The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-11-03
COWBOYS.
HArper's Weekly

The cowooyS of me Kocky moan- ,.r regions are race or class peculiar - ,ha: country. They have some resem- s,saee to the corresponding class on the so,,.bern side of the Rio Grande. but are o, milder and more original type. In ,he srea, herding districts, where the ,s:..e are faitened in great part upon the nao,ie domain. and roam, winter and suvrner. over vas; areas without fences.
 xi,hea, roads. and with only scattered
 and irregular places for water and shelter.
 ;.s herdsmen play an important indus
 1T, :. role. II IS their business 10 keep the
 sa:::e as nearly together as possible : 10
 rsde them to the springs and wooded
 follows, to separate them when they ge,
 s.Ned up witn those of other droves. 10
 s:And them at the proper seasons. and to
 -s.ye them to the nearest market a,
 c:hers. Often their regular occupation
 $ attended with a good deal of danger.
 in Montana and in some parts of Colo .aGo and Dakota the Indians, turned loose to hunt buffalo near their reserva- lions. fall upon the cattle and run them on. and against these raids the COW boys go always armed, and not unfre- auently have to undertake exploits which. were they United States cavalymen.
 would be reported to the War Depart
 ment as battles" At other times the men
 T the employ of rival and jealous owners become involved in quarreis which end ID a more or less free night. Again, when the season is severe and snow falls among :he lower slopes of the mountains. the
 care of the herds becomes hazardous
 :ask. Stll again the half-iamed cattle
 stampede. and |, becomes d Iii alter of
 To small amount of courage. skill and
 address to keep them or get them together 0a such occasions the cowboys are obliged 70 hang on the Hanks of the p.anging nerd and keep them, as far IS hey can, headed n the same direction anli the cattle from sheer weartness re- lapse into some sort of quiet and erderl ness. The tendency 10 break is | mystery even 10 the most experienced herders. l, usually shows itself toward night, and there are unmisiakable signs 4 It's approach, but no general theory of $ origin has been reached
 The outfit of the cowboy is horse.
 lsaally one of the ponies of the re-
 .oz- swift, tough. ugly in look and tenn
 2e. but capable of good service when
 a1ee trained: Mexican or army" sad
 le, such as are shipped in great quan,i- aes from New York. blanket, or, with ne best herdsmen pair, one being of f2ober: one or more pistols. sometimes a Iae. aad with great uniformity, d liberal flask of whisky. Among those who seek his wild life on the very frontiers of civil
 sa,ion, or beyond them, there are na,ur-
 ally many untamed and lawless spirits,
 and these have given ;o the name of
 cowboy a character hardly deserved by
 me class. For the most part they are la-
 oorous, faithful and as sober as their
 iellow-men in the same region Bu, con
 slant exposure. a monotonous life varied
 only by danger or exertion of extraordi-
 nary character. and exclusion from the
 usual social relations. inevitably tend to
 make the more disorderly among them
 reckless md cruel. Gambling and drink
 ing are about the only diversions accessl-
 6le. and both are indulged Tn with zes,
 quite unknown 10 the quie;er circles of
 civilized parts of the country. Even
 among the worst of ]" cowboys ,hieving
 IS rare, and the ou,rages with which they
 are charged in this line are usually com
 mit,ed by men who resemble them only n being mounted and armed. There at 'aches to the name an unconscious asso- ciation with the cowboys of the Revou- non, whose only calling was 10 steal cat sie and everything else they could and run of from either side along the :" deba,- able ground" between the British and and Continental camps. The cowboys of ,he west have, on the contrary, regular hA <.( mem follow with quite as much fidelity as the average farm hand or drover ," of the east.
 l. is not to be denied, however, ,ha, the exceptions to this rule are sufficiently striking to attract the attention of the overs of the picturesque in current read iag-newspaper or other. Occasionally band of the cowboys will take il into heir heads. Tn an interval of leisure 10 clean ou; neighboring town. For one of these excursions they load up :" ri,h whisky. gallop al nigh,fai into the streets. and race down them. firing right and lef, a, any one whose appearance in- eicates degree of luxury which. IT the interest of their ideal democracy, should Oe suppressed Then they visi, the liq- nor saloons or gambling hells. which are only too frequent, consume wha, they hke, and drive out the occupants. 4 few seeis ago squad of five rode into Ute
 eseek, Colorado, and perceiving Mexi- ean trader with the high-sounding name of Don Maoedio ATagon, made some mpudens demand of him. He refused I, matched his shotgun and retreated down the road. When the cowboys fol-
 owed and fired on him he returned the
 he, hlled two of them and wounded a
 ,Aird, and then fell, shot in four places.
 He fingered twelve hours and died, and
 ne mnrderers escaped. At Deadwood a
 and recently undertook to "olean out 7 Mexican gambling saloon, but two of them were killed, and the others fled. On lonely ranch in Colorado a little company of them quarreled over their card& In the first moment the oil-lamp vas thrown down, and a desperate hgh, Wyfh kusv~~ avI v,,e-11s x~~,, o~ ;n ,h =