The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1886-03-26

W.
dollars month. and :hat i puttspy l,
well up. lie Is Obliged 10 fi1i ~ IN.
l1s puinf. except his horses. Ihess
e"Ig 10 the ranchers.
Hut then there i another way In
cowboy y fitted out n b. hn<n't
money enough 20 buy his own. IN
rancher will rig him up. The COW boy
y furnished with the necessary nrti-
Giles, and the rancher charges him 4
good round price for them. and keeps
hftcen dollars month out II hjs wny..-
70 pay on them III he has gooi Inc \
ne will have his outfit paid ar AZ The
end II the season. but he y m di-cox.r
mat large part u il will have 10 he
renewed before he goes on the range
the next year.
The average pay Of . cowioy. tax
ing the work as il runs. on the north
and south ranges. will not exceed
twenty-five dollars = month. A Great
many 81 the cowboys have families ~
Their own. or perhaps parents or other
relatives. 10 support By no possible
stroke Of fortune can cowboy have
more than six months work m the
year on the ranges The average i.
below that. especially in Wyoming and
Montana His raiions corn meal aud
bacon-are found hy the ranchers. The
cowboys principal personal expense i
tobacco. That he feels unable 10 r4r
along without. and il will cost him AT
81 i've dollars a month. 80. admitting
that he has six months work. he takes
one hundred and twenty dollars home
with him to keep himself. and probably
Others. through the long and rigorous
winters II the great West. A. rule
the cowboys live in the back towns.
Tar away from the railroads. This il
especially the case with those native
born a. great majority Of them are.
The cowboys seen lonnging around the
railroad towns are mostly Young men
who haye gone from the East. There
= nothing to which the great body If
the cowboys can turn their hands IN
these isolated regions during the win
ter A few are hired ~ hunters and
trappcrs 10 accompany them IL their
grounds. Some. from choice.
remain On The ranches. and help take
care If the home stock. but Sor this
they receive no pay. a the ranchers
have their hired m en- for that work.
:. II may easily be seen. then. that
the cowboys have . serious struggle
against actual want. and. such i the
system II 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 il not the
worst Of H. The moment manis dis
charged by any member u the Ranch
ers' Society his name Is sent 10 every
other member. The name il turned 10
N the books Of each ranch. and a black
mark placed opposite IL That j. called
black listing the cowboy. lie might
A. well leave the country nj once.
These facts about the Ranchers' So
;iety have only recently been found
,uf. and then only BY the bitter expert
noes VI men who had protested. in the
name Of their families. against the
starvation wages the rancherS paid
HEM More than that. members OF
The rAnchcr~' clique have issued orders
TO their men thar they must not spend
my time in reading books or new<pa-
pcrs- ! don't know what this means.
inless il Is desired by the ranchcrs that
he cowboys shall not keep thcm<elvc.
Informed n 10 the labor movements II
ne day. Such Of the cowboys As are
'bie 10 read-and even 10 them the op-
'c-trnity 70 do 20 rarely comes-rc-
,ard this order a tyrannical in the ex-
RENE
The despotic system II the RanchcrS'
society has slowly awakened the 10
ated cowboys 70 the necessity Of hav- |
NJ league ~ their own. or u bccom- I
NJ members II some labor oryaniza- !
ion. BY which they may be enabled ~ I
ct in unison and compel compliance
nth their just demands. They are
aiking the matter up all they dare;
MI scattered a they are over hun
reds of miles Of almost uninhabifed
ountry. the possibility II their organ
hing in q special league by themselves
remote They have heard in 4 gcn-
raj way Of the Knights If Labor. II
part ~ my mission here. unofIicially.
, see whether the ten thousand cow
oys II the West can not he admitted
, that organization and have the ben
lit 81 is strong arm in fighting the en-
81 the millionaire cattle .
wners' monopoly.
The great billiards and snow |
orms Of the West are among the best :
gents the big land grabbers have in
lontana. Wyoming and other Terrific ;
- In Montana especially the cattle {
all brands are turned loose in the !
u after the beef gathering has taken I
ace and the fat cattle sent on 10 {
arkef- When winter comes on the
srds drift together until there will be
~ Be- twenty-five or thirty thousand
title punched. BY and by there comes 4
snow storm. and the bunch grass i 4
'vercd up beneath two fees Of snow. ! =
he storm is SURE 10 b. followed ~ (
2 fall in temperature The mercury a
III 50 70 may be thirty degrees below y
10. Then all nutrimenf leaves the q
u prairie grass on which the cattle 8
we fed since the bunch grass was
owed under. The herd becomes 4
azcd with hunger. and q stampede y
lows The great body If the starry d
= cattle start south like an ava I.
nche, hetding straight for local. il
e Niir-s homestcads have been Il