The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1890-10-03
srHE COWBOYS ROPE.
Not All tho Popular IDEAS About
Lariats Arc Correct
yyhorefn Cigarette Pictures and wild west
Shows Fail to Give Thoroughly Acou-
rate Idea of Life ON tho Range
Tho Cowboys High Heels.

Tho modern management of cattle
does not offer so extensive field for tho
nse of the lariat as the old system, says
the Kansas City Star. Up to within five
: or six years, to be good roper was ever
aQuestion in making ones estimate of
q good cowboy, and the boys were very
r Gcxtorous. Now, months may go with
OUT q rope being taken from the saddle,
and there arc people i'll the business
{ who could not rope their own horses.
"A lariat is usually of half-inch MANILA
rope and is about sixty feet long. AT
one end tho rope is bent backward and
spliced into itself, making an eyelet for
the ropo to run in and form the loop.
This eyelet is called tho hundoo, and as
the loop is grasped for throwing this
aaaszoo is two feet forward of the hand
ana by its weight assists in spreading
the loop as the roper whirls and throws
it.
The cowboy bred on the plains throws
big loop--twenty feet of rope in it
but the boys from Southern Texas, who
had their novitiate among trees and
5 brush, use a much smaller loop. In
throwing nothing but the loop is
handled with tho right hand, tho re-
serve rope being coiled loose in the left
While 60 feet is the usual limit of
a lariat, 1 havo witnessed an exhi-
ibition of roping wherein y slim boy
of twenty tied his rope to steer at a
distance of 104 feet. Tho rope is now
mostly confined to the branding pens
and the horse corrals. In the latter one
might as well be no roper as not, be-
cause tho horses have such fear of be-
s ing choked and thrown that any OF
them will stop still as statue in the
midst of the maddest charge the moment
a rope falls across his back. The bronco
regards himself as prey and spoil to
man the moment he feels ropo and
renders himself captive, rescue or no
rescue. The roping in the branding
pen does not call for q high grade of
skill, as the infant bovine, who is the
object of the meeting, is generally
standing, sad and downcast, Immediate
! ly between your pony's front legs. The
Ego" has all been run out of his little
legs and the gaycty driven from his
youthful heart long before ho was
crowded with his woc-begone com
panions into the circle of torture
s 1t is frequently necessary to run a
road brand on a herd OF grown cattle
which are intended to take tho trail for
long distances. This road brand assists
in their recovery in the event of
stampede, and even after year or two
1t is now put on while running the
cattle through q chute, but in tho times
which ante-dated chutes it was among :
cowpuncher's most exhaustive and ex-
asperating duties. Think of roping,
tying down and branding every member
of 2 herd-o 1905 head of wild and full
groin cattle on n fenceless plain! 1t
was like facing 1900 rounds of catch
as-catch-can wrestling with an expert
In roping big cattle great percent
age of success is dependent on your
pony. He must understand his part of
the business. A common accident to
careless cowboys and green ponies is to
have the saddle turned by side pull.
This means that you are pro tenn. a
scott and jeer to other cowpunchers, to
say nothing of having your SEQ saddle
torn to flinders by your agonized pony.
Outside of Wild West shows there Is
scarcely any of this headlong throwing
of heavy cattle which has common illus.
tration in cigarette pictures. Making
weak and grass-fed pony which weighs
less than coo pounds swap ends with a
1,200-pound steer is not lawn tennis,
and q cowboy knows a better way. When
his lariatis safe about tho victims horns
he, by steady pressure, brings him
to sullcn standstill; then, with the
rope loose on the ground, he rides
clear around the steer and incloscs all
his feet This done he spurs off like q
thundcrbolt and the steer is tripped on
his side. The moment he is down the
pony faces around so as TO make the
rope pull straight over his shoulders ard
permit him to watch the steer. The boy
has to have his pony at this point and it
is the pony's duty TO keep the steer from
regaining his feet. This he docs by
backing and by keeping steady strain
on the rope, thus holding tho steers
head along the ground While thus
posed the boy ties his helpless legs,
casts off his lariat and the trick is
turned.
1t is matter of laughter in tho East
the high, sharp heel OF a cowboys boot.
1t is popular fallacy that he affects
this heel in q gust of pride and to assist
in producing that jaunty waddle which
naturalists discover in the movements
OF a cowboy when on tho ground. This
is not SO. His sharp heels are as much
2 part OF his outfit as his leggins or his
Colt" Many of his combats with his
tumultuous wards come off on foot and
Al he did not possess these heels TO dig
into the ground in resistance he might
as wei! have on roller skates, as steer
would drag him all over the landscape.
It may have escaped the touring eye,
!. but this man of coWs Carries q mir Of