The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1885-06-26
THE KING OF THE PLAINS.
A Glimpse Of the Texas Cowboy-His Life
On the Drive, in the Camp and at the
Round-Up. az

Round-Up.
"Do / know The cowboys? Young
man / think / do. When you have
worked with them, camped with them,
lived with them and been among them
forty years on the drive, on the plains,
and on and off duty, you might say You
know them"
The speaker was a Texas cattleman,
and he was asked TO describe q cowboy
by a Pittsburg Dispatch reporter.
"The Texas cowboy" he continued,
rs the most thoroughly misunderstood
man outside OF the localities where he
is known, on the face of the earth. /
know him in all his alleged t~errors, and
as q class there are no nobler-hearted or
honorable men in the world. Brave to
rashness and generous to a fault, ifyou
should be thrown among them you
would find them ever ready to share
their last crust with you, DR. lie down
at night with you on the same blanket.
"Why, young man, see here" and
the Texas man tWitched his chair
around until he could put his feet upon
a window-sill. "Say that / have TO-
900 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 LIST of
April until the middle of September.
They are divided into three herds, with
a dozen or sixteen men with each herd.
/ entrust those cattle in the hands OF a
gang of cowboys. For six months /
know absolutely nothing of my stock.
/ trust their honesty to the extent of
many thousands of dollars without a
contract, without a bond, with no earth
ly hold upon them, legally or morally,
beyond the fact that / am paying them
$35 or $40 a month to project my in
terests. And these are tho men pict-
ured in the East as ~outcasts of civil
ization. / trust absolutely to their
Judgment in getting those cattle through
a wild and unbroken country without
loss or injury. / trust as absolutely to
their bravery and endurance in the face
of danger"
Danger"
''Dangerl Yes, indeed. A man to
be a cowboy must be a brave man.
For instance, we are on a drive. These
slab-sided, long-horned Texas cattle are
as wild as deers naturally, and being in
an unknown country ara as nervous
and timid 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 rain
ing. We have reached the point where
we intend to round up for the night.
The men commence to ride around the
drove, singing, shouting and whistling
to encourage the animals by the sounds
they are familiar 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 travelling in q
circle. Slowly the cowboys close In on
them still shouting and singing, until
finally the cattle become quiet, and af-
ter a time lie down and commence
chewing their cuds with apparent con-
tentment. Still the vigilance of the men
cannot be relaxed. Atleast half of them
must continue riding about the resting
herd all night. A stampede of cattle is
a terrible thing to the cowboys, and may
be brought on by the most trivial cause.
The slightest noise of an unusual nature,
the barking of a coyote, the snap Of q
pistol, the cracking Of atwig will
bring some wild-eyed steer to lis 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
o break. Then the GOODNESS and self
possession of the cowboy are called in
to play. They still continue their wild
gallop around the frightened drove, en-
deavoring to -sassure 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 quiz
eted so easily. A break lis made in
some direction. Here comes the hero
ism of the cowboy. Those cattle
are as blind and unreasoning in
their fight as q pair Of run
away horses. They know no dam
ger but from behind, and if they did,
could not stop for the surging sea OF
maddened animals in the real. Arocky
gorge or deep cut canyon may cause the
loss of half their number. Those In
the rear cannot see the danger and the
leaders cannot stop for those behind,
and are pushed on to their death. A
precipice may lie in their way, over
which they plunge to destruction. 1t
matters not to the cowboy. If the STAN
pede is made the captain Of the drove
and his men ride until they head it, and
then endeavor to turn the animals in o
circle once more
"A hole in the ground, which catches
o 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 gorge lies in
their path. There is no escaping it.