Omaha daily bee., 1885-04-15
The TEXAS COWBOY.
His Life on the Drive, in The Camp and
at The R0Uld.Up,'
Stirring Scenes at n Stampede-Men
Who Daily Risk Their Lives
How Accidents Occur.


Pittsburg Dispatch.
"Do 1 know the cowboysl Young
man, l think 1 do. When you have
worked with them, camped with them.
lived with them and been among then
for years on the drive, and on and of
duty, you might say you know them"
The speaker was Henry Exsll, a Texas
cattleman, who had been spending sew.
eral days in tho city at the Seventh
Avenue hotel.
"The Texas cowboy" he continued,
lis the most thoroughly misunderstood
man outside of the localities where he
is known, on the fsce of the earth.
know him In all his alleged %terrors, and
as a class there are no nobler.hearted or
honorable men In the world. Brave to
rsshness and generous to a fault, IL you
should be thrown among them you would
find them ever ready to share their last
crust with you, or lie down at night with
you on the came blanket.
"Why, young man., see here, and the
Texas man twitched his chair around I'M
til he could put his feet upon a window
sill. "Ssy that l have 10000 cattle
which | am about to send overland from
Texas into Montana to fatten for the
market. Those cattle will be on the
drive from the first of April until the
middle of September. They are divided
Into three herds, with a dozen or six
teen men to each herd. | entrust those
cattle 10 the hands of q gang of cowboys.
For six months 1 know absolutely moth.
Ing of my stock. l trust their honesty to
the extent of many thousands of dollars
without a contract, without a bond, with
no earthly hold upon them, legally or
morally beyond the fact that I am paying
them $35 or $40 a month to protect my
interests. And there are the men pic
ture in the east as outossts of civilization.
l trust absolutely to their judgement in
getting those cattle through a wild and
unbroken country without loss or injury.
l trust as absolutely to their bravery and
endurance In the face of danger"
MUST BE MEN.
"Dapger2"
Changer! Yes, indeed. A man to be
a cowboy must be a brave man. For In
stance, we are on q drive. These slab
sided, long-horned Texas cattle ara as
wild as deers naturally, and being In an
unknown country are as nervous and tim
Id as sheep. The slightest noise may
~startle them into a stampede. We have
been on the drive all day and night is
coming on. 1t is cold and raining. We
have reached the point where we intend
to round up for the night. The men
commence to ride around the drove, sing
ing, shouting and whistling to encourage
the animals by the sounds they are famil-
lar with and to drown any noise of an
unusual character which might provoke a
stampede. Round and round the cattle
they ride until the whole drove Is travel.
ing In a circle. Slowly the cowboys close
In on them, still shouting and singing,
until finally the cattle bscome quiet, and
after a time lie down and COM
mence chewing their cuds with
apparent contentment. Still the
vigilance of the men can not
be relaxed. At least half of them must
continue riding about the resting herd all
night. A stampede of cattle is a terrible
thing to the cowboys, and 1t may be
brought IN by the most trivial cause.
The slightest noise of an unusual nature,
the barking of a coyote, the snap of a pls-
tol, the cracking of a twig, will bring
some wild.eyed steer to his feet in terror.
Another Instant and the whole drove are
painting and believing IN the widest fear.
They are ready to follow the lead of any
animal that makes a break. Then the
GOODNESS and self-possession of the cow
boy Is called Into play. They still con-
tinue their wild gallop around the fright
ened drove, endeavoring to reassure them
and get them quiet once more. Maybe
they will succeed after an hour or two
and the animals will again be at rest
But the chances are that they cannot be
Quoted go easily. A break Is made In
some direction. Here comes the heroism
of the cowboy. These cattle are az blind
ard unressoning In their flight as a pair
of runaway horses. They know no dan
ger but from behind, and If they did,
could not stop for the surgiug
sea OF msddened animals In
the rear A rocky gorge or a deep. cut
canyon may cause the les, of half their
number. Those In the rear caunot see
their danger and the leader cannot stop
for those behind, and are pushed on to
their death. A preclpice may lie in their
Wy wv "HisH 1uey piuuSe 10 uehutuc-
tlon. 1t matters not to the cowboy. If
the stampede Ia made the captain of the
drove and his men ride until they head it
and then endeavor to turn the ami mails In
to a circle once more.
HOW ACCIDENTS OCCUR,
ga hole in the ground, which catches
the horses foot, a stumble, and the hoofs
of 5000 cattle have trampled the sem.
blance of humanity from him. He
knows this. A gulch or a gorge lies IN
their path. There Is no escaping 1t.
There is no turning to the right or the
left, and in an instant horse and rider
are at the bottom, buried under 1000
cattle. But what of III 1t is only a
cowboy, and they come cheap. But his
tory records no instance of more unuues.
tionsble performance of duty In the
presence of danSer than those men un.
aergo on every drive. Should the STAN.
pede be stopped, there is no rest for the
drivers that night, but the utmost yigi.
lance Is Repaired to prevent the recur-
renee of the frightened cattle. This ma
happen hundreds of times on a single
drive.
81 remember one instance, which,
from the friendship In which / held the
Victim, has made a lasting impression on
me. Two brothers were together on the
drive. Both men had been educated In