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Sorry for the past content at this address.  As it said, I was hacked.  I'm back and hopefully will be here more often once a week so if I get hacked again I will catch it much sooner.  The theft happened sometime after I started a blog without sufficient knowledge.  Still deficient in smarts I am now having a web page that I plan to change frequently rather than a blog.  To send me messages you may post on my wall at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Way-It-Is-Was-or-Should-Be-by-Jo-Lee-T-Riley/228569765758 or email me at jolee@joleetriley.com.

These pages will exemplify my writing on ranching pioneers,  ranches, and the cowboys who settled the west bringing their stories and poetry.  There will also be photos depicting western lifestyle of then and now.  You can check out many photos and poems at http://cowboypoetry.joleetriley.com.  

"Irish Grit or the Sunny Side of a Baggage Car"

Black curls bounced as this little blue eyed Irish girl embarked on her trek to the American West.  Her family settled and prospered in Iowa.  At seventeen Maggie (Margaret Barr) loved a tall, robust, Welshman (John Lloyd Roberts).  The twinkle in his eye and shiny red-hair were irresistible.  They wed at Manchester, Iowa in April, 1871.  Some relatives commented that Maggie would have "the sunny side of a baggage car".  . . . . .

Jo Lee T Riley