Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-09-10
How a Cowboy Tallcd a Steer.


| In Kansas, during the days when
the cattle-growing excitement ran high
there lived the most reckless, daredevil
set OF young men. writes Texas cor
respondent to the Pittsburg Dispatch,
have ever met. There were no old
men among them. A man of 40 was
looked upon as patriarch, one who
was entitled 10 be candidate for adj
mission to the home for the aged and
infirm. These young men rode up and
down the Texas cattlc-trail from Trim
ity river to the Republican. When in
Texas. to gather their herds. they rode
furiously; they hunted panthcrs; they
courscd loafer wolves; they ate MAYER
icks almost without number. and on
the roundup they were the most reck-
less of all the hard-riding men that
gathered on the southern ranges.
When they returned to Kansas with
their cattle they had many stories
about the skill of the Texas COWBOYS to
relate. A young acquaintance OF mine
told me OF the Texas cowboys failing
steers-that is, riding alongside run
ming steer and grasping his elevated
tail. and by giving it powerful lift.
ing jerk. throwing the steer heels over
head, much TO his discontinue and
subsequent rage. smiled incrcdulous-
ly. The young mar offered to per-,
form the trick. We got into wagon
and drove to where my herd was graz,
ing. The cattle were just off the trail,
and were not strong. My friend con-
temptuously said there was no need
of his mounting ono Of the herder's
ponies TO '.taiih those steers; he could
do it on foot. The herdcrs gathered
around to see the spectacle. The young
man jumped from the wagon and ran
swiftly to a steer, which he grasped
firmly by the tail. Then, looking con-
fidcntly at us. he gave the tail savage
jerk. There was some hitch in tho
performance. The steer did not turn a
somersault. He looked around, and
seeing man fastened to his tail, bel
lowed with intense rage, and turned
to impale him on his long, highly-pol-
ished horns. My acquaintance. still
grasping the steers tail tightly, ran
round and round. The steer kicked
and beloved, and turned faster and
faster after him. The entire herd
gathered, and stood in a vast circle,
looking at the grcwsome spectacle.
Soon the tail-pulling young man called
for help. We could not have helped
him if his life depended on it. The
herders had laughed until they could
hardly sit in their saddles. l held on
to the sides of the wagon-box to keep
from falling out. Bareheaded, with
his long hair streaming behind him
and incessant calls for aid pouring out
of his mouth, and an occasional howl
at the contracting circle of cattle that
were becoming excited, to give variety
to the yociferous uproar, my friend
sped round and round. And the steer,
with many bellows and intense rage,
chased his tail, and the two-legged an
imal that had prcsumptuously fastened
on 10 it. Finally recovered my
strength, and drove the wagon close
to the revolving pair. My friend loos-
cned his grasp on the tail and jumped
in. Before he was fairly in the wagon
we were galloping over the prairie
with the enragcd steer in hot pursuit.
Five of the herders quickly roped the
steer. and one of the funniest scenes l
ever saw on the range was at an end.
Afterward my friend mounted pony
and neatly tailed" that steer with
great satisfaction to himself and dam
age to the animal and my pocket.