Another Story as Told by Ed Collins ~ Our Favorite Local Cowboy

The Branchiforte Boys

Old Highway 17 was a two-lane, cement road that traveled from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz.  It touched new Highway 17 (the four-lane) a couple of times on the way over the mountains.  This one day we picked up the Old Summit Trail and crossed Highway 17 and dropped down in back of Jim Booth’s ranch and in back of the pheasant farm off Summit Road, we hit the old Highway 17.  Virtually no traffic and we had already been riding for three hours, so we just let the horses walk kinda fast down the old road.  We could hardly hear each other talk cause of the horse shoes hitting the pavement, and in the shade of the giant redwoods you could see the sparks from the horse shoes.

This was a great day.  No morning fog, nice and warm, and we are going to the beach.  To this day I don’t know what drew us to the beach or the ocean so much.  There was so much to do there I guess.  Well, we were getting close. I can always tell when we hit Branchiforte Drive – I can smell that salt air and it smells soooo good.  Our horses can smell it also and they open their nostrils wide and inhale, then exhale with deep breaths.

Craig and Byron came walking out of the little store.  “Hey! How you guys doing?”  I asked.  “Fine!” they said.  I gave Byron some money and he went back into the store and bought lots of candy.  Craig stayed outside with us and talked about fishing in the local creeks; he knew them all.  Craig said, “We’re headed for the beach!”  I said, “So are we, let’s go!”  We headed on down the little cement streets with the little beach houses and finally came to the San Lorenzo River.  The two boys running with us didn’t hesitate.  They ran down the little hill and dove into the river.  These boys were used to this for sure.  They were tall and lean with very broad shoulders – powerful swimmers.

Bout that time my horse makes a leaping dive and the others follow.  We just lay straight out in the water and hang on to the horses’ manes and let them swim.  Craig and Byron knew this place around the bend and past the beaches where we could catch clams and baby octopus.  We would catch as many as we could eat, then take the rest back to our camp and boil them and eat them with butter.  They were good.  When Craig and Byron got full, they took off running up river for home.  We were all kinda sore; we played football all afternoon on the beach.  Before they left, Craig told Two Dogs that Byron really wanted a boar this year – A big one!  Two Dogs told Craig he would think on it.

Two weeks later Two Dogs said, “I told the boys from Branchiforte to meet us up on top of Hunter Leggit country.  They will take their truck and camp on top of the mountain trail.  We will see their smoke.”  Now, this is a 120 mile trip, one-way.  Craig and Byron took our pig dogs in their truck with them.  It took us a week of hard riding to make camp.  Craig and Byron had worked on the camp all week.  It was fancy, they even dug four outhouses.  All the horse corrals were built.  They had trucked in four 55-gallon barrels of fresh water from a spring they had found upland.  These boys had done a fine job of building this camp.

Wild boars are spooky.  If you move, they can see you a half-mile away and they will take off running the opposite way.  They can really cover some ground fast.  The babies all seem to keep up.  So, there you are clear out in the middle of California and all the boar and sows and babies take off and leave you.  Only Manzanita brush and very hot sun are left for you.  The brush is so thick for miles, from the San Joaquin to the Pacific Ocean.  When you find a large patch of ground that looks like a bulldozer was turning up the ground, that’s big boar country.  The boars use those large 6”, 7”, 8” tusks to dig up roots, acorns and wild bulbs.  One thing good, when you’re in big boar country, there doesn’t seem to be quite so many rattlesnakes.  They leave fresh rattlesnakes and I guess the snake venom can’t get through their thick hide, cause they would just catch one and eat him right up and go on digging for acorns.

The first morning hunt Craig, Richard, Allen and Billy headed upland.  Two Dogs, me, Byron and Tommy headed towards the coast.  It was plenty foggy and the trail was clear.  We went single-file and ran quietly down the mountain.  Finally my dogs began pulling me.  I could hardy hang on to their leads lines.  They‘re trying to be quiet but they have a scent.  They are whimpering.  All I would have to say is, “Go get hold of some pig!” and they would be gone in an instant.  We are too far away and I don’t want to lose my pig dogs.  All of us humans are sweating and breathing very hard; we have covered about 4 miles.  I am so tired; everyone else is way in back of me now.  My dogs are taking me off the trail through the brush then back on the trial at a full run.  I was a bloody mess, but I wasn’t going to turn the dogs loose till my lead dog sounded off on a hot scent.  On down the trail we ran about ¼ mile.  Then my lead dog sounded off and took off so fast he broke his lead chain.  I was sitting in the dirt trying to hold the two pups back.  Finally, I heard my lead dog baying; he had something back up this steep arroyo, so I let the pups go.

Byron got to me first.  He was a really fast runner.  I could hardy breath, “They’re up there!”  “OK!” he said, and headed up the arroyo.  I got up and followed.  We were climbing over some rocks and there, right in front of us, the dogs had this huge boar bayed down in the rocks.  “Wow!” I said, “That’s a trophy boar Byron!”  Byron said, “Yeah!”  He lay down on the rocks and took careful aim.  The dogs were lounging in and out after the big boar.  The boar would slash to the left and then slash to the right with his large tusks.  Byron took a deep breath and exhaled slowly and squeezed one round off of his 30-30.  The boar dropped.  By then Two Dogs and Tommy were there.  Byron jumped up to go see his kill.  Two Dogs said, “Wait a second, these big boar don’t die that easy.”  Sure enough, he moved – the dogs were going crazy.  Blam! He hooked one of my pups and threw him straight up in the air.  Two Dogs said, “Eddie, go take his life.”  Man, that made me nervous.  I said, “Why can’t Byron shoot him again?”  Two Dogs said, “No sense in wasting a bullet.”  So I took my big knife out of my leggings and walked over and held my good pup back and told my lead dog to, “Get a hold of some pig!”  And when the pig lunged for my lead dog, I took his life.  I was shaking so bad.  Everyone screamed and yelled but I just sat on a rock trying to get my breath and calm down a little.

Byron got busy digging out the boars’ large tusks and the back straps for dinner.  Then we headed on down the mountain and set up a small camp down there where San Antonio Dam is now.  We all went right to sleep, including my dogs.  Byron was sure happy to get that big ol’ boar.  He made a necklace with the tusks and some sea shells.  He was Wildman.

Now, can you believe this!  Six years later, Byron married my little sister. Now can you believer this!?  They’re still married ….  40+ Years!!!