Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-03-13
LIFE on THE PLAINS.
AN INTERVIEW WITH 5RONCHO
JOHN" SULLIVAN, THE COWBOY.

The Genuine Article aud the False
Terror to EyiI-Doers WAY Of the Horse
Thief Young Men and oid-Itmers
SuperStiti"us N-Nicsns.
There is as much difference between the
genuine cowboy and the di>reputable
hlu-rerer and hulldnzer, that writers for
the press have made the aDwhoy ont Z" he,
aS there j. between the honest hard work
ing mechanic Of this or any other city and
the staggering ruwdy, lOafer, or bully
that josties him in the street wide
trimmed hat frinGed leggins. ability to sit
a mustang well, a six ~huo;er. and n car
Cass full Of bad rum do not make a COW
boy \ cowboy is not \ drunkard. He is
not a horse thief nor a road agent. The
men whose faithful endurance guides and
guards thousands of herds of valuable cat
tie through dangerous passes and lonely
trails, and who place their lives between
their ehargeS and the many enemies they
encounter from ranch Ia dead line. are not
selected from the utCast, criminal scum
of the country
1t is not the cowboy : favnrite pastime to
ride through border towns LLd empty his
revolver at uuuftrn ling and helpless cltl-
zens. On the contrary. the true cowboy Is
a terror Ia eviIdurr> Of all kinds. Horse
thieves hate and fear him Rading Indians
hold manifesto from body Of cowboys
in more regard than they do a proClama-
ton of the president. Doe Middleton and
his gang of horse thieves would be 0perat-
ing in the west Vet if the Cuwboys hadn't
stepped in. Middleton and his men ran
more horses out Of the west than any gang
that ever worked the plains. The authorities
either couldn't or wouldn't get their hands
on him The cowboys got tired Of Middle
ton. and sent him word that they had con
cluded To take up his ease Two days later
Doc Middleton gave himself up to the Off
GERS Of the law. He preferred To spend a
few years in the penltentIsry to meeting
the Justice he knew the cowboys would be
sure 10 give HIM sooner ur later. His gang
gang was scat cred To- the four winds and
not one Of them turned cowboy.
Men generally choose a life Of crime be
cause they can make more money and
make il easier than they can by honest la
Dor Imagine road agent who, by a
bold stroke. may secure a fortune in half
an hour trailing n herd of cattle across
country for s95 n month, There is moth
ing easier or more profitable in the
sparsely settled territories than horse
thievng A stock raiser may have 200
or 5000 horses on hls ranch. His neighbur
NAV have As many more. A gang uf
horse thieves take three or four head from
each ranch. The chances are that the
horses will never he missed. II they are.
the loss is comparatively 50 small that the
owner of the horses does not think it
worth while to risk the loss OF other
horses to pursue the thieves One night :
work may net trio of hOrse-thieves 500
or StnO l. il reasuable To suppose that
such men would be willing to spend five
or six months Of the wear working like
slaves on a cattle range and living on corn
meal and bacon for the privilege OF earning
total sum Of probably $50
The sreadfa~t, most reliable. and hard
est working cowboys are those who are
horn in the cattle regions. or the old
timers. who have lived there 81 long that
they have forgotten the manners and Gus
toms Of a better civilization. There are
cowboys following the trails who are not
Yet in their teens. and there are many who
are crOwding ON 10 20 Some of these old
boys are a. erect IN the saddle and throw
their lasSoes a. unerringly as any of the
younger ones, hUt Others are bent and
wrinkled, and should never go ON a range
Ii would Kill them To leave the camp
though. and many of these old timers will
die in the saddle. know boys not vet l5,
who are a. expert III running a steer on a
round up. or IN manipulating a bunch of
stampedrd cattle. as any Mexican that ever
threw laSSO. The Mexican cowboy, you
know. Is generally regarded as the master
of the horse and lassu. and il Is the custom
for people To say, He Is a. smart with the
rope a. = Mexican.
Taking 4 all in all. think the white
cowboy is superior t. the Mexican. The
white man is cool. patient. and Of better
Judgment II a Mexican runs a steer for
any length of time he gets wild and soon
uses up his horse. He is apt to injure the
cattle in his hot mood Besides that, the
Mexican is superstitiOus. and when his re
hgiOus fears come upon him the cattle in
his charge are a secondary consideration.
| have known a herd of 5000 cattle in
charge of MeXicans to be stampeded in
thunderstorm because the MeXicans were
afraid of the thunder and lightning and
threw themselves from their horses,
stripped themselves and lashed their naked
DOdleS WIN cactus As a pendnCe Tor some
sin, while the herd rushed wildly away in
all directions, and hundreds were lost Ii is
not an uncommon thing for Mexican cow
boys to stop on the trail TO punish them
selves for their sins. Frequently their
wild cries cause disastrous stampede of
the cattle in their charge. | have seen
these Mexicans walk barefooted for rods
over patches of priCkly cactus, while
companion followed them and lashed their
naked backs with the same thorny plant
New York sun Interview