The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1881-04-19
a Cowboys Lite.

THERE'S no circumstance under which
a cowboy will not sleep if not physically
mOlestcd. Says a correspondent from the
far West In the midst of mountain
storm, when the crashing thunder comes
simultaneously with the glaring sheets Of
lightning, the cowboy sleeps peacefully; in
a dry creek bcd with his head down grade
he slumbers sweetly; III view of taranlulas,
rattlesnaltes and centipcdcs for bcdfclows,
he closes his eyes and dreams Of a heaven
Of unlimited plug tobacco and unstintcd
sleep. Gabriels trumpet would indeed
sound in Vain when the time came to check
off drove of cowboys. Last spring l was
driving 1000 head of cattle over the
Rocky Mountains by the South Wyoming
Pass, and 'run'-thc terror Of cattle
drivcrs--took place under circumstances
which showed just how sound is the sleep
Of cowboy. had fifteen boys-a boy
with the cow prefix may mean 40 year
old man-with me. 1t takes nearly that
many TO start Al drove Of 4, 900 cattle, though
a half dozen boys can take care of the drove
after the fist week On the road. BY that
time the cattle know what is expected Of
them, and give us very little trouble.
"Well, we were campcd one night on
the very summit of the mountains. The
sleeping ground for the stock was in q lit
tic iivc-acrc patch of grass; all around were
sage-brush and rocksof volcanic formation,
You understand that after cattle arc quiet
ly settled at night ON good sleeping ground
three or four men slowly ride in u circle
around them. Thisis done by relays of
men III watches" the watch being chang.
ed at midnight. have many time seen
n cowboy on Il broncho, riding round and
round drove at night fast asleep in his
saddle. On the night in question | hap
pcncd to be standing the first watch myself.
and had only two boys with me. The
night was overcast and dark, the few stars,
Which shone between the riffs of driving
c.ouds just serving to outline the mass Of
sleeping cattle. The air seemed surcharg-
ed with electricity, and though there had
been no lightning, it was Just such night
in which runs always occur. l have heard
no end of scientific and practical cXplana-
tior. of runs or tampGdcs-gcncrally by
men who never saw one in their lives. 1t
is well enough TO say that something fright
ems them, if you know nothing about 1t and
want to explain it; but that don't explain
1t, no way.
''They say that coyote, or some other
prowling beust, frightens one of drove
and that one mfccts the others with panic
and the stampede begins. Well, it amt
SO. If you have a drove OF 1000 or l0,-
900, the pauic affects every one of them ut
exactly the same instant 1t is something
harder to account for than by q pTowiing
coyote; and because a run never occurs cx
ccpt on such night as | have described
lea it to those who know all about at
mospheric influences and such. to tell just
what it is. Anyway, was little uneasy
that night, for one of the two boys on
watch with me was only a tendcr-fool; un-
dcrstand2 A man new to the business and
fresh from tho East. 1t was nearly IL
o'clock, and l had just turned my horses
head towards camp, which was about fifty
yards In the rear of the sleeping ground, to
make up the relief watch, when tho run
commenced Every one of that drove of
1000 cattle was on Its feet like flash, land