Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1884-07-31
COWBOYS on THE SLOPE.

Than this paragon of mine.
Eugene j. Hall, in Chicago Tribune.
COWBOYS on THE SLOPE.
A Glance at a Modern Terror, Showing
That This Necessary Evil Is Not So
Black as He y Painted-How Vast Herds
of Cattle are Managed by these Nomads.
Beef has been subject much dis
cussed this spring on account of the
high price of the article. and ever since
the junction of the Southern Pacific
with the Atchison, Topeka 4 Santa Fe
railroad the cowboy has been the favor
lite theme of the paragraphar and Dor
der correspondent. The cowboy is
little understood except where he works
and plays, and of late the term has been
SO misplaced that every frontier rrffian
who carries siX-shooter and rides a
horse is SO dubbed, even if he never
rounded up a steer in his life. Long
years ago, before the No-fence law was
projected and the country was cut up
with railroads, California's beef center
was the southern confines of the San
Joaquin Valley. Every year the stock
raisers took stock of their possessions,
and the real cowboy was numerous and
fiourishing. He was by no means the
bloodthirsty, murderous, thanksgiving
creature of late years and the news
papers, and was only daredevil in his
horsemsnship and handling of cattle.
True. he generally carried six shooter,
but it was for his amusement rather
more than for his protection, and brawls
where blood was shed were more few
and further between than they now are
within the paies of civilization and
street-car lines.
The cowboy was often !. Spaniard or
a greascr, but equally as often he was a
native Californian of American parent
age, but burned and tanned to such an
extent that the diflercn &c between him
and his Spanish companions was so
slight as to be indistinguishable. HIS
armament comprised an immense
saddle, often fancifully decorated with
silver, bride with a cruel Mexican
bit, hackamore, and McCartv," a
pair OF immense spurs, and a pair of
blankets. His clothing occasionally
consisted in part of a pair of buckskin
leggings, but canvas overalls. gray
checkered wooden shirt, and stout,
ready-made coat were much more COM
mon. In the spring every stock-owner
employed from a score to fifty of them,
according to his possessions, and put
them in charge of foreman or major
domo. as white and Spanish alike
termed their bosses. Indeed, all the
cowboys spoke mixture of Spanish,
Indian and English that made the con-
versation very amusing to the tender
foot who might chance to fall in their
midst. A horse was always a coyia
Spanish for cabella); householder, a
cavarango; drive of stock, rodeo,
commonly called 'rodeer," and so on
through the slang of the trade. The
cowboys themselves were always
vaqueros, term which their combi-
nation idiom manages to make '.buc-
caroes" out of.
/ But to reSuMe: When the stock
raisers had engaged their men a num-
Der OF the most prominent would meet
and call general rodeo, name some
naturally favored spot as rem
devious and also the country to be COW
cred. On the morning of the appoint
ed day the different bands of men
would strike camp at daybreak, and,
spreading over an immense tract, start
for the rendezvous. driving before
them every hoof and horn of stock en-
countered. Ii the country was thickly
populated with bovines a forenoon's
drive would gather up from three thou
sand to ten thousand head, which would
be punched in the most convenient spot
for parting out" The locality select
ed. if possible, would possess some nat
ural advantages, such as the fork of
river, bluff, strip of fence. or some
thing of the sort that would do away
with the labor of guarding the herd on
one or two sides. A peninsula of some
twenty acres on the eastern shore of
Tulare Lake, known as 1.-The Pocket
was for many years favorite spot
The roundup" completed, it depended
on the hour as to further operations for
the day. If the drive had been long
and successful camp was struck, and
two or three men from each camp
guarded the band while the others rest
ed themselves and their horses for the
labors of the morrow.
Before the dew would leave the grass
the smoke of the camp-fres would be
seen climbing heavenward, as the cook
prepared breakfast of beans, bread
baked in a Dutch oven, jerked beef.
stewed apples or peaches without
which no meal is complete to the
plainsman), and black coffee. BY the
time it is dispatched the lowing herd is
beginning to evince symptoms of rest
lessness, and the score of vaqueros who
stood by the morning watch are having
their hands full in keeping their
charges in subjugation. Great clouds
of dust obscure the morning sun, and
from their midst arise the hoarse bel
lowing of the bulls, the lowing Of the
COWS. and the bleating of the new
calves in gigantic chorus that makes
the scene doubly impressive. The
major-domo delegates some of his men
for guard duty, Others to attend TO
branding and marking, others to re-
ceive the stock from his hands, and
still others to assist him in parting
out" The men who GO with him must
hn ok.eved and clever maninulators