The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-06-16

edge. weighed 1000 pounds, ana one
weighed six and one-half pounds, strawber-
ries. two or three of which laid on the top
of a basket would agonize Sybarlte, and
everything else in proportion
Sunposing our ranchman, now, TO be IN
haony possession OF his water rights, In the
catechism of his duty there are just three
things which. so far as | am able TO learn,
comprehend the whole of his life: First,
he has no meadow to convert into rich
Golden hay for the salva'iU of his herds
and fiocks. and that is the same here as In
the east; C2) he has the whole interesting pro-
cess of breeding. branding, ''roundiDg-up,"
''cutting-outn and fattening his horses aud
his cattle-and this Is peculiarly western
and cowboyish; and ~ he seems bound by
some hidden law to spend two months In
the mountains. prospecting" for gold and
bunting elk, deer and grizzlies don't re-
member any week in my life more danger
ous and exciting than the past week spent
at a general roundup" OF all the cattle on
certain large range. Let me see If L can
paint the scene.
"a GENERAL ROUNDUP"
This was the notice mailed week before
to a hundred owners aud cowboys who had
cattle on this Baca grant. Language out
on the plains has a certain use not down In
Webster. The gathering of cattle together
from any large range where they have been
running all winter is called a roundup"
The wild dash OF the cowboys into the gath
cred herd to separate the brands of his
owner is called cutting out" A party
setting out from a ranch, consisting of the
owner and several cowboys, together with
two or three horses apiece and camp
wagon with provisions, is termed an "out-
ft.''
A cowboys whip is "a quirp," his leath-
ern trousers are called 'chapparals;" his
high-pommeled saddle, without buckle, is
said to be "cinched;" everything is tied up
with buck hide, and might be called gen
eral state of "bonds and tied-upness." The
general cussedness of these mountain
horses, who seem to take an exquisite and
hereditary delight in all forms Of malevolent
attempts to unseat the rider, Is called
, 'bucking." This will suffice to enable us
to understand what follows Our outfit,
consisting of the owner, two cowboys and
one tender-foot, started early In the morn
ing, and after a ride of 40 miles over the
hot, burning alkali prairie, reached this
grant of 1 100000 Oh acres, 10 miles
! square, now owned by a Boston company,
who gave $250,O00 for it. The camp was
located in the northwest corner of the
grant, and when we reached it at dusk was
about as lively as seventy-hve cowboys,
/ Mexicans, Indians and natives could well
make it. Oaths aud ribald jests greeted the
arrival of every outfit, and woe to the I'M
fortunate tenderfoot who made his appear
ance in the smallest remnant of the gsrb of
civilization-for him was reserved the
choicest specimens of cowboy wit, and for
him was designed the most fiendish tricks of
the prairie imagination.
Apart from such gentle explosives as
'Shoot that hatp' take off those store
clothesT plots of more alarming nature
were devised against his peace of mind
Woe to him if he accepted any specious
offer to saddle his broncho for HMM the
midst of some exciting dash after an irate
bull, his saddle would become uncinched
and his body deposited on the ground, COW
cred with prickly cactus. Every cowboys
horse seemed to take to "bucking" the
moment he approached, and he might con-
slider himself lucky if he escaped serious
|. damage. He was given the most impossi-
Pble tasks to accomplish; if a steer was ION
the fight" he was told to take after it and
''round it up"-it generally ended by the
, steer taking after him and rounding him
J up" for that day at least
A DESCRIPTION OF THE COWBOY.
The cowboy of the west is certainly an
linstitution peculiar to these vast prairies
and TO no other part of the world. AS you
see him In his flannel shirt and chapparals,
with broad sombrero, cincted with leather,
seated on his huge saddle, with his lasso
hanging to the pummel and his outfit
girded on behind-the fierce broncho,
either by humping up his back and coming
down on his all-fours or by standing on his
fore and hinging his hind legs up to the
stars, unable ito STIR his rider-he certainly
! presents picturesque appearance. His
headquarters, and headquarters, too, are
/ always in the saddle, and he soon learns to
fride like a centaur. No finer sight any
where can be seen than cowboy, mounted
on his fleet but sure-footed pony, giving
7 spha RI a
as full OF dash and undaunted mettle as the
man himself. Away they fly across the
prairie at lightning speed then, suddenly, as
squick as thought, the bovine turns and
Efdoubles on his course, while the pony and
Frider follow with equal celebrity. Again
and again they turn, the pony following
! every movement of the animal it is pur-
suing, and none but a skilled and
swell-trained rider can keep his
seat in the saddle throughout
the chase. Accidents are not infrequent
even among these champion riders. but in
! almost every instance they result from an
] unexpected stumble of the pony into hole.
FLOR the prairie is lined with prairie dog and
tbadger holes. The wages of these men are
Efrom S25 to $50 per month, and, as they
Ehave no expense for food for themselves or
E.horse, it might be supposed that they would
l,slowly invest their savings in small herd
kof their own, but such is not the case They
are an lmprovldent set, and the money easily
learned goes into the faro banks and gam
Filling dens AS class they are from the
sMexicans and natives, but among
them, strange to say, are found
degenerate sons of the English nobility
land black sheep from the wealthy families
kof the east. Something in the freedom of
Fife out on the plains-its complete and un-
restrained liberty, the wild. dashing cam
T1derie-exerts a charm which they are
unable to throw off, and the empty place
at home signs for a form. dressed as a cow
boy, fitting hIther and hither over the
plains, which never will come home again.
= THE ROUNDUP
By midnight, quiet at last settled down
upon the camp; the last cowboy, folded in
his blanket was asleep; the last broncho
had stopped his neighing, and nothing fell
upon the wakeful tenderfoot but the howl
ing of the wolves and the roar of the
providing mountain lion. Beneath him was
comfortable hay-rick, and above the
clear, cold stars. Thoughts of home and
familiar scenes fitted through his wakeful
hours Golden-foot dawn came at last over
the snow-capped Sangre de Christie, the
mists folding their tents and fleeing away
from every gulch; a rosy color appearing
slowly on the snow, irradiating the whole
surface of the mountains; and then.
with a burst, the sun stands a moment