I know you join me in saying that I sure do miss Baxter Black. He was the most interesting man I ever met, and I always looked forward to his phone calls, his column and the many appearances I was fortunate to attend. I’m proud to have called him a close friend.

But there’s one thing I always wondered. Why would someone who trained so long and worked so hard to become a doctor, a highly paid and distinguished veterinarian, give it all up just to appear on the Chuck Woolery Show? The great mystery was solved for me when I ran into a couple of Baxter’s old running mates. They worked for Baxter when he was Dr. Black and after I promised to pay them royalties, they explained why Baxter gave up the glamorous life of a veterinarian to become the greatest cowboy poet ever.

Dale and Earl worked with Baxter when they were all employed by J.R. Simplot based in Idaho. Dale and Earl were cowboys and Dr. Black was the distinguished veterinarian for the sprawling outfit. According to Earl, life for Baxter wasn’t always banquets and book signings. “Baxter put himself through vet college by giving haircuts, tooling beautiful leather belts and by playing his unique brand of music. Baxter would play for anybody who would listen,” recalled Earl. “Life was hard for the starving artist and he was forced to live on a steady diet of canned tomatoes and Black Velvet.”

Life didn’t get any easier once Bax got a Dr. in front of his name. “I remember one case in particular,” recalled Earl. “Our job that day was to treat 300 head of scouring calves and Baxter showed up for work sicker than the calves. He had the flu, I guess, either that or the wrong mixture of Velvet and tomatoes. On top of that he was trying to quit chewing. And to think a guy would give all that up just to become a regular on the Tonight Show, have female groupies throw their room keys at him and have people beg for his autograph. It must have been a real sacrifice on his part,” said Earl.

There were other instances during his 10 years at Simplot that led Baxter to believe there was more to life than preg checking and foot rot. Like the time he was told to go out and worm the Palomino horse on one occasion and the sorrel on another. Then the bay and the roan. “When it was all over Baxter had wormed the same horse four times,” said Earl. “They all looked the same to him.”

Perhaps the episode that convinced Baxter that his real calling was on stage was during calving season on one of the Simplot Ranches. As Earl recalled, “The work was nonstop but like always, Baxter always made it a little more fun. He was always singing and entertaining even when we were working. He was a great guy to work for and there was plenty of work,” recalled Earl. “I’ll never forget the time we had a heifer that broke her pelvis trying to calve. Dr. Black saved her and for a month he nursed her back to health. A more dedicated doctor you never saw. After a month of intensive care the heifer was improving steadily when another heifer broke her pelvis trying to calve. The boss, knowing how much time and energy Baxter had invested in saving the first heifer, told him that it was not worth the time and money and that Baxter should just shoot the latest heifer to split her pelvis.

“Of course, this went against the grain of Baxter whose training had given him great respect for every living thing,” recalled Earl. “So it was with a heavy heart that Baxter got the gun and went out to the calving shed. Under his breath Baxter said “I’m sorry old gal.” He drew a bead with his well-trained, diagnostic eye and then he pulled the trigger... and shot the wrong heifer! He had just killed the heifer he had spent an entire month doctoring back to health!”

It was shortly thereafter that Baxter decided to pursue a new line of work and both the animal kingdom, and all of us who loved him, were much better off because of it.