The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-06-15
lentana Lattar IN cleveIana Loader.

Oi<C GAN0Ab tlC AAAAiA Va AAo Ad&L, ah0 A. IL
variably died with his boots ON. In the
vernacular of the ~fontier, he was. a bad
man altogether and a cutter and shooter from
away back. They looked upon a tenderfoot
with becoming scorn, bore the appearance of
continually thirsting for gore, and had no hopes
of heaven nor fear of hell. The typical cowboy
of by-gone days should wear a large white SOM
brero, bound with a flashy gold cord and tassel,
high-top boots, leather pants, fringed buckskin
shirt, no vest, and a pair of Mexican spurs as
big as saucers. He should also be armed to the
teeth, be we'll mounted on a fiery bucking bron-
cho, have a long sinewy lariat trailing behind
his steed Indian-fashion, and habitually be half
full of his favorite beverage. Now, as a matter
of fact, the real cowboy of the Northwest is a
very different person from what he is supposed
to be. Many of them are college graduates, who
stood high with the faculty of Eastern %universi-
ties, and not a few are able to solve a mathemati-
cal problem or parse a Latin sentence with as
much ease as they can throw a steer Or punch a
brand.
1 have observed in Miles City, one of the head
quarters of cattle men in the Northwest, all
classes of individuals, from the beardless youth
to the gray-haired man, dressed in the style of
and engaged in the occupation of cowboys.
Many undertake the business for want Of
something to do in the way of earning q living,
but the majority accept their lives from choice.
A better race of fellows than the true, genuine
cowboy of the Northwest does not exist on the
North American continent.
The average wages for a cowboy is not very
good-$40 per month and fndings-but the life,
is exciting, and the free, open exercise assures
excellent health and perfect digestion, which is
better than all the wages they could get l &C
companied a roundup party last fall that
secured the ranges north of Miles City, and on
that trip learned many new points regarding
their life, habits and manner of living heretofore
unknown to me. found they endured hard
ships that would have cost many men their
lives, and therefore became, by continual expo
sure, perfect types of physical manhood.
They are unqueslionaDly the finest horsemen
in the world, and are constantly practicing with
rifles or revolverS in their endeavors to become
dead shots, and they generally succeed. Living
in the saddle, they worship their horses, and are
perfectly happy when on the backs of their
animals, flying over the plains. During the herd
ing season sixty or seventy miles is an ordinary
days ride. They are brave, will share their last
ration with a stranger, never lie nor cheat, and
hate a horse-thief like they do the devil himself.
1t is a mistake to imagine that cowboys are a
dangerous set. Anyone is as safe with them as
with any people in the world, unless his steals q
horse or is hunting for a fight. In their eyes
death is mild punishment for a horse-stealer.
Indeed, it is the highest crime known to the un-
written law Of ranching. Nearly every horse
Ell6l Strung UP ldSb SSdSOu II U1OuUdud lama
there were ffty-nine casualties of that sort from
April to October), was sent on his last journey
by cowboys. The numerous vigilance commit
tees were composed almost exclusively of cattle
herders, who waged a never-ending war Of ex-
termination against horse thieving ~rascals, until
all the bands were either broken mp or driven
out of the Territory. Their life, habits, educa-
ton and necessities breed this feeling in them,
and they delight in appearing rougher than they
actually are. To a tender-foot TALL Eastern men
n ~ royu 0ppiuoIo ~ oa1Q6 fon6pr-faot1 fhov 1.-Two
to tell blood -curdling stories and impress him
with the dangers of the frontier. But no man
need get into a quarrel with them unless he
seeks it, and then he will find the cowboy is
always prepared to shoot quicker than chain
lightning.
They also have a slang peculiar to the range,
and it is astonishing how quickly eastern-bred
and educated people will drop into using it.
Cowboys often have interests in the herds they
are watching and very frequently become own
ers of ranches. 1t is the ambition of their lives
to become landowners themselves and employ
on as large a scale as possible other cowboys 10
watch their cattle. Unless you want to insult
him never offer a cowboy pay for any kindness
he has done or for a share of his rude meal
They pride themselves on their hospitality and
are exceedingly touchy on all matters relating to
1T. The rougher element of the class have been
in the West nearly all their lives and many of
them are married to or cohabit with Indian
squawS. Lots of these fellows, who began life
without a cent and lived in Indian tepees
for many years, wandering back and forth over
the plains with the various nomadic tribes, are
now rolling in wealth and control large cattle
interests in the Northwest. know of one indi-
vidual who has cattle grazing all over the South
Yellowstone ranges who did not own one single
steer five years ago. He can scarcely write his
own name, yet is able to buy and sell some of
your Wall-street nabobs. He spends most Of his
watching his various herds. A good many cow
boys are exercising much wisdom in taking up
land under some one of the government land
acts. A great deal of Montana soil is classed as
desert land, and can be bought for twenty-five
cents per acre down and the balance Of 81 on
each acre at any time within three years.
Homesteads, | notice, are being more freely
entered of late, and in a few years the whole of
the vast buffalo ranges of the Northwest that
were black with bison eight or ten years ago will
be cut up into small farms or fenced pastures.
Nearly every cowboy has a claim of some sort.
They begin to see that land will soon be worth
more than cattle, and they are right, too. Some
of these wild, daredevil fellows have acquired a
marvellous d~exterity in their profession and can.
with a good lariat, mounted, pursuer and per
sued going at full speed, drop a thousand pound
steer at thirty, forty, and even sixty feet, as
clean and as nice as if shot by a bullet.
l noticed a variety of lariats with a round up
party, nearly all of which were made of the very
best quality of hemp, twisted so extremely tight
that it was almost impossible 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 sixty five feet long,
one-third of which forms the moose, and when
swinging it it 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, a peculiar turn of the wrist
as it begins to return keeping the loop wide
open. When flying through the air the moose
takes a slightly oval form, but remains open and
Gaigan exhibited to me the modus operandi Of
handling the rope, and some of his feats per.
formed in my presence were not only executed
with marvellous precision, but were also beauti-
full to look at This model cowboy is certainly
an expert in his profession, perhaps the best
rider and lassoist in the whole Northwest. What
Slosson is to billiards McGaigan is to his pro-
fession.