St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1882-04-14
Cow Boys.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE FAMOUS DES-
PERADOES OF THE FRONTIER.

IEhAbOEo DI lIlE flAON IlEh-
Wichita (Kan) Letter in the Chicago Tribune.l
The cowboy of the great West is
distinct character and type of frontiers
man, produced by the Texas cattle
trade which began i'll Kansas soon af-
ter the war, with headquarters at Abb
lene, Kansas. The trade originated
from the necessity of having IL good
shipping point for cattle near the Mis-
souri, river, and at the same time con-
tiguOus to unlimited range, and, al
though since that time, as railways
have been built, the cattle trade has
shifted over the state, the cowboy,
while increasing in numbers, has lost
none of that distinctive character and
method which has made his name Il
terror upon the frontier and linked him
inseparably with the history of all new
cattle towns in the West. His reckless
daring and deviltry have marked out
for him II distinct and startling page III
the history of the border. After a new
town has got good fair start and be
gins to boom, it only needs IA cowboy
raid to open out tirst-claSs and we'll
stocked graveyard. The cowboy has
no hopes of heaven or fear of hell.
Yet the real employment of the cow
boy is innocent enough, and consists of
riding small wiry mustang of buck
ing proclivities, and following an i'm
mense herd of cattle over an unlimited
range, his special duties being to see
that none of she cattle stray away and
to steal any stray animals which may
be unbranded and brand them with his
employers name. When sober he nat
urally Shuns civilization. He pursues
his herds upon the plains of western
Kansas, among the gentle slopes of
the Cherokee country, i'll the Indian
territory, along the lonesome deserts
of the Panhandle, amid the foothills
of Colorado, and i'll the wilds of New
Mexico and Arizona, Injured to the sad
die, exposed to all kinds of weather
and all sorts of people, from the Greas-
er to the Apache. To all appearances
the cowboy is the ''mildest hammered
man that ever scuttled ship or cut a
throat But when their payday
comes, and they imbibe some of their
'liquid crime" then stand from under,
for then they fight, gamble, and shoot
at friend OF foe.
The typical cowboy wears white
hat with gilt cord and tassel, high
tOp-bOOts, leather pants, a wOOlen
shirt, coat and no vest. On his heels
he wears IA pair of jingling Mexican
spurs as large round as tea-cup.
When he feels well, land he always
does when full of what he calls "Kan-
sas sheep-dip,r) the average cow boy
| is IL bad man to handle. Armed to the
teeth. well mounted and full of their
| faVOrite beverage, the cowboys will
dash through the principal streets of a
town, yelling like COmanches. This
they call cleaning out town." After
repeating this operation several times,
and before the stampeded citizens re-
cover to repel the attack, they dash
away, and are seldom, if ever, captur-
ed. All frontier towns that have ever
| had any Texas cattle trade have had
this same experience. In 1874 the cow
boys in large numbers attempted to
raid Wichita, and were only driven of
by very determined resistance on the
part of our shotgun brigade. For a
long time the cowboys held possession
of the town of Abilene, Kan, until
Wild Bill, the Indian fighter and scout
became marshall of the town. Wild
! Dill Killed SIX OF Jne lnOsI desperate
cowboys of Abilene i'll a single night
Thereafter he was respected and feared
by the cowboy element. Wild Bill
was at last murdered by a cowboy
who got the drop on him, and died as
he had lived, with his boots on
Last summer the cowboys from the
Indian territory raided Hunnewell
Kan, and in the affray which followed
killed "a beautiful and accomplished
young lady of that village. A few
weeks since the cowboys raided Cald-
well, Kan, killing Mike Meagher, the
mayor of the city, and dangerously
wOunding several of the citizens of tha
place. After the fight they made goOC
their escape into the Indian territory
and have not yet been brought to jus
tice. They are, indeed, blessing
which brighten as they take thei
flight. Mike Meagher was as brave
man as ever sighted a rife. Many
town on the frontier has started it
first graveyard just after a COW bo,
raid. Wild Bill and Mike Meagher ar
only two of many cowboy victims
, Their name is legion. Among tn
f cow-b boys in the Caldwell raid was Co
manehe Bill, at one time "a noted scOu