West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1886-04-09

OAl Aut iduEts III lnfTH
was any way To trace the ownership OF
these strays il would be found that
nearly ali of them belonged to poor
people. There arc hundreds Of people
going from the Eastern States to the
far West every year. Many travel i'm
wagons; and others have money enough
to charter cars for their household
effects and their stock. Every family
takes with IL from five to ten cows. The
emlgrants find locality that suits him.
and stakes out his homestead He
doesn brand his cattle, for the reason
thSt unbranded they are worth two
dollars moro per head on account of
the hide. They increase and i'm "A wear
or so the settler has quite herd of un-
branded cattle. There are hundred
more just like him The first thing he
knows they have wandered of He
can trace them. and he couldn't claim
them if he found them i'm any ones
possession, because they bear no brand,
consequently his little herd become
wanderers, and are finally taken up by
the cowboys Formerly all unbranded
strays belonged to the party of COW
boys who found them. They were
joined with the herd on the trail, and
driven i'm with the rancher's cattle.
The rancher paid the COWBOYS the mar
ket price for the strays, and branded
them as his property The money was
divided pro rata among the party.
Nowadays this is all changed All un-
branded cattle taken up are sold, and
the money received for them is placed
in the treasury of the Ranchers' So
ciety. The amount raised in that way
pays the entire expense of running the
society.
lit is surprising what a trifling thing
| VIII start stampede that NAV cost
many lives and the loss of hundreds of
cattle before 1T can be controlled.
was coming up the Texas trail once
with party of cowboys. We had four
thousand cattle in the bunch One of
the boys opened his tobacco pouch to
get a chew. The wind blew shred or
two of the fine-cut out of his fingers.
The tobacco hoated away and lodged
in steers eye. In moment the eye
began to- smart, and the steer got wild.
Its antics started others, and i'm ten sec
onds the whole herd was surging and
dashing about, out Of all control. Ii
was two days before we got the herd
working quietly again. Two of our
best boys were trampled to death and
four hundred cattle were lost
"Hall-storms are greatly dreaded by
cowboys on the trail, especially if they
come at night when the cattle are sleep
ing IL Maidstone happens 10 strike a
steer IN tho eye stampede is sure to
follow. He springs to his feet, and in
thrashing around tramps on the tails
of others. They jumpup in pain. The
herd is alarmed, and before anv thing
can be done the whole lot are off like a
flash. The bark of coyote, when
every thing is still at night, is sufficient
to stampede herd. A blade of grass,
blown along by the wind, frequently
strikes n steer in the eye. The pain
that follows will set him wild, and he
can soon have the herd on the run
across the country at twenty-mile-an-
hour gait.
at is during stampedes that the
cowboy has work to do. His one great
object is to keep the flying herd to-
gether. He urges his mustang dead
against the advancing column of fran
tic cattle at the constant risk Of his life.
and works the cattle gradually in n
circle. The cowboys all ride to the
right around stampeding herd. If
they can get the cattle to running in a
circle, the first important step in con-
trolling them is accomplished have
been with party in stampede when
we were obliged to ride around a herd
for n distance of over two hundred
miles before we got it under control
and then it was only twenty-five miles
| from where the stampede started. I'm
all that time not one of us took mo-
ments rest or a bite to eat. Such
things can't DE thought of during a
! stampede.
Next to stampede, the cowboy
breads the taking Of a herd of cattle
across stream. The cattle are taken
| across IN punches of twenty-five or
| thirty. The cowboy strips all his cloth
ing of, and swims his horse along with
the cattle. Sometimes the bunch NAV
be taken across and landed ON the
other side without any trouble, but the
cowboy is always expecting to have a
case OF milling on his hands before he
| gets the bunch across. have before
now brought bunch Of cattle safely
TO almost within reach of the opposite
shore, when the sudden appearance of
jack rabbit on the bank would scare
steer. and back he would turn. I'm a
moment the whole bunch would be
swimming wildly. round and round. i'm
the middle Of the stream. This is
called milling, and it is the work of
hours to break up the mill and get the
cattle started for the shore again. I'm
doing this it is often necessary for the
cowboy TO plunge from his horse and
swim about among the cattle, often
/ getting on their horns or astride of
/ them. The water is generally filled
I with running ice. but the sun is scorch-
/ ing hot. The bunch drifts down stream
sometimes for miles before the milling
/ Is broken. The cottonwood trees along
\ these stream are usually loaded with
/ hornets nests. The moment a hornet
I sees the cattle floating down the stream
under the trees he drops down on them.
/ followed by numbers of his fellow col
onists, and they plant their singers
| wherever they drop. I have been so
badly stung while fighting a mill thai
my head would swell so that could
not wear my hat. raid of hornets
/ generally breaks up the milling of the
cattle attacked, for tho animals can't
stand the stings and they make for
shore Many good cowboy has been
drowned in trying 10 break up a mill
IN mid-stream. II is not uncommon
Tor party 10 spend three weeks or A
month IN getting herd Of four thou
sand cattle across a stream
These are only few Of the hard
ships cowboy has TO undergo i'm doing