News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-04-29
ON A SHEEP RANCH.
THE DISMAL LIFE LED BY WRETCH
ED MEXICAN RERpERs.
Following Sheep Year In and Year Oas,
for Six Dollars u Month";

0AnQ1ul OF shLL anu OOUDIS haAuluk VA
chilies per day. With this humble
commissariat he will keep up life. His
| idea of luxury is an occasional dram OF
mescal or ayoudiente and plenty of corn
husks and tobacco, out of which he
manufactures that indispensable acces-
| sorry to Mexican well-belng, the cigaro.
After years faithful apprenticeship at
| sheephetding, Mexican boy has the
trade learned and is ready to peon hiri-
self for life. He usually does. have
known a Mexican herder, after twenty
| five years faithful service, to die as
many hundred dollars in debt to the
man whose flock he has carefully tended
for quarter of century. That is
where sheep herding pays. l suppose
my friend, the sheep king, from whose
ranch this letter is dated, has in his en-
ploy two hundred and fifty Mexican
herders or rather Mexicans who under
stand herding, and venture to say that
not one of these two hundred and fifty
is out of his debt.
The most rigid discipline is main
tanned. The hcrders are divided into
squads and each squad has its captain,
whose business it is to see that the men
under him attend to their duty. Over
these squad captains are other and
higher captains. These, in turn, are
looked after by the superintendent, who
is surrounded by an able staff of assist
ants, each with his particular portion
manage. Over all this is the owner of
the ranch, who, you may depend, keeps
a sharp eye after his hirelings.
20
sheep herding. 1t always seemed in
tensely pathetic to me, and l can, as l
said before, imagine no greater punish
ment than to be compelled to herd sheep
for lifetime. If l had an enemy and
Went to my will, and desired to con-
denim him to torture of the most terrible
description, l would put him out with
herd of sheep and keep him there year
after year, noting day by day the effect
of the punishment npon him. Sheep
herding is the acme of monotony, and it
is the monotony which would make my
vengeance complete and his punishment
terrible. Once on the plains | came
across a herder who had been attacked
by Indians. He was dying, and there
was something seraphic in the expression
of his face. He saw in death blessed
relief from the life-torture to which re-
lentless fate had condemned him. If
were a sheep herder l should pray for an
Indian attack daily. Sheep-herders per-
form their work on foot. 1t would be
impossible, in a mountain country par
ticularly, to herd sheep on horseback.
They usually seek the highest and rough.
est points, and herder would lose half
his hands if he attempts to bunch them
up on horseback.
We will suppose, by way of illustra-
ton, that practical herder has been
engaged to run flock, and in the early
morning, as the first gray streaks of
dawn appear in the eastern sky he sal
lies forth to take charge of his woody
flock, who are just beginning to awake
and leave their bedding place. If he is
a Mexican, he looks extremely pictur-
esque in his bright blue jacket, with its
double row of silver buttons, which, by
the way, are not for use, but solely for
ornament, for Mexican never buttons
his jacket, else he would hide his gaudy
calico shirt. On his neither limbs are
leggings of leather or buckskin, to pro-
tect his legs from the sharp thorns
through which he will be forced to
march. These are kept in place by
crimson, orange or blue sash, over
which is buckled a broad belt full of
cartridges On his head is the inevita-
BILE sombrero, with its ornamentation of
gold and silver lace. If he is q sensi-
BILE man, his serape will be tied over
one shoulder and under the opposite
arm and he will carry a Winchester
- 40 ocIo but lyn h.
sheep begin to move off he saunters
slowly along behind them, keeping a
sharp lookout for stragglers. Sheep do
not travel fast, but they keep moving.
At about meridian they will begin to
feed back toward the bedding place.
There the herder will eat his humble
dinner of tortillas and chill, washed
down by a draught of water, if he is
fortunate enough to be in the vicinity
of a spring or water hole. About sun
down the sheep will reach their camp
and begin to select beds for the night.
The herder has rude shelter near by.
He builds himself a fire and cooks
his tortillas. Possibly he may have
killed a quail or a jack rabbit dur
ing the day. If so, he makes a
savory soup. Then he smokes his Gig
arc and walks around the flock to see
that none are missing If all is ell he
returns to his camp, and rolling himself
in his serape, lies down. He may have
a good nights sleep and he may not. A
careful herder will be aroused if single
sheep moves, and will Immediately rise
up to see what is the matter. If bear
or cougar or tiger cat is lurking about,
he will hunt for the varmint and either
kill him or brighten him away Above
all things he must guard himself against
a stampede, for if the timid sheep once
get started there is no stopping them
the herd would become scattered, many
charged up with the missing sheep.
Long before daylight he is up, and by
the time the sheep begin to move he has
cooked and eaten his breakfast and is
ready to take up the march again. I'm
agine what a picnic man must have
who performs this dreary routine for 365
days in the year, Strengthening admits
of no holidays, and it is all the same to
the herder whether it be Christmas or
the Fourth of July.
In the LANDING season his duties are
more arduOus, and he is often up all
night. Then he must watch for the APP
pcarance of ''scab, " or any of the count
less diseases to which sheep are subject,
and report to the captain, who makes
known the fact through the regular
channel to the ranch superintendent. II
it is scab, the sheep are driven up to the
ranch and run through a dip. Thclpcd
dip a lot of sheep once. 1t is hard
work and far from exciting. In fact,
every hing pertaining to sheep is like
the foolish animals, tame and uninter-
esting The sheep are sheared once
year, usually in May This is the sheep
mems harvest, and the big pile of wool
which rewards him represents the
profits of the business.
Some of the herders have dogs-doSs
peculiar to the frontier, with more or
less wolf blood in their veins. They are
4 surlv and unst1cial brute and far from
handsome, of high degree of education
and their sagacity in the matter OF tend
ing sheep is something marvellous, l
have known dogs that would herd two
thousand sheep, unaided. and never lose
an animal The sheep-men oppose dogs;
They say it makes the herders lazy and
careless. They neglect their duty and
depend upon the Judgment and sagacity
of the dog to run things.
OF late wears considerable attention
has been paid to goat raising. with
pIant of Mexican nannies and imported
Angora billies you can in few years