Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1880-10-07
miscellaneous &eaaiug.
From the Troy, N. Y, Times.
SOUTH. WESTERN CATTLE DRIVING.

From the Troy, N. Y, Times
SOUTH. WESTERN CATTLE DRIVING.
A gentleman from Troy has received the
following letter from his nephew, who is en-
gagged in cattle raising in the West. His
description of the life of the herder is most
interesting:
DENVER, COLORADO, 1851 will now
give you, as promised, little history of the
drove of cattle which I followed through
Wyoming. The drove consisted Of about
1850 Texas COWS, and about so nice Durham
bulls, the cows being bought from Through
Texas droves, and the bulls mostly from Mis-.
souri,. The herd left Ogallala, on the Union
Pacific road, about the 10th Of July, having
left Texas early in April. From Ogallala the
cattle were driven to Horse creek, % miles
north of Cheyenne, where they were branded,
and you will be interested to know how this
is done.
BRANDING.
"The cattle are driven into corral, with
a "shute" attached, which is simply narrow
lane cut from one side Of the corral, begin
ming with width of eight feet and gradually
tapering until it is only three or four feet
wide, with gate at the narrow end, which
leads into another compartment of the corral
other than the one from which the cattle are
taken before branding. About fifteen head
are rushed into this shute at once, and as
they approach the narrow end are vigorously
prodded with sticks to make them ''close up"
and when they are finally in and the bar
thrown across in the rear, they are so closely
packed together as to be unable to move in
any direction, and then the irons, red hot, are
applied. said they were packed so closely
as not to be able to move, but this should be
qualified. An enterprising Texas COW will
frequently climb in way wonderful to be-
hold. saw one climb to the backs of the
closely pressed mass, and actually get over
the side of the shute from standing on The
backs of other cattle. 1t is not unusual to
have the cattle piled four to six deep in the
shute, as they make mad efforts to escape,
and frequently cattle are killed in this way.
While branding, one of the cows escaped
from the corral, and struck out at full speed,
running like deer.
A. COW HUNT.
One of the herders a Texan, started after
her, and at distance of half mile overlook
and tried to bring her back. After many at
tempts to turn her had failed, he unsung his
lariat, rope about forty feet in length, and
swiftly adjusting the moose while his horse
was at full speed, and keeping we'll up with
the cow, he gave it few quick turns about
his head, and then the rope "lit out" and,
catching madame COW around the horns, she
stood on her head, and then after tumble
or two lay on her back. Then she got up
and went for that horse with all the vim she
had, but neither the broncho nor his rider
had any taste for close quarters, and so they
scudded at good speed toward the CORA, with
the COW at the other end of the rope in venge.
ful pursuit. Finally the cow baked and re-
fused to move except in rush for the horse
when he came too near, and then another
herder went to the rescue, threw another
rope over the horns of the angry beast, and
the two literally snaked her into the corral.
believing like mad, and making most desper
ate charges upon her captors, but always find
ing herself nearer the corral than before she
lost her temper. give this as sample of
what was constantly occurring.
A TUssLE WITH BULL.
The herders handle the rope with the great
est skill, and no matter how ugly or how sup
pie an animal may be, it stands no chance OF
all with good herder opposed to it. One of
the bulls in this herd was very savage, and
had very sharp horns, and it was desired to
cut them of. He was a powerful fellow,
weighing about 1900 pounds One of the
Texas boys threw rope over his horns, and
then came race to turn the bull, as he was
running down the hill, and the man dared
not step with the advantage in favor Of the
bull. The moment the bull was turned up
hill, the little broncho was brought to dead
stop, and the next instant the bull was foun-
dering on the ground. As soon as he got
upon bis feet he made firm dash for the
horse, but in another instant rope was thrown
over his hind leg, by another man, and he
was stretched on the ground with rope pull
ing at either extremity. Then another rope
was thrown over his horns and held by third
man at right angles with the frst and then
the horns were sawed off, the man doing the
job deftly slipping the nooses from the horns,
while the hind leg was kept well strained,
and then running to his horse, held conve-
niently near, the man holding the leg drop
ping it, and leaving the old fellow to get up
and kick the moose off his leg.
DRIVING THE HERD.
The herd was driven from eight to eighteen
miles per day, it being necessary to regulate
the drives so as to keep the cattle well water
ed. The outfit consisted ofa foreman, six herd
ers, cook, and hostler. The supplies and
company outfit were drawn by two yoke of
oxen, which had followed the herd from Tex
as. There were thirty.two horses. This seems
to you good many horses for the number OF
men, but it was none too many. The work
is very wearing to horses, and as they subsist
only on grass, it is necessary to have at least
four.to a man in order to keep them in rea-
sonably good condition. Camp is always
broken at day-break, and while the wagon is
packing up, the cattle are grazed in the direc-
tion of the route, and pretty soon after sun
rise they are "thrown upon the trail" and the
work Of the day begins. If there are no
grange cattle" to trouble, the labor is COM
paratively light; but if there are cattle on
the range it keeps men and horses on the
alert, and gives great deal of hard riding to
cut them out and keep them out. An animal
will often follow the herd for miles and make
the most desperate efforts to join it, and l
have known man to completely tire out his
horse before he could convince one yearling
that she did not belong to our crowd. The
law on this point is very strict, and all cattle
men make it point of honor never to allow
an animal to travel with herd for any dis
tance. The party camp at about II o'clock
A. M. and give two hours for cattle and horses
to Craze, and for the cook to fry some bacon
and make coffee. and this. with bread baked