The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1882-10-20
The BedouIns Of the Plains.


As you mingle with these cowboys,
you find in them strange mixture OF
good nature and recklessness. You are
as safe with them alone on the plains as
with any class of men, SO long as you do
not impose on 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 no more value in their
esteem than that of a coyote. Morally,
as class, they are foul-mouthed, bias
phemous, drunken, lecherous. utterly
corrupt. Usually harmless on the plains
when sober, they are dreaded in the
towns, for then liquor has the ascend
ancy over them. They are also as i'm
provident as the veriest Jack of
the sea. Employed as cowboys 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 support
themselves until another cattle season
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 q bag,
which they call their "war bag" Sew
eral weeks since one of them slung
his war bag into the wagon, with the
careless remark: "There, that holds all
I've earned for seven years" They are
utterly reckless of their own
lives. Mr.. Davis recently shot and
wounded a huge bull buffalo,
most ugly antagonist in fight.
Three cowboys Immediately lighted out
after him. One lariated him by the
horns, another by hind heel, and the
third dismounted and leaped upon the
enraged buffalo for wild ride. s.Mis-
sou," another of these reckless chaps.
came upon four grizzly bears. two old
ones and two large cubs. Unobserved
by them, he dismounted and shot at one.
The wounded bear turned upon the
other as though its mate were the of.
fender. For 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 one of the cubs. This shot arrested
the attention of the bears, and they made
for him. Dropping 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 Missoulian, suggests the fact that
each one is dubbed with name, and
always one suited to some peculiar char
acteristic. For example, one upon this
ranch is called "Gun-Sack Pete" an
other "Windy Jim." and third, Sew
Clothes" suggested by the scantiness of
his wardrobe. These combined facts will
show the appropriateness of a title given
these fellows in a previous letter-the
Bedouins 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 de-
voted Christians are found in such COM
pany-men who will kneel down regu-
larly and offer their prayers in the midst
of their bawdy and cursing associates.
They are like 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 wild steer left the herd and
rushed for him. In his fright he thrust
his spurs into the sides of the horse and
tried to make him flee. The horse, how
ever. stood as if paralyzed. But Just
as 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 ran directly after him, or began to
drive him onward. Then a 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 expert cowboy throws
this over the head or about the heels of
the creature, when his horse settles back
upon his launches, and when the lariat
straightens with sudden jerk, the fleeing
animal is as suddenly tumbled over. OF
course, such an experiment with full
grown steeris never attempted on a green
horse. The horses are first trained &c
the business by experiments on the
younger stock.-IVyoming Cor. Proci
dence Herald.