The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-02-18
COUNTING HORNS.
Picturesque Scenes on a Mon
tana Cattle Range.
How the Animals are Counted, Identified,
and Separated.

Al i0teoi lioui L oit heoSu, MoHtdHd,
to the Pittsburg Commercial Gazette
correspondent writes entertainingly about
the cattle business and life on the ranges.
He says: In receiving, say, one thousand
head of "pilgrim" cattle from the States
(of value not less than $25, 5,000), brand
ing them at the stock yards with an X on
the left hip, for instance, and turning
them loose upon the range the owner
either understands the business or has an
answering trust in Providence. A por-
tion of his herd may be seen occasionally
during the season by himself or his cow
boys, but other portions may drift away
fifty or hundred miles, sometimes more,
before the next roundup" Even then
it may be impossible to find them all. :"
The ranges are divided into "districts.
and each district is worked by seperatc
company of cowboys, numbering any
where from twenty to sixty (more occa-
sionally), according to the importance of
the district. All who have range cattle
within the limits of that district are rep
resented, either personally or otherwise,
in the roundup party. Every member
of which exercises his ability for the
advantage of his neighbor as we'll as for
himself, The district may be two hundred
miles long and seventy-fve miles wide,
and the cowboys move from six to ten
miles each evening. gather the cattle
from the hills surrounding the camp, the
next morning divide the stock into
punches, each bearing the brand of sep
crate outfit, brand the calves with the
marks borne by the mothers they follow,
and, in cases where the ownership of the
calves can not be determined, they, in
this territory, receive the brand of the
outfit that holds the range upon which
they are found. Now, in the district
where those "X'' cattle live the represen-
tatves of that brand will see as far as
possible, to the holding and branding of
the stock belonging to their outfit Then
the cattle that are disposed of will be
thrown into herd, according to the To-
cality of their ranges, and driven toward
their regular grazing grounds. Those
that belong in the vicinity Of the camp
will be left there, and the Ground -up''
spring roundup, which takes from sixty
to ninety days. In addition to the fall
"round-up," the beeves are ''cut OUT
separated from the other stock-and
driven by members of their respective
outfits to the points of shipment. It at
these shipping points that the value OF
the stock inspector is seen. He examines
the brands of every animal shipped from
his point, and if some of those 'X' cattle
are being shipped with the beeves of some
other party he notes the fact, reports tc
the Secretary of the Stock Commission
the whole lot goes to market, and in due
course the owner of the ''X' cattle re
ceives the proceeds of his "strays" on th'
basis of the price at which the main bod,
of the shipment is sold The number o
animals thus found is large. "Strays'
that belong in Montana have frcquentl
been shipped from points on the Uniol
Pacific in Wyoming, and vice versa, o.
the Northern Pacific. 1t is not consid
cred surprising for cattle to drift 100 t.
$50 miles from their customary range
Thus are range cattle looked after, ant
though it may take years for the 'A
outfit, or any other, to secure all thel
stock, they are more than likely to do S
eventually, excepting where the 'crl1
ters" are stolen, killed by wild animal
or die on the range. The inspectors al
thoroughly familiar with the brands {
the North west, watch closely for stole
stock, do much toward bringing otfenc
ers to Justice, and are stationed at tt
principal stock handling points. TT
detectives are equally instrumental
furthering the success of this great sy
TEN. About five thousand different branc
have already been recorded in the otfi'
of the Territorial Treasurer at Helen
Even the Indians have their brands, AM
with the multiplicity of devices that a
used, under the acts of 1864, to dist
guish stock, it is no easy matter to ke'
them all in mind. In the effort to r
u Montana of dangerous wild animals bou
, ties were paid during 1864 on more tn
: 5000 wolves, 1,500 coyotes, 500 bcs
= and 100 mountain lions. During Is
the bounties were still greater.
9 No Student of Philosophy.