Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1886-04-16
LIFE ON A SHEEP RANCH.
THE DISMAL EXISTENCE OF THE
MEXICAN HERDERS.
Work that is Too MonotOnous for
White Men-A Sheep Herder's
WantS-The Daily Routine.

here, anu tHt pllhClIldl ldlCl VII I didllltl
creek is said to be the largest in the
State, writes Texas correspondent l
don't know the exact number of sheep
owned by the proprietor of this ranch,
but it must run up into the hundreds of
thousands. Twenty years ago he was a
bankrupt wool merchant, in feeble
health; to-day be is ruddy- faced, hale
and hearty man of seventy, whose check
is good for a hundred thousand any day.
With an original plant of 500 ewes, his
flock has steadily increased to its present
proportions, and they literally roam on a
thousand hills. Sheep require a great
deal of care and attention, and every
man who undertakes sheep raising is not
successful at it. A man who invests in
horned cattle will get rich in spite of
himself. 1t requires a peculiar sort of
bus,ne sagacity to manage sheep
and make the investment
paying one. A herder is
with the sheep night and day. Out here
they are principally MeXicans, although
nee essity forces few white men to turn
TO the business temporarily as a means Of
livelihood. They never stay long at it,
however. There is an excruciating
monotony about sheep herding which
causes a white man to wish he had never
been born after few months experience.
The wants of a Mexican sheep hcrder
are few. His ration is a half peck Of
corn meal, handful of salt and double
handful of chiles per day. With this
humble commissariat he will keep up life.
His idea of luxury is an occasional dram
of mcscal or ayOudiente and plenty of
corn huSks and tobacco, out of which he
manufactures that indispensable accessory
to Mexican well being, the cigaro. A
Mexican usually engages in sheep herd
ing at tender age, and once began
rarely relnquishes it. A Mexican is
conservative and content with the estab-
lished order of things. They have made
no progross in $50 years. This fact makes
them good sheep herders. Conservatism
an lack of progre' s are prime requisites
in sheep herder After years faithful
apprenticeship at sheep herding a MeXi-
can boy has the trade learned and is
ready to peon himself for lie. He Usually
does. | have known a Mexican herder,
after twenty years faithful service,
to die as many hundred dollas in debt
to the man whose flock he has carefully
tcndt d for quarter of a century. That is
where sheep herding pays l suppose my
friend, the sheep king, from whose ranch
this letter is dated, has in his employ 250
Mexican herders, or rather Mexicans who
understand herding, and venture to say
that not one of these $50 is out of his
debt.
The most rigid discipline is maintained
The herlers are divided into squads and
each squad has its captain, whose bust
ness 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
ranch superintendent, who is surrounded
by an able staff of assistants, each with
his particular portion of the great bust
ness to look after and manage Over all
is the owner of the ranch, who, you may
depend, keeps Il sharp eye after his hire
lingS.
We will suppose, by the way of illus
tration, that a practical herder has been
! engaged to run flock and early in the
morning. as the first gray streaks of dawn
appears in the Eastern sky; he sallies
forth to take charge Of his wooIly flock,
who are just beginning to awake and
leave their bedding place. If he is Il
| Mexican he looks extremely pictusesque
! in his bright blue jacket, with its dou-
bic row of silver buttons, which, by the
way, are not for use, but so.ely for ona-
ment for IA Mexican never buttons his
jacket, else he would hide his gaudy cal
! leo shirt. On his neither limbs are leg
gings of leather or buckskin to protect
his legs from the sharp thorns through
which he will be forced to march. These
are kept in pla 'e by crimson, orange OIL
blue SASH over which is buckled broa
belt full of cartridges. On his head is
the inevitable sombrero, with its orna-
mentation of gold and silver lace. If he
is sensible man his serape will be tied
over one shoulder and under the opposite
arm, and he will carry Winchester
rifle, and sharp butcher knife.
AS the sheep begin to move
off he saunters slowly along be-
hind them keeping sharp lookout
for stragglers. Sheep do not travel fast,
but they keep moving. AT about merid
ian they will begin to feed back toward
the bedding place There the herdei
will eat his humble dinner of tortiIlas
and chill washe down by draught OF
water, if he is fortunate enough to be il
the vicinity of spring or water hole.
About sundown the sheep will reach
their camp and begin to select beds foi
the night. The herder has a rude shelter
near by. He builds himself fire and
cooks his tortillas. Possibly he may
have killed a quail or jack rabbit
during the day. If so he makes savory
soup. Then he smokes his cigaro and
walks around the flock to see that none
are missing. If all is we'll he returns tC
his camp, and, rolling himself in hi
serape, lies down. He may have good
nights sleep and he may not. A careful
herder will be aroused if single sheer
moves and will Immediately rise elp tC
see what is the matter. If bear or 1
cougar or tiger cat is lurking about ht
will hunt for the varmint and either xii
him or frighten him away. Above al
things he must guard against STAN
pede for if the timid sheep once get
started there is no stopping them-tht
herd would become scattered, many
would be lost, and the herder would b'
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 ana il
ready to take up the march again. Imag
inc what a picnic man must have whC
performs this dreary routine for three
hundred and sixty-five days in the year
In the lambing season his duties ar,
more arduous and he is often up all night