Most people considered Emma Baker a meek little housewife; however her gentle persona belied an inner spark ready to be kindled by some untoward act.
At the time of this event the family lived on a ranch near Cliff, New Mexico where Dad worked as a blacksmith. The ranch headquarters nestled among tall cottonwoods lining the banks of the Gila River. Mesquite bosques filled much of the bottom land, and low mountains topped the horizon on both sides of the valley. Heavy stands of prickly pear cactus grew in open areas.
Most of the hands came from Mexico, but thankfully an Anglo family lived near the folks so they did have an English speaking neighbor.
Early one morning Mom finished the family wash and hung the damp clothes to dry. The odor of creosote bushes lingered on the still air after an overnight rain shower. Just as she stepped back into the house several vaqueros ran a herd of wild cattle through the yard, ripping down the clothesline.
I can imagine Mom's anger and the look in her eyes, but she was not one to use profanity.
While she stared at the twisted wires and trampled clothes, the neighbor lady came to help gather the muddy garments off the ground. She saw how upset Mom was but she cautioned her not to complain to the ranch owner. "That foreman's really mean. I wouldn't want him mad at me."
That afternoon Mom saw the cowboys coming again. She grabbed a pair of pliers and a hammer and stationed herself in the middle of their path. They stopped but none of them spoke English. It did not take a linguist though, to interpret the look on Mom's face. She approached the foreman and pointed toward the wreckage of the clothesline. He turned to his men and spoke a few words of Spanish then dismounted and took the tools from Mom's hand. In a few minutes he and his crew had the poles up and braced and the wires restrung and tightened. He handed the implements back to Mom, tipped his hat and mounted his green-broken gelding. Soon the only thing visible of the small band of cow herders was wide-brimmed hats bobbing above a trail of dust.