The Bad Lands cow boy. [volume] (Little Missouri, Dakota [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-1886, 1886-12-09


( ther varieties Of amusement that young.
men in the states usually indulge in, it
y but natural that his exuborance of
plrits should ca,lse.Illim to find sport Of
.'ther kinds. His only sources Of amuse- 4.
inent Oh the ranch are his rifle, revolver,
'roncho, lariat, and cards, and in course
# time he tires of these and seeks a Z
,fange. Vi. Is. x IS. Il. IS
lie gees to t0wniand meets there some
u his comrades or acquaintances, and Z
hey indulge III some wild pranks which
70 eastern people, and especially those
who happen to fall victims to their prac-
.leal jokes, appear rllf1ianly.. Their love
pf excitement and adventure sometimes
gets the better Of their Judgement and
they carry their fun to excess. They
;;orral the Grew d, ,pA trsiSys alRch has.
sssasl l.sa gaL S them
sseisas q, aud tliep epassen gers liS making the
5omiuctor, bra akernaI d tbag agemen, 1 en-
sineer, and, fireman dance i Jig is the
music Of sixshooters.. In ono. Instance
they boarded train,I Isand made the
Theodore Thomas orchestra give them
an extemIoraneous concert. They have
been knownto carry their revels to still
worse excesses than these, and to resort
to acts Of real abuse and injury against
dufenseless people. But sucll acts on the
part of genuine cowboys are rare, and
..lre Vigorously condemned by al. res
pectable elements i'll the business. I
would much rather take my chances as
to salelyof life and property iii coun-
Try Inhabited only by cowboys than in
any eastsln town or.city, with all its
police protection" ,.,-.' ..,.s.3
An incident may serve to illustrate
how suddenly eastern people change
their opinions Of cowboys on close ac-
quaintancs. was going west a few
years since ON the Northern Pacific rail-
road, and stepping off the train ut Dick
inson, Dakota, l met Howard Eaton, an
old-time friend and fellow hunter, typi-
cal cowboy, who has charge of ranch
and a herd Of cattle in the ."bad lands"
on The Little Missouri river. He was
dressed in the regulation costume OF the
craft-canvas trousers araijacket, leather
rhamrajoes, blue flannel shirt and broad
sbriinmetl white felt hat lis loins were
girt about with IL weitsGliel cartridge
-
be;t, from which hung his six -shooter-a
weapon that. may almost be termed
badge Of the order. Large Mexican spurs
ratified at his heels as he walked. He
had ridden tilirty-iye miles under the:
spur, arriving ut the station just In time
to catch tile train, and having no time to
change his apparel, even if he had wished
to do So. He was going some distance
OIL the same train, and invited him into
the sleeper. As he entered, and walked
down the aisle the passengers became.
suddenly alarmed. imagining that the
train had been corralled hy party Of the
terrible cowboys: but when conducted
lin to our section and introduced him to
my. wife, they began to feel easier. We
had a Well-hlled lunch basket with us,
ard my wife hastily spread its contents
before him. He ate as only a cowboy
can eat. Our fellow-passengers became
Interested spectators, and after our friend
had finished his repast we introduced
him to several Of them. They were
agreeably surprised at his polished man
hers, his. fluent and weil-chdsen langu-
age, his handsome though sun n-browned
face, and his kind genial nature at find-
ing, in fact. that he was al, educated and I
cultivated gentleman. Before we had
been all hour together they had learned
to respect and admire the wild, pictur-
eslue character whom ut first they had
feared. sS Isl I:;s2 "a s5;s2
Altogether, cowboys are whole
soulad, large-hearted generous class Of
fellows, Whom it isEa pleasure to ride q
with, eat with, aud associate with; and 4
it is safe to say that nine-teaths Of the
hard things that have been said Of
them have, come, from men who meyer
knew Intimately a single 4one Of them.s 4,
Icontena that year spent on the hurri-
cane deck Of q coW-pony is one Of the 4
most usetu and valuable pieces of ex-sss I:
perience 3 young man can possibly have h
in fitting himself for business of almost
any kind; and if I were educating a: boy
to fight the battle Of life, / would secure
him a cowboys situation is soon as ,ihe I
was through with his studies at school,.
.Aterm of service on a frontier cattle
ranch will take the cunceit out Of, any
boy; it will at the same time teach him
self reliance; it will teach llinl to en-
tlure Ilarlships and suffering; will give
nerve and pluck; it will develop thu
latent enorgy in him to q degree that
could not be accomplished by any other {
apprenticeship or xperience l know Of; {;
Many Of the successful business men Of 4
the western towns OF today, served z
their n.st years on the frontier as acow-4 !;
puncllers,"' and to that school they owe
the Sarmnessof character aud the ability
to sllrnount great obstacles that have
made their success iii life possible.
| contend that the constant commune
ion with nature, the study Of her broad,
pure domains. q the days and nights Of
lonely cruising and camping on the
prairie, the lninterru upted communion
with and study Of seif which tllis occ,lsss
patton afford, tend to make young mem
ss,ohestsand noble, much more so than