The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1882-11-17
The Cowboys Of the Western Plains and
Their Horses.

As You mingle with these cowboys,
you find them a strange mixture of good
nature and rccklessness, says a Wyo-
ming Territory letter in the Providence
Journal. You are as safe with them
alone on the plains as with any class of
men, so long as you do not impose upon
them. They will even deny themselves
for your comfort, and imperil their lives
for your safety. But impose upon them,
or arouse their ire, and your life is of 10
more value in their esteem than that of
u coyote. Morally, as a class, they are
foul-mouthed, blasphemous, drunken,
lecherous, utterly corrupt. Usually
harmless on the plains when sober, they
are dreaded in the towns, for then liquor
has the ascendency over them. They
are also as improvident as the veriest
Jack" of the sea. Employed as cow
boys only six months in the ~year-frOm
May till NOvember-their earnings are
soon squandered in dissoluteness, and
then they hunt. or get odd jobs, to sup
o begins. They are never numbered
with baggage. What little they may
have, besides the clothes they wear and
their revolver or gun, is carried in a
bag, which they call their .'war bag"
Several weeks since, one of them slung
his war bag into the wagon, with the
careless remark: There, that holds all
| have earned for seven years" They
are utterly reckless of their own lives.
MIR. Davis recently shot and wounded a
bull buffalo, most ugly antagonist in
a. Enlf Iv,raa nnuy bows pnnlsnfnl
lighted out after him. One lariated him
by the horns, another by a hind heel,
and the third dismounted and leaped
upon the enraged buffalo for wild ride.
''Missou," another of these reckless
chaps, came upon four grizzly bears,
two old ones and two large cubs. Un-
observed by them, he dismounted and
shot at one. The wounded bear turned
upon the other, as though its mate was
the offender. For a little while the fur
flew, and the very trees seemed to shake
with the roar Of the fighting beasts.
..MissOu'' says he lay in ambush and
shook his sides with laughter while
watching the combat. Then he shot
again and laid out N of the cubs.
This shot arrested the attention of the
bears, and they made for him. Drop
ping his gun, he hastily grabbed the
pommel of his saddle, and just succeeded
in drawing himself upon his frightened
and running horse. The name of this
fellow, so called from being a Missouri
an, suggests the fact that each n is
dubbed with a name, and always one
suited to some peculiar characteristic.
For example, one upon this ranch is call
ed ''Gun-Sack Pete" another ''Windy
Jim," and a third Few Clothes" sug-
gested by the scantiness of his wardrobe.
These combined facts will show the APP
p~ropriateness of the title given these
fellows in a previous letter-the Be-
douns of the plains. They never own
any interest in the stock they tend. This
dark picture of the cowboys ought to
be lightened by the statement that there
is occasionally a white sheep among the
black. True and devoted Christians are
found is such company-men who will
kneel down regularly and offer up pray
ers in the midst of their bawdy and
cursing associates. They are like a Lot
in SodOm.
A word about the horses employed in
this business. They are trained for the
work, and know just how to avoid the
goring horns of the attacking steers and
bulls. A fact: One unfamiliar with the
business was riding one of those horses,
when a wild steer left the herd and rush.
ed for him. In his flight he thrust his
spurs into the sides of the horse and
tried to make him flee. The horse,
however, stood as if paralyzed. But
just rs the steer came up, and while the
alarmed rider was anticipating naught
but death for himself and his horse, the
horse dexterously darted to one side,
and, as the steer passed, the horse
wheeled and a directly after him, OF
began to drive him onward. Then q
trained horse will throw the strongest
steer or bull. His rider approaches with
lariat, one end of which is firmly tied
to the pommel of the saddle. The other
end is fixed with a moose, and the eX.
pert cow boy throws this over the
head or about the heels of the crea-
turc, when his horse settles back upon
his launches, and when the lariat
straightcns with a sudden jerk, the flee
inc animal is as suddenly tumbled over
OF course such IN experiment with a
full grown steer is never attempted on a
green horse. The horses are first train
eel TO the business by experiments on
the stock.