St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-07-05

Some of these wild. daredevil fellows have
acquired a marvellous dexterity in their pro-
feSsiOn and can, with good lariat, mounted,
pursuer and pursued, going at full speed,
drop thousand pound steer at so, 40, so
and even go feet as clean and as nice as if
shot by bullet.
HANDLING THE LARIAT.
/ noticed variety of lariats with round
up party, nearly all of which were made of
the very best quality of hemp. twisted so
extremely tight that it was almost impOs-
sibe to untwist the strands. Others were
made OF sinew cords and were braided very
neatly, the ends or laSsOing parts being
creased so as To slip easily. Their lasSoes
were about sixty or sSty-five feet long, one
third of which forms the moose, and when
swinging ii is grasped a little above the loop
so as to prevent the same from slipping
until launched through the air. The laSSO
Is swung over The head and left shoulder
and back over the right shoulder, peculiar
turn of the wrist as it begins 10 return keep
ing the loop wide open. When flying
through the air the moose takes a slightly
oval form, but remains open and settles
quietly around the object aimed NJ. Me
Gaigan exhibited to me the mOdus Operandi
of handling tine rope, and some of his feats
plN>ttCC were uOt OlllN
executed with marvellous precision, but
were also beautiful to look at. This model
cowboy is certainly an expert in his pro-
fession, perhaps the best rider and laSSoist
in the whole Northwest. What SlOSsOn is
TO billiards McGaigan is to his profession.
One afternoon, while lOa1ing around the
camp fire on the AIusSelshell, Mc(idigan
and l got talking about the skill me had ac-
quired in throwing cattle and l had little
difficulty In peTSuading him to let me into
the secrets of his wonderful deXteTity and
actually showing me some of the finer points
of the business. Mounting our brOnchOs
we rode OF through the sage brush and out
on the open prairie, where numberieSS cattle
were peacefully munching the luXuriant
buffalo grass. Ny friend had his best laTiat
fastened 10 the pOmmel of the saddle and
nrst showed me
MANY FANCY SHOTS,
throwing the laSSO from or to any point.
over either shoulder, behind or in front He
caught a tremendous bull by the horns, who
looked up in surprise and started off like a
steam engine but the pony beStrOde by the
cowboy planted his fOrefeet firmly in the
ground and checked Mr.. Bull in his mad
career before the latter got well started.
The enraged steer went round and round in
circle at 2.40 gait, the pony acting as Il
perfect pivot and turning slowly around
with him; but II was no use; the bull was u
prisoner and would have remained so had
not McGaigan taken pity on him and passed
the wonderful ring down the line, upon
which the rope leaped from around the horns
and fell To the ground.
McGaigan remarked that it was no credit
to catch bull by the horns, for he cannot
be thrown by them. and is simply held as
prisoner, but the skill in throwing a laSSO is
to pitch the moose just i'm front of an animal
when he is joining at full gallOp, so that the
next step he treadS into it. lie tried it on
! another bull while both of our ponies We're
jumping along on 4 dead run. The old fel-
low was going about as fast as we Were, but
the fatal loop shot through the air at a tan
gent and fell, wide open, just in front of
him on the ground. The left fOrefOOt
| plunged square into the circle. the rope was
| frightened with a sudden jerk and the steer
rolled over in the dust, rs cleverly caught
aS anything ever saw. The bronchO, too,
understood his part of the business
thoroughly, for he bore at the right mo-
ment in the opposite direction, else he
might have been thrown instead of the bull
to which he was much inferior in weight.
McGaigan also caught great big steers
| SdllOIihS past III an angie Dy any reg L
named. Not once was his judgment at
fault The moose whizzing through the air
in every direction went as true to the mark
as bullet shot from a rifle.
L was much taken with the free and easy
sort of life experienced by this roundup
party and enjoyed tine trip and camping out
experienced So hugely that l was almost
tempted to give up the profession of scribe
and become cowboy myself. but thought
better of it next day and, although l had
lots of fun and enjoyment, concluded that
cowboy life must have its dark as well as
its bright, sunny side.