Dominick John (D.J.) O’Malley was born in New York City in 1867 to a Civil War veteran who died from his wounds when D.J. was small. His mother remarried a soldier, Charles White, and the family was posted to Fort Keogh in 1877.
At 14, O’Malley left the Fort and crossed the Yellowstone River to work as a horse wrangler for Captain T.H. Logan’s outfit on the Little Dry. Logan soon sold out to the newly formed N Bar N Ranch, and O’Malley found a home there where he was soon known as the “N Bar N Kid.” He became a regular cowhand and helped bring three trail herds to Montana from Texas, the last trip being made in 1891. Eventually, he became the N Bar N’s ranch representative working in roundups with the area’s other large ranches. The N Bar N, owned by the Home Land and Cattle Company, sold out in 1896. O’Malley sensed the days of open range were ending, but he continued to ride for big outfits. He also worked as a deputy stock inspector under Billy Smith, served as a deputy sheriff in Rosebud and Custer Counties, and worked two stints as a guard in the state prison at Deer Lodge.
In 1909, at the age of 43, O’Malley moved east to Wisconsin, married, and made his home there. While a sure-enough pioneer cowboy in Montana, O’Malley found more fame with a notebook and pencil than with his saddle and rope. As a young cowboy holding
herd, O’Malley found he had a talent for writing verse, and with the encouragement of the other cowboys, he began submitting poems to area newspapers under the pen name of D.J. White.
O’Malley’s “After the Roundup,” also known as “When the Work’s All Done this Fall,” was a poem that became world-famous when it was made into a song. Recorded by a popular “radio cowboy” Doc Sprague, the song sold 900,000 copies during the 1920s. The song is still popular at Western funerals today. D.J. O’Malley passed away in 1943, and though he’d lived most of his life in Wisconsin, there was no doubt as to where his heart was. His last wishes insisted he be buried at Miles City.