The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1885-05-23

of three thousand cattle have trampled
| the semblance of humanity from him.
He knows this. A gulch or gorge lies in
| their path. There is no escaping it.
| There is no turning to the right or left,
and in an instant horse and rider are at
the bottom, buried under thousand
cattle. But what of it? 1t is only
cowboy, and they come cheap. But
history records no instance of more I'M
! questioning performance of duty in the
presence of danger than these men I'M
dergo on every drive Should the
stampede be stopped there is no rest for
the drivers that night, but the utmost
| vigilance is required to prevent re-
currence of the break from the fright
ened cattle. This may happen hun
dreds of times on a single drive.
Il remember one instance, which,
from the friendship in which | held
| the victim, has made a lasting i'm
preston on me. Two brothers were
together on the drive. Both men had
been educated in an Eastern col
| lege, but for some reason had drifted to
the cattle plains of Texas and had be-
| come cowboys. The elder was the
captain of the drive. Sitting about the
campfire one night, the younger was
disheartened about something and final
ly said: Charlie, let's throw up this
drive. | don, t want to 90. | feel that
one or the other of us will never 90
back. am ashamed Of this, but can
not shake it off His brother was i'm
pressed by his seriousness, but could only
say, George, here are 3, 900 cattle in my
| charge. | could not leave them if |
knew that | would be killed tomorrow
"A stampede" cried one of the men.
In an instant they were all ut their
animals, saddles were adjusted and
away they went. The Captain gained
the head of the drive and had succeeded
in turning them Il little when his horse
stumbled. In another instant horse
and rider could hardly have been dis
| tinguished from one another So YOU
see there is some responsibility upon the
men.
These wild cattle away from home
are as variable as the wind, and when
| frightened are as irresistible as an ava
lanchc. The slightest thing stampedes
| them. For instance: We have rounded
| up the drive and the cattle are living
| down. | am one of the men detailed to
ride around them. Finding them all
! quiet | Get off my horse to light my
pipe. Relieved Of my burden, the horse
rests himself at a stake The whole
! drove is on their feet in an instant
| listening to discover from what quarter
| the noise came. No one can foresee
which way they will make the break
| and only the utmost Sclf-pos~ession and
| good Judgment on the part of the men
on duty viii prevent general STAN
| pedc. That is the class Of men cow
| boys are made of, and | never knew of
many instances where they failed to do
their duty
The enthusiastic Texan had now
warmed up to this subject, and when
asked: "Where are the cowboys re-
cruited from?' replied:
From all parts of the world. Some
from the plains, where their toys in in
| fancy are the miniature lariat and a
shotgun. Some from Mexico. with
many of their half Indian character
istics, and many from the East. |
know dozen college graduates who
| cowboys, and have become 50 infatu-
ated with the life that | suppose they
will never leave it until the final grand
| roundup.
There is another interesting period in
the life OF a cowboy" continued Mr..
EXall, land that is in the spring round
up. In the fall the cattle stray away,
and in working away from the storms
they sometimes get away 100 miles or
so. Each cattle owner has his own
particular brand on his cattle. Well,
the ranchmen in some natural division
of the country will organize a grand
roundup in the spring. The COWBOYS
will drive the cattle all in together in
one big drove. Then the Captain of the
roundup will direct the owner of Ranch
A to cut out his cattle. One of AS
most experienced men will then ride
| into the drove until he sights an animal
with AS brand on. Deity he will drive
| the animal to the outer edge of the herd,
and then with quick dash runs the
beast out away from the drove and it is
| taken in charge of by others of AS
ranchmen. while the cutter goes back
after another. After some fifteen or
twenty minutes AS cutter will be taken
off and BIS given chance. This will
be continued until each ranch has its
| cattle cut out If any cattle are found
without brand they are killed for the
use of the men on the roundup. This
cutting is Il work requiring great skill
and experience, and frequently requires
the use of the lariat. Often cattle with
a strange brand are found. If anyone
recognizes the brand, ranchmen living
nearest the owner take charge of it and
notify the owner. If no one recognizes
the brand the Captain of the roundup
advertises it, and if no owner is found,
| it is sold at auction for the benefit of the
| Cattlemen' 5 Association.
These things will 90 to show the re-
| spOnsibilitieS resting upon these men.
They have to be men OF integrity and re-
liability, and their labors are such that
you can readily see they can not be very
d'sspated. | will tell you how they get
the reputation for recklessness. We
will suppose these men have been on a
drive for six months. and have finished
and been. paid Of Then they are just
like any other body of men, they 90 in
for some fun, and on their lark ride
yelling through the streets of some lit
tie town, shoot Il few lamps out or get
into a saloon row. 1t is no more than
band of college boys at Harvard or