The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1882-10-03
The C0w-Boys of the Western Plains
and Their MOrses.

IL -IboA VI ~ tSA0
and Their Horses.
Asyou mingle with these cow
you findin them a strange
mixture of good nature and reck-
.essness. You are as safe with
them on the plains as with any
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. Butimpose upon
or arouse their ire, and
your lifeis of no more value i'll
their, esteem then that ola coyote.
Morally, as a class, they are toul-
mouthcd, blasphcmous, drunken,
lecherous, utterly corrupt. Usually
harmless on the plains when sober,
they are dreaded i'll the towns, for
then liquor has the ascendency
over them. Theyarc also ms i'm
provident as the vcriest ''Jack' of
the sea. Employed as cowboys
only six months in the year-from
May till November-their earn
ings are soon squandered i'll disco
luteness, and then they hunt, or
getodd 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 rcvolveror gun, Is
carried in a bag which they call
their 'swar bag" Several weeks
since, one ofthem slunehis war bag
into the wagon, with the careless
remark: ''rhere, 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
"a mostugly antagonist III a fight.
Three cowboys Immediately
lighted out after him. One lar
lated him by the horns another
by n hind heel, and the third dis
mounted and leaped upon the
enraged buffalo for a wild ride.
"Missou," another ofthese reckless
chaps, came upon four grizzly
hears, 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
offender. For n 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 sock 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 grab
bed the pommel of his saddle,
and Just succeeded in drawing
himself upon his frightened and
running horse. The name ofthis
fellow, so called from being Il
Missourian, suggests the fact that
each one is dubbed with u name,
and always one suited to some
peculiar Characteristic. For ex-
ample, one upon this ranch is
called "Gun-Sack Pete" another
"Windy jim" and a third 'Feu
Clothes" suggested by the scan
tiness of his wardrobe. These
combined facts will show the APP
propriateness of a title giventhese
fellows in a previous letter-the
Bedouins of the plains. They
never own any interest in the
stock they tend. This dark pic
turc 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
company-men who will kneel
down regularly 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 bust
ness was riding one of those
horses, when a 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 come up, and
while the alarmed rider was an
ticipating naught but death for
himself and his horse, the horse
d~cxtrously darted to one side, and,
ms the steer passed, the horse
wheeled and ran directly after
him, or began to drive him m
ward. Then a trained horse will
throw the strongest steer oil bull.
His rider approaches with l%ariat,
one end ofwhich is firmly tied to
the pommcl 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 haun-
ches, and when the lariat straight
ems with a sudden jerk, the flee
ing animal is as suddenly tumbled