New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1885-08-05
LIFE ON THE RANCH.
Picturesque Description Of How the Cow
Boys Drive the Cattle.

Picturesque Description Of How the Cow
Boys Drive the Cattle.
A picturesque, hardy lot of fellows,
these cowboys as they sit on the
ground, by the fire, each man with his
can Of coffee, his fragrant slice of fried
bacon on the point of his blade,
or sandwiched in between two great
hunks of bread, rapidly disappearing
before the onslaughts Of appetites
made keen by the pure, inyigorating
breezes Of these high plains. See that
brawny fellow, with the crisp, tight
curling yellow hair growing low down
on the nape OF his massive neck rising
straight and supple from the low col
lar OF his loose flannel shirt, his sun
/ Drowned face with the piercing gray
eyes looking out from under the
broad brin Of his hat, his lower limbs
clad in the heavy 'chaps"-or leather
overalls- stained a deep reddish
brown by long use and exposure
to wind and weather, his revolver in
it's holster swinging from the cartridge
filled belt, and his great spurs tinkling
at every stride, as. having drained the
last drop Of coffee, he puts down the
can, and turns from the fire toward the
horses, picking up as he goes the huge
heavy leather saddle, with it's high
pommel and streaming thongs ofraw-
/ hide, that has served him as q pillow
during the night. Quickly his "cayuse"
is saddled, the great broad hair-rope
girths tightly 'sinched," the huge bit
slipped into the unwilling mouth, and
with a bound the active fellow is in
the saddle. Paw, pony, paw; turn
your eyes till the whites show; lay
your pointed ears back; squeal and
kick to your hearts content. Oh,
buck away; you have found your mas
ter; for the struggle does not lastlong
The practiced hand, the heavy spurs,
the singing whip soon repeat the al
most daily lesson, and with one last
wicked shake ofthe head the wiry "cay-
use" breaks into his easy lope, and
away 60 horse and rider to their APP
pointed station on the flank of the
great drove
The others soon follow, camp is bro
ken, the wagon securely packed ready
for the road, and the work of the day
commences. The cattle seem to know
what is coming. On the edges of their
scattered masses the steers lift their
heads and gaze half stupidity, half
frightfully at the flying horsemen as
the TANKS are turned they begin clos
ing in toward one another, moving up
in little groups to a common center
Now and then steer or some young
bull more headstrong or more terrified
than his comrades, breaks away and
canters off clumsily over the prairie.
In a moment he is pursued, headed
off, turned, and driven in toward the
herd again. AS they "close in mass"
to use an apt military phrase
rounded up" on all sides by the
swift-riding cowboys, they are gently
urged onward by the drivers in the
rear, until the whole herd is slowly
moving forward, feeding as they 60, in
a loose wide column, heading toward
the break in the mountains that indi-
Gates the mouth of the canon through
which it is to pass.
Gradually the prairie is crossed;
quietly and gently the nervous brutes
are crowded more closely together; two
OF three Of the men gallop on ahead to
the opening of the pass, guarded by
two cone-shaped mounds like redoubts
thrown out to protect the entrance to
the Businesses of the mountains, in or
der to head off stragglers and to turn
the leaders ofthe herd into the narrow
trail that runs in between the high,
| tree-covered, rocky walls of the can
non. so!so-o-o! gently calling, quietly
and patiently urging, the drivers bunch
the horned multitude together into
one almost compact mass 5000!
So! gently! gently! push, boys, push in
from both sides, curb your horses,
keep them quiet. So! SO! drive SLOWLY
from the rear, press on slowly, yet
firmly, until the head of the herd en-
/ tiers the pass.
Patter! patter! patter! the rushing
confused roar of hundreds of hoofs
striking the hard road-bed, a queer
sound; filling the air with low, vet
penetrating noise, like the falling oil
millions Of hailstones on dry leaves
not the heavy and sharp ringing tramp
VI 1lO1A-SiiCA 11OlSSS7 DtlC ID SMullllIlS
soft, although distinctly marked
muff1ed rolling, something like that
produced by the distant passage OF a
heavily laden freight train. Slowly
irresistibly onward through the wild
canon-the frowning wallis OF sand.
stone and gigantic pines towering on
one side, on the other and below
| rushing and foaming over it's rough
bed, the river-pushing like stnean
of liquid lava from some yonlitingcra
ter, long drawn out in a crowded
dense column, on the narrow, winding
trail, moves the mighty herd A thick
'smoke-like cloud of yellow dast-
through which the sunlight breaking
lights up the tangle OF horns, sswayine
and tossing in the distance like foam
eresting the. angry pillows of some
dark, 'storm-lashed torrent-llovers
above; a heavy, sweetish odor fills The
air; and mingling with the patterins
rush of the hoofs and the roar of thu
stream comes the occasional booming
| ha11Ow IF some FRIGHT apa6 ctoor zs5'>