The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-08-23
THE GENUINE COWBOY.
The cowboys Wife Details Their Good Points
and Draws Comparison.

with them, observe their ways and know
their habits. their modes of dress, and
their style of speech. Cowboys are uni
versally proclaimed to be all that is bad
and cruel | say it is not SO. Your
correspondent asks is it matter of
surprise that cowboys are cruel and bru-
tal?" He includes all cowboys. If any
one should say that all negroes are vii
lians because one of the race assaulted
Miss Slocum near Salem, n Y, a short
time ago, his communication would be
considered utterly devoid of sense. Why
not say that all divines are unworthy to
be called divnes because a few of them
fall from grace. Would it he as just and
right to say th4t all our presidents are
cheats because one man occupied the
presidential chair by fraud, or that all
editors are liars because some of them
have been fonnd guilty of libel? l say no
A cowboy goes into town. He becomes
intoxicated on bad whiskey, and grows
merry and Jolly, and fires his pistol into
the air for fun. Perhaps he grows vi
cious ahd brutal, and fires his pistol pro-
miscuously at chimneys and lamp posts
or anything else he sees A sheriff 5
posse surrounds him The air is thick
with bullets and buckshot. Cowboy re
turns the fire. He breaks LEG or an arm
or perhaps he kills the sheriff. Some
times he is riddled with bullets. Some
times he is captured, given fair trial
and hanged. Well and good. We soy
that he gets his Just deserts. and there
we hope it will rest; but it does not His
whole outfit lin cowboy language. all the
boys who worked with him, including the
inoffensive cook, are branded as villains
of as deep dye as the murderous offend
er himself
A short time ago an affray occurred in
0galalla, Neb A cowboy BECAME sense
less from drink He fired his pistol right
and left. and frightened the town out of
its wits At the outset he intended to
do damage 10 nobody. The sheriff and
bis posse opened fire on him. He return
ed it, and shot the sheriff in the leg Then
he fed, followed by number of armed
men. They followed him to the camp,
whore ,le was captured while trying to
catch a fresh horse on which to fee. But
before lie was taken the shcTiffs posse
fired volley after volley into the camp,
which was manned by q smooth faced
boyish cook alone, whose only weapon
was disbcloth, and whose only chine
against mankind lay in dealing out indi-
gestible biscuits and badly cooked meat
and beans to the boys. He escaped harm.
but had he been slain, the brave posse
would have carried back the news to the
town that two villains had been captured
one dead and the other alive.
What your correspondent said about
the cattle owners is undoubtedly true.
They turn cattle loose on the prailies,
knowing well that some of them will sue
cumb to starvation or die of thirst before
the spring opens. They know, too that
it is cheaper to lose some than to feed
all. OF the horror and shame of it enough
cannot be said; but say let the blame
| lie where it belongs-on the Eastern own
ers not on the men who are hired to dc
their work rs they are told to do it
| Frank WikesOn speaks OF 'the brutes
who live in leg cabins. Now. the rea
brutes live back in our Eastern cities, in
| fine mansions, drinking wines, while the
cattle dependent on them are thirstin2
and dying. VIII | be gorgivcn if | say
in charity, that their neglect is more thu
outgrOwth of carelessnCss than of ''cal-
lousness of heart, as your correspondent
calls it? The owners are seldom present
when their cattle are dying, so is il
strange that, not seeing their suffering
they are not impressed by it?
As the wolves killing poor cows, We
think Mr.. Wilkeson is mistaken about
the poor COW" In our experience it is
OftenGr the fat calf or ycarling, or ever
the fat cow that is overpowered by the
wolves. We have never known OF Il poor
COW being killed while there is ia fat ont
in the range Wolves know which MAKE
the best meat as well as their biped su
periors.
! know of cowboys who have saved VI
! their earnings and are now small cattle
owners themselves and | know not ont
who has turned his cattle out to 'liye i
| they can, die if they must, in the bite
winters of this altitude. In summer thei
cattle are kept in close herds and hay i
secured and sheds built for their comf0r
in the winter My husband. who is {
| thorough cowboy, asserts and proves hi
assertions by his actions, that he would
rather sell some of his cattle every au
tumn and buy corn for the rest will
the money than to let the same humble
die of starvation.
| / am writing of Nebraska and Kansa
cowboys as / have found them. However
they are pretty much the same all owe
the West Here they make their beds a
the one Mr. Wilkeson described will
the addition Of a pillow Most of tn
cowboys of my acquaintance have pill
lows, some of which are made of ''prairi'
feathers" GRASS. Others are made o
goose hair" goose feathers). My hns
bands is of the latter sort and need
say that thanks are due to his wife TO
it?
A word now about the manners of tn
cowboy, as compared with the tender
foot" The cowboy is invariably polite
to ladies. He is deferential to all. Fl
reveres all and his manner shows it
whether they be richly dressed or meant
dressed. He takes off his hat when h
enters your house, and he treats yo1
with respect and Difference The finel
dressed, finely educated, smart gOung M
D. or lawyers and graduates of all sort
called 'tenderfeet," are far different
l had them enter my house with swag,
ger, with hats cooked on the back of thei
heads, and stand or sit in the middle 0
room and squirt tobacco juice toward tn
door. 1t always fell short of the mar
and betmered the carpet. The majorit
of them seem TO think that good manner
permit them to enter lady's house an
smoke in her presence without apolog
or ask leave They invariably drawl Out
Il should think ye'd get lonesome wa.
out here?
/ cannot tell how many times / hay
made answers TO that question. | Away
answer that never get lonesome. The
they look at me with an insipid stare, a
much as to say: why did | miss tina
interesting, deeply thoughtout question
on her? She does not know enough t
get lonesome. Size is contented with tina
cad of husband, who wears white ha
| -.4l, . loothor hand ond laathpr lnoOinO