Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-04-27
ON A SHEEP RANCH.
DISMAL LIFE LED BY THE WRETCHED
MEXICAN HERDERS.

An Excruciating Monotony About the
Business of Sheep-Herding-Th Nexi-
can Herder on Duty-Hard Work and
Far from Exci:ing-Dogs.
This is fine sheep country about here,
and the principal ranch on Calamity creek
il said to be the largest in the state don't
know the exact number Of sheep owned by
the proprietor of this ranch, but it must run
up into the hundreds of thousanda Twenty
years ago he was a bankrupt wool merchant,
in feeble health; to-day he is rudy -faced,
hale and hearty man Of 20, whose check is
good for slO0,oOo any day. With an
original plant Of so ewes, his flock
has steadily increased to its present
proportions and they literally roam
on thousand hills Sheep re-
quire a good 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 him
self. 1t requires peculiar sort of business
sagacity to manage sheep and make the in
vestment paying one Out here they are
principally Mexicans, although necessity
forces a few white men to turn to the busi-
They never stay long at it, however There
is an excruciating monotony about sheep
herding which causes q white man to wish
he had never been born after few months
experience. Now that the railroad has been
put through great many big sheep men
are importing Cinnamon from California to
take the place of the Mexicans, who require
great deal of watching.
THE MEXICAN sHEEP-HERDER
The wants OF Mexican sheep-herder are
few. His ration is a half peck Of corn
meal, a handful OF salt and double hand
full of chilies per day. With this humble CON-
missariat he viii keep up life His idea of
luxury is an occasional dram Of mescai Or
aguaudiente and plenty of cora husks and
tobacco out of which he manufactures that
Indispensable accessory to Mexican well
being, the cigaro 4 Mexican usually en-
cages in shsep-herding at a tender age and
once began rarely reinauishes it. A Mex
lean is conservative and content with the
established order of things They have
made no progress in go years This fact
makes them good sheep-herders Conserva-
tism and lack Of progress are prime re-
quisites in sheep-herder After a years
faithful apprenticeship at sheep herding .
Mexican boy has the trade learned and is
ready to peon himself for life He usu-
ally does have known Mexican herler,
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 a century. That is where
sheep-herding pays
We will suppose, by way Of illustration,
that practical herder has been engaged to
run a flock, and in the early morning, as
the first gray streaks of dawn appear in the
eastern sky he ssllies forth to take charge
Of his woody flock, who are Just beginning
to awake and leave their bedding place IL
he is 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 orns- |
ment, 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 protect his legs from
the sharp thorns through which he will be
forced to march These are kept in place
by a crimson, orange or blue sash, over
which is buckled broad belt full Of car
tridges On his head is tbs inevitable SOM
brero, with its ornamentation 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 a sharp butcher knife
THE HERDER WHEN ON DUTY.
As the sheep begin to move OF be saun-
tors slowly along behind them, keeping q
sharp lookout for straggIers. Sheep do not
travel fast, but they keep moving At
meridian they will begin to feed back to-
ward the bedding place. There the herder
will eat his humble dinner of tortillas and
chill, washed down by a draught Of water,
II he Is fortunate enough to be in the vicin-
ity of a spring or water hole. About SUM-
down the sheep will reach their camp and
begin to select beds for the night The
herder has a rude shelter near by He
builds himself a fire and cooks his tortillas
Possibly he may have killed a quail or o
jack rabbit during the day. II So he makes
a savory soup. Then he smokes his cigaro
and walks around the flock to see that none
are missing IL all is well he returns to his
lamp and, rolling himself in his serape, lies
Town. He may have good nights sleep
and he may not A careful herder will be
aroused if a single sheep moves and will i'm
rise up to see what Is the matter.
II a bear or cougar or hger-cat is lurking
about he will hunt for the varmint and
either kill him or brighten him away.
Above all things he must guard against
for if the -mid sheep once get
VAT teu tDeie II 10 SloppiuS tneui-tno uefU |
would become scattered, many would be
ost and the herder would be charged up
With the missing sheep
In the lambing season his duties are more
lrduous and he is often up all night Then
lie must watch for the appearance of -scab"
" any of the other countless diseases to
winch sheep are subject and report to the
,aptain who makes known the fact through
be regular channel TO the ranch superin-
endent Ii it is the scab the sheep are
lriven up to the ranch and run through q
lip. 1 helped dip a lot of sheep once 1t is
lard work and far from exciting. In fact,
very thing pertaining to sheep is like the
oolish animals, tame and embarrassing
The sheep are sheared once a year, usually
n May. This is the sheep mans harvest
md the big pile Of wool which rewards him
epresents the profits Of the business
Some Of the herders have dogs-doys Pc
uliar to the frontier, with more or less
wolf blood in their veins They are . surly
md unsocial brute and far from handsome
they are susceptible, however, of a high de-
,ree Of education and their sagacity in the :
natter Of tending sheep is something
l have known dogs that would
lerd :, 900 sheep, unaided, and never lose an
nimal The sheepmen oppose dogA They
ay it makes the herders lazy and careless
they neglect their duty and depend upon
he Judgment and sagacity Of the dog to run
Cor. Philadelphia Times