cowboys, the similarity ends there.
They must keep six horses each, by contract with the Government, and a pickup truck.
The men, accompany the fish and game warden in surveys of wildlife in the area, originate game protection projects, control predatory animals and report violators.
THEY PATROL roads, check for trespassers, locate unexploded shells and check quantity of wild game on the reservation.
They maintain and control the range, put up signs, repair fences, work on water wells, report and check vandalism cases, check brands to aid in deciding ownership of strayed animals and inform ranchers of trespassing livestock, among other duties.
One qualification for the job is that the men must withstand the rigors of outdoor living in all conditions. They must have a thorough knowledge of the country.
IN 1961, three game wardens were stranded in the Dona Ana Range Mountains. The Bliss cowboys found them in a blinding snowstorm and rescued them.
Of course trucks, two-way radios and other equipment make the life of these missile range cowboys a lot easier than the life of the earlier day cowboys.
But there are only four of them to cover a 11700 square – mile area.
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