The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-12-18
Observations Of a Tourist in New
Mexico.

telOpes were seen rushing in herds into
the chaparfal. The '' PinOn . tree-so
called because it grows only on the high
planes-the red cedar, and an infinite va
riety of cactus-plant are the peculiar
features of the landscape. The first
grows nut, favored very like an East
ern beachnut, only much larger, that
takes the place of our walnuts among
the people, and is the favorite q mast y
of the bear, which abound in their va
rious types in these foothills. The Pinon
wood is quite resinous, and, when burn
ing emits a delicious fragrance; so that
what with the open hearths peculiar to
the adobe construction, and the cedar
and Pinon fuel, the sWeet-scented house
fires, which at this elevation are fre-
quently required during the evenings
even in September, suggest an Oriental
sumptuousness and extravaganza on the
part of the entertainer which is quite
out of keeping with the domestic sur
rOundings. The cactus, however, is to
traveller from the temperate zones the
most noticeable thing that grows in this
region Its variety is almost infinite
from the broad fan like leaves that lay fiat
upon the ground and threaten with their
prickly sides an unwary pedestrian to
the mammoth branched species which
towers like a tree beside the road. Some
of them look like a great sponge; others
trail their delicate green fibers, spangled
with red, over the dry earth; while
others still shoot sharp spikes up into
the air like sentinels of the vegetable
kingdom alert and on guard against in
truders. 1t seems hardly possible sober
Dame Nature should indulge in so
many freaks as she seems to have done
in planning these Mexican cactus, and
why this should be a land of cactus
growths more than Southern Illinois is
another ineXplicable thing. For, while
the latitude is southern, the elevation
makes the climate temperate.
The red-ant ''VillageS " is another
curiosity to the NOrtherner, and, did
space permit, might tell some curious
anecdotes of their observed intelligence.
These - villages - abound, the sand
being thrown up into cOnical-shaped
mounds of from twelve to eighteen inches
high, whose sides are as smoothly shaped
as if made in mold, and red tinge is
given to them from the color of the ants,
which are busy on their sides. The ants
are a beautiful transparent red, and
fierce fighters when disturbed.
The magpie is also indigenous here,
| and is bird of great beauty, though a
| pest which makes him as hated as he is
familiar. He will come to the very door
step and steal his meal, and, though you
shoot into a flock, they will, with the
utmost nOnchalance, - return to their
muttons." They are great gluttOns,
and, if a COW or "A horse is wounded, it
! is said they will light upon the animal S
back in focks and literally worry, it to
| death, and then feast on the carcass.
While observing these pecuiarities OF
the animal and vegetable life, l had Oc-
casion to frequently note the chief fea-
ture of this county, the cattle ranch
1t is safe to say that nine-tenths of the
developed wealth of the county is ii
cattle A ranch - is usually an adobe
brick house, one story high, covering
considerable ground, and located near {
spring or water-cOurse. Here is the
g home - of the cattle owner, who, ac
cording to his herd, has g a range" " O
from 1000 to $4,000 acres, into whicl
his cattle roam in a Semi-wild condition
watched by a few herders, who from
time to time - round them up - int
droves, separate the &c strays " from
other 81 ranges - and set them back upOl
their limits, and see that there are n,
predatory bands "running them off
into Texas.
The basis of every 81 Range - is a wa
ter-course, and whoever can get posses
sion of the land along a water-cOurs
has a recognized title without purchas
or lease to all the adjoining grain!
: land. Hence the great value in thi
country of a well watered district. 1t
2 said that ex-senator Dorsey has mad
2 himself enormously rich simply by get
= ting possession of all the principal waite
| i
/ which, however, is the key to severa
S hundred thousand acres of grain
< country.
/ Every ranchman has his g brand,
a which he is compelled to advertise an
! otherwise publicly record when it bt
V comes his personal property, and all al
1 imals bearing the brand can be elaine
5 by him Whenever found. At certai
!, seasons of the year the 90 range is gon
1 over, every member of the herd gathere
o in and counted up, and the calvt
o branded. The annual net increase
n so to 75 per cent, and it can be easil
IF seen that a ranchman who has frOl
l. 25, 900 to $4,000 head of cattle is grow
d ing rapidly rich while he is loafng an
It hunting bear, deer, or antelope.
Connected with every ranch is an in
G mense hostelry, or paddock, into whiC
I runs wild a herd of from fifty to Il
- horses that are used by the herder
5, These horses are of the hardy Me
Is lean breed, and are never tho
If Oughly broken, except, perhap
= few that are to be used abo
Is the house or for hunting. One horse
/, always kept stablel, and on him Il
k herder mounts when he wants a hors
With lasso in hand he rides into Il
paddock; a stampede ensues; he dash
after the horse he wants, and, dexte
Ously swinging his lassO with swi:
m through the air, throws it over the he;
TO of the running brOncherO. The insta
V, one horse is lassoed, it is amusing to s
the excitement abate in the herd, al
1t how indifferently they return to the
le grazing. The horses are subject to We
o. hard service, frequently being ridden
miles day, and to kill horse in ord
~ to keep an engagement in some dista
re quarter is no more exceptional or ma
es mention of than for man in Chica
I'd running a block to catch a street-ca
Tomorrow l shall have an opportuni
Is to test the quality of the horses, as 1 sh
ride up through the Cimarron Cany
ne into MorneO Valley, to the mining ce
It ter of Mt. Badly and Elizabethtown.
George B. Carpenter, IN the Chicd
Is Tribune.
so THE Pekin Gazette is nearly twent
five hundred years old, and every NJ
at and then an old man hobbies into I
ol office and pays a years subscription "
to the remark that he has been a subsc
v. Der ever since the first number v