Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1886-03-25

DdcOh-tic loNnu DN lnt IanCncfe. inc
cowboys principal personal expense Is
tobacco. That he feels unable to get
along without, aud il win cost him all
OF five dollars month So, admitting
that he has six months work, he takes
one hundred and twenty dollars home
with him TO keep himself, and probably
others, through tho long and rigorous
winters Of the great West. As {. ruie.
the cowboys live in the back towns,
far away from the railroads. This Is
especially the case with those native
born, as a great majority of them arc.
The cowboys seen lounging around the
railroad towns are mostly young men
who have gone from the East There
Is nothing to which the great body of
the cowboys can turn their hands in
these isolated regions during the win
ter A few are hired by hunters and
trappers to accompany them to their
hunting grounds. Some, from choice,
remain on the ranches. and help take
care of the home stock, but for this
they receive no pay, as the ranchers
have their hired men for that work.
at may easily be seen, then, that
the cowboys have serious struggle
against actual want, and, such Is the
system Of the Ranchers' Society, they
dare not protest Experience has
taught them that 10 ask for an increase
in wages means immediate discharge
from the service. But that is not the
worst of t. The moment manis dis
charged by any member of the Ranch
ers' Society his name is sent to every
other member. The name is turned to
In the books of each ranch, and a black
mark placed opposite t. That is called
black listing the cowboy. He might
as well leave the country at once.
These facts about the 'Ranchers' So
ciety have only recently been found
ont, and then only by the bitter expert
ences OF men who had protested, in the
name Of their families, against the
starvation wages the ranchers paid
them. More than that, members Of
the rancherz' clique have issued orders
to their men that they must not spend
any time in reading books OF new~pa-
pers. / don't know what this means,
unless it is desired by the ranchers that
the cowboys shall not keep themselve, ,
informed as TO the labor movements Of
the day. Such of the cowboys as are
able to read-and even to them the OPP
portunity TO do so rarely comes-re-
gard this order as tyrannical in the ex-
treme.
'The despotic system Of the Ranchers'
Society has slowly awakened the $50
lated cowboys to the necessity of hav-
ing league Of their own, or of becom-
ing members of some labor organiza-
ton, by which they may be enabled to
act in unison and compel compliance
with their just demands. They are
talking the matter up all they dare;
but, scattered as they are over hun
dreds Of miles Of almost uninhabited
country, the possibility. their organ
izing in special league by themselves
IS remote. They have heard in a gem
eral way of the Knights of Labor. II
is part of my mission here, unofficially,
to see whether the ten thousand cow
boys of the West can not be admitted
70 that organization and have the ben
eft Of its strong arm in fighting the en-
croachments of the millionaire cattle
owners monopoly.
'The great blizzards and snow
storms of the West are among the best
agents the big land grabbers have in
Montana, Wyoming and other Terrific
ries. In Montana especially the cattle
OF all brands are turned loose in the
fall after the beef gathering has taken
piase and the fat cattle sent off TO
market When winter comes on the
herds drlk together Kntil there will be
may be .stY-fye cor &c., thousand
% bun ncht...- by and by thei eornc I, d.
snow storm, and the bunch grass L
covered up beneath two feet Of snow.
Inc storm Is sure to be followed by a
Dig iall IN temperature. The mercury
VIII go 10 may be thirty degrees below
zero Then all nutriment leaves the
tan pralr1e grass on which the cattle
nave fed since the bunch grass was
showed under The nerd becomes
cIazed '1iih hunger, and a stampede
follows. The great body of the stary-
ing cattle start south like an ava
lanche, heading straight for local
itles where homestcads have been
taken up in the greatest number.
They bear down on the settlements
and besiege the homesteaders. who
vsinly try to keep them OF with their
Tilles They shoot the hungry animals
down by the hundred, and sometimes
manage TO hold them in check until
their ammunition is exhausted. Then
the fight must end. The cattle sweep
down on the homesteads. and not onlT
eat up every vestigeof hay the home
steaders have stored up for their own
small herds, but tear down the houses
and outbuildings which the settler
builds out of tfe prairie sod, and de-
your the rOSts OF the grass that remain
succulepf in the sod. Homesteads.
hundfeds at a time, are cleaned nm bv
q herd OF hungry cattle, quickly and
thoroughly, on n single stampede.
Then the herd continues ON its wav
taking the homesteader's herd of two
or three hundred with it. and leaves
him a homeless, ruined man. He may
have his homestead all clear Of the
government claim, but be IN debt for
cattle or supplies. He can't pay, and |
the creditor comes on him, takes his |
saddle and whatever he may have left.
"The homesteader is DISCOURAGED
The wake Of the stampedine herd Il |
quickly followed by the agent of a bio
lano owner. He makes the DISCOURAGED |
settler an offer for his claim. and 9be
settler nine time out Of ten, is glad to
accept the offer. The chances are
that ne VIII turn cowboy or hire out as
a herder Tor some small cattle grower
on a range. The agent of the land
grabber may secure in this way inn
mense areas Of much-coYeted land for
ms employer which he could get in no
other way unless he paid a fair price.
which he never viii do. II Is no infre-
quent thing for one Of these agents TO
says 4 wish there would come a good
neeze-out. We want more home
steads.'