Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1883-01-26
,.ry PANHANDLE"
c.,.l, Range Hitherto Unknown
s''' 10 the World.
~ p,ains"-riow Water Was
"S''a .d-Fortunes In live stock.


ng @ W was published yesterday:
kntonio ohes OF red prairie land COW
org r 81, mesquite and buffalo grasses,
ie SEQ M, rising into abrupt !buttes, or
cIilping off into deep. rsvines ana
N,dres covered with jagged vol,
iign llu,s scanned with canyons, and
anlc Intervals intersected by shall
lops ncl,ish streams-this is the Pan
low, =" ~ Texas, the home of the cay
anu,e iaek rabbitand the prairie dog,
Y, a a,t heath of the cowboy.
ne na. Il no timber worth speaking
lns.V The mesquite shrub, which
y 49, ~ food for beast and fuel for
upp The seemingly harmless rivers,
1an running the dry season, when
saiy,,n, by heavy rains or suddenly
ws;ng waterspout, are transformed
wa foaming torrents when sweep
,sn and stock to destruction.
|n Ths Panhandle comprises some fifty
.im,es. which aggregate about
~, souare miles of territory, and
sv% noyih of the SD parallel of lati-
e and west Of the Tooth
uus Of longitude. A few
deeV ago il was considered a
yeai, and the s'Staked Plains was a
oss saarm for all that was sterile and
.sGsdng. Now capital is pouring
cattle feed upon q thousand hills
isheep innumerable crop the nu-
a .;ois grasses of the valleys. 1t is
l luu'rossible to compute the outcome of
,bi nj vast scope of territory, or forecast
\. influence on the commerce OF the
alton; and all this mainly because in
Sn;ldinr a railroad across its southern
s gu'.t mart it was found that plenty of
MI iSsl water could be obtained st a
Ssntb of from twenty to fifty feet.
|r ,r adventurous cowboy had long
,nyned his wistful eyes toward the
.'Staked Palms, but the water prob
lam baiiled him. 1t remained
mp a much abused cor
,oration to open this vast
i~one Of country to the settler. This
sas done when the Texas and Pacific
pailroad was built from TeXarkana to
Mel Paso.
here as well as elsewhere. First Il
tsnt then board shanty, then brick
and mortar. First the cowboy, then
Tie owner of a herd, t hena cattle king.
The cowboy is Il wild, rollicking,
generous hearted, enterprising fellow
With his white jacket, leather over
an, broad-brimmed hat, high-topped
boots and heavy spurs he is the ideal
4 of the picturesque. With his we'll
4 trained pony, Winchester carbine and
81 slx.shooter, with plenty of lar
H inf At his saddlc-bow. he counts
4 for something on these Western
plains. Two Of them recently roped
and captured alive Il full-grown pan
Their. / saw fierce catamount which
hadbe captured in the same man
per. You may know Il cowboy by two
hings-he wears Il leather banC
mekeled around his hat, and Away,
rides in a gallop.
Ina climate so changeable as that o
Texas, where an hour may bring up
fierce 'tnorther' that almost freezes Il
The hone, any one exposed TO lis rigors
j often without tent, and with only ,
single oil coat and'a limited supply o
\ blankets, standing guard Il
. night in the pitiless rail-
to prevent a stampede of the herd
a and out far beyond all shelter TO
n weeks during the roundup" the
IA cowboys lot is not to be envicd; hi
81 life is no sinecure; he deserves mort
S sympathy than he gets, and less blam
than is usually bestowed on him il il
seasons Of hilarity he is guilty of gray
lndiscretions, and has some fun Il
other peoples expense.
The cattle king is, usually, the COW
boy grown wealthy, and settled int
asoberer and less dashing style of life
he has learned to take care of what Ii
j makes. Many young men came I
insecurity few years ago without
dollar, and are now worth their coo
4 hundred thousand. True, we onl
hear of the successful ones. Many
doubtless, gave way to whisky, thei
! worst enemy, and have either "passe
over the Divide or are still spendin
their earnings in the bar-rooms or 5
/ lhe gaming table.
The cattle business il not u hapha.
ard affair. 1t has its system, its estal
llshed customs, its code of cthic
Those who succeed in it get thins
down to a fine point. The roundup
men, In the spring they find that til
SHOWS and storms OF winter have sea-
cred their herds far and wide. Tn
INST thing IN order is To hold CONVEX
.ien, at which the country is divide
mo districts, in each of which there
70 he a "iound-up,N or collection
eaue, Each proprietor of A herd
expected TO have Il representative {
sh Inc round upsr in his vicinity
lOok alter his interests. and see that h
n young stock is branded. OF cours
81 Yasn calf follows the COW TO which
W nslohss, else the confusion would /
~ lsafmountable. Each brand is regl:
'ere 10 the records Of the county, an
eship "
Inc branding is not confined TO I'll
spHhg 'round-ups.u During the sun
,asf and fall there are frequent neigI
golnood or local "round-upso to &C
WI oeeyes for shipment and brar
ai.es brought forth after the sprin
Ayearling or older brute, which h
Ssaped branding, is called a ''mave
VA, ana the owner of herd Wi
q which II Is found is at liberty to p
w orand upon it, but the relations
nsaW and tit,tm are strictly observe
au no honest man will brand as !
WI, cattle whose ownership he h
~iy reasonable means Of ascertainin
Scaslonally cattle man becomes u
@aaliy energetic in branding "ms
ul ~, = but he is spotted.
me cattle business in Northwe