The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-12-03
AMERICAN cowsoYs.


A BODY Of Men who Arc Not Quito ~ Dad
| ss They Have Been Painted.
The cowboy Of to-day, especially on
the northern ranges,is of entirely differ
ent type from the original cowboy Of
Texas. New con dit;ons have produced
the change. The range cattle business
of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado. Wyom-
ing, Montana and Dakota is new bus
mess. Those engaged in it as proprie-
| tors are chiefly from the States situated
east of the Missouri river and north OF
Indian Territory. Among them are
also many Englishmen, Scotchmen.
Frenchmen and Germans of large
means, embracing titled men who have
embarked in the business quite extern
sively. Many of these came to America
originally as tourists or for the purpose
| of hunting buffalOes, but the attractive
ness of the cattle business arrested them,
and they have become virtually. If not
through the act of naturalization.
| American herdsmen. Some of THE
class have, from the force of romantic
| temperament and the exhilaratiOn oil
range life, themselves participated ac-
lively in the duties of the cowboy.
Organization. discipline and order
characterize the new undertakings on
the Northern ranges. In a word. the
cattle business of that section is now
and has from the beginning been car
ried on upon strictly business principles.
Under such proprietOrships. and guided
| by such methods. \ new class of cow
boys has been introduced and devel-
| Oped. Some have come from Texas,
and have brought with them knowl-
edge of the arts of their calling, but the
number from the other States and the
| Territories constitutes large majority
of the whole. Some are graduates of
American colleges, and others of collie
giate institutions in Europe. Many
have resorted to the occupation of cow
boy temporarily and for the purpose of
| learning the range cattle business, with
the view of eventually engaging in it on
| their own account, or in the interest of
friends DESTROYS of investing money in
the enterprise.
| The life of the cowboy is always one Of
excitement and of romantic interest. His
waking hours when riding on trail'
are spent in the saddle. and at night he
makes his bed upon the lap of mother
earth.
The great herds which are yearly
driven out of Texas to the Northern
ranges usually embrace from $500 to
| 1000 young cattle each. and the move
ment has since its beginning, about
| eighteen years ago. amounted to about
1900, 900 head, worth nearly $50, OOO,-
600. Each herd is placed in charge Of
nil n;.rkt To fa,,
boys, q provision wagon and a cook.
Four horses are supplied to each cow
boy, for the duty is an arduOus one.
The range cattle when away from their
accustomed haunts are suspicious and
excitable, and need to be managed with
the greatest care to keep them from
stampeding. When ION trail' they
are ''close herded" at nightfall, and all
lie down within a space of about two
acres. The cowboys then by watches
ride around them ali night long. The
sensible presence of man appears to
give the animals feeling of security.
The journey from Southern Texas to
Montana requires from four to six
months. Herds are also driven from
Oregon and Washington Territory TO
Wyoming and Eastern Montana. 1t is
impossible for one who has not had
actual experience in riding on trair'
to imagine the difficulties involved in
driving large herd of wild cattle over
the mountain ranges, across desert
lands where III some cases food and
water are not found for many miles.
and where streams must be crossed
which are liable to dangerous freshets.
A large part of the northern ranges
is embraced in the area which Silas
Bent, an accomplished meterolOgist
terms 'the birthplace of the tornado"
Thunder and lightning are here fire.
quent, and they are especially terrifying
to range cattle. The most thrilling in
cident in the life of the cowboy occurs
on the occasion of a thunderstorm at
night Such an occurrence is thus de-
scribed from personal observation by
Mr.. William A. Baillie Grohman, an
English writer:
.On the approach of one of these
violent outbursts the whole force is Or
dered on duty the spare hOrses-oi
which each man has always three, and
fully fed and tethered, and the herd is
rounded up that is. collected into as
small space as possible. while the men
continue to ride around the densely
massed herd. Like horses, cattle do
rive courage from the close proximity
of man. The thunder peals, and the
vivid lightning flashes with amazing
brilliancy, as with lowered heads the
herd eagerly watch the slow, steady
pace of the c0w-pOnies, and no doubt
derive from it a comforting sense of pro-
lection. Sometimes, however. q wild
steer will be unable to control his terror.
and will make q dash through q conve-
nicnt opening. The crisis is at hand,
for the example will surely be followed,
and in two minutes the whole herd of
four thousand head will have broken
through the line of horsemen and be
away. one surging. believing mass Of
terrified beasts. Fancy q pitch-dark
night, a pouring torrent of rain. the
ground not only entirely strange to the
men. but very broken, and
full of dangerously steep water
courses and hOllows, and you will have
q picture of cowboy duty on such q
night. They must head off the leaders.
Once fairly oil. they will stampede
twenty, thirty and even forty miles at .
stretch. and many branches will stray
from the main herd. Not alone the
reckless rider. rushing headlong ut
break neck pace over dangerous
ground in dense darkness, but also the T!
horses, small, insignificant beasts. but |
matchless for hardy endurance and viii |