Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-04-10
THE COWBOY OF THE PLAINS.
characteristics and Node of Life of Cattle
Herders. ~ .n

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characteristics and Node of Life of Cattle
Herders. ~ I,+4
A correspondent of the New York
Sun. writing from Boerne, Texas,
says Having spent goodly portion
of my days as a cowboy, consider
myself practically qualified to write
on the subject. The boyhood sport
of the cowboy is not with marbles or
balls or tops, but with lariat or rope
rawhide, with which he lassoes the
calves and everything, animate or
inmate, over which a loop can be
thrown. At seven years of age he is
an expert horseman. and able to do
service on the range in many ways.
Between this age and manhood
he acquires some knowledge of the
three RS" though seldom at
school, and at sixteen Is usually as
good horseman and as dexterous q
roper as any man in the district. He
is never fleshy nor large limbed, is
slightly bow-legged from constant
riding, is endowed with more than
average muscular strength, and is very
active and capable of great endurance.
He is an unerring shot, and cool in
time of danger. He smokes cigarettes,
chews tobacco, drinks whisky, carries
a six shooter, and is guilty of many
vices that would, if enumerated, shock
the embeZZler and stock gambler OF
civilized regions. He is not more
quarrelsome than man in general. but,
unfortunately. his quarrels are apt to
end in homicide. e... '
The property of the cowboy is a
wiry pony, a saddle and lariat. The
pony, or plug" is of Spanish stock,
active and enduring. 1t is stranger
to the touch Of currycomb and brush,
and don't know corn from beans. The
saddle is a ponderous affair of wood
and leather, weighing from ten to fiji
teen pounds. 1t has pommel vary
ing in diameter from three to six
inches. Costly saddles sometimes
have silver stars plentifully be-
sprinkled on available parts of their
surface. Two girths or sinches are
necessary to hold the saddle firmly in
position-a forward and flank girth.
The lariat is about forty feet long,
and is composed Of eight pliable raw
hide thongs and plated into a rope
about half an inch in diameter. AT
one end is a ring, at the other a loop
to fit over the saddle pommel.
The wardrobe Of the cowboy is
unique. He wears q broad-brimmed
straw or wool hat. His jacket is Of
ducking, his shirt of calico or hickory
and his pantaloons of some stout stuff
over which are worn leather leggings.
Heavy boots with high heels, to which
are attached pair of spurs with two
inch rowels, complete his outfit.
When the weather is threatening he
straps behind his saddle a slicker of
oiled linen, which reaches from head
to heels.
Thus accoutred, the cowboy is ready
for business. He is employed either
to drive herd to Kansas or to look
after those on the range. The spring
is his harvest time. Then the great
herds are put up for the drive. This
is the season. too, when the annual
roundup occurs, for the purpose of
apportioning the unmarked calves and
yearlings among the owners of stock
on tho range, that they may be brand.
ed with the particular device adopted
by each as his distinguishing mark,
generally the initial Of his name. Thd
law requires the brand to be recordee
in the county clerks office, together
with ear-marks, crops, half-crops, up
per and under bits, upper and under
slopes, splits, swallow-forks and jingle
hobs.
When cattle are sold the seller must
countebrand them, and in case they
are driven from the State the buyer
must road brand them with device
different from his regular. brand.
This brand must be recorded in each
county through which the heard pass
es. After few transfers the animal
is as well-marked as bulletin board,
and space cannot be found on his hide
to place good-sized brand. 1 have
seen a well-known brand, A P B,
which extended from the shoulder to
the hip-bone in letters foot long.
When convenient, the animal to be
branded is driven between two paral-
lei lines of fencing, called chute,
bars placed before and behind him,
and the iron applied to his side or
thigh at the leisure of the operator.
But this is not always convenient,
fencing being scarce article ON the
range, and the animal must be caught
and thrown to the ground. Then the
cowboy must be called to the aid of
the brander. Slipping about eight
feet of the end of his lariat through
its iron ring and putting loop at the
other and over the pommel of his
saddle, he gathers it's coils into his
briddle hand, holding the moose in his
right, and puts his horse into gallop.
The animal that is wanted breaks in
to a run. and when the rider is near
enough for the lariat to reach it, he
dexterously throws the moose over it's
head or fore feet, when the we'll
trained pony is checked. and
quickly turns and awaits the
shock which he knows, will
come. When the flying animalruns the
length of the rope, it is brought to
ground, the branders seize it by the
head and tail, and soon the branding
iron is scorching into the cuticle its
lndelible characters. Great care must
be taken not to burn through the skin
into the flesh, else the brand will be
blotched.
After the branding comes the trou-
bic Of the stockman, for the blowfiy,
the pest of Texas, deposits its egg
upon the raw sore, and soon thousands