Mohave County miner., 1891-02-28
THE COWBOY MUST GO.
HIS DAY OF USEFULNESS Is
SURELY CLOSING.
Great Ranches Are Changing into
Modest Farms I'm which There
ID No Place for Breneos
and Daring Riaers.

Inc TINE IS nearing when the
genuine cowboy viii exist only In song
and story. Year by year his field Of
usofulneAs is becoming more and more
circumscribed, and ip the afterwhlle he
will gallop his faithful br6neho out be-
yond the horizon ef to-day's require
ments and possessions and become as
memory oi yesterday. He was q
creation OF necessity, and when the
needs for which he was created shall
disappear he viii be seen no more. Yet
he win be sadly missed. Standing as a
purely American type OF reckless, yet
withal manly bravery, his departure
viii rob us OF a daring exponent OF
truess freedom and liberty. The very
air OF his broad. illimitable prairies en-
genders in him sense Of unfettered
manhood. In history, as in the SEN
sat,onal literature OF the times, he will
be given place almost as prominent
as that accorded 10 the scout and the
Indian hunter. As their half-brother
he has occupied a unique position be-
tween ssvagery and civilization, COM
bining the freedom and romance Of the
former with the soborer practically Of
the latter.
The cowboy we read about has been
surrounded with more OF romance and
pioturesqueness than 1t is his good
fortune TO meet with In reality. His
life to many possesses q strange charm,
which In most minds is born of igno-
rance, concerning his real surroundings
as many youth who has left COM
Portable home TO become ranger OF
the prairies has found to his sorrow.
TO face all weathers day and night on
prairies long miles from the comforts
OF civilization, to make home OF a
couple OF blankets. to be almost totally
divorced from
Those finer arts that humanize mankind,
Soften the rude and calm the boisteruus
mind,
Is 10 most men not pleasant, in the full
sense OF the word. 1t Is life not cal
culated 10 morally uplift those who en'
gage In II, and when the cowboy il
gone, as go he must, the moralist will
not regret his going.
Next to Texas. Illinois and Iowa are
the greatest grazing and cattle-produc'
ing states. In the latter two there are
now no cowboys, nor will there be In
the former when the same conditions
prevail. The great ranches covered
with prairie grass and prsirie cattl,
will pass away. In their stead win b.
modest farms Of tame grasses, ant
small herds OF tame cattle, and th'
cowboys, with their dashing broneoi
and clanking spurs. will have no plac'
In the new order Of things. The gentle
kline will respond TO the ''co'boss" O
the farmer boy or leisurely comply
with the wishes Of the farmers faithful
shepherd dog. The stampede, tn,
roundup and the corral will pass away
and better, albeit a much less inter
esting order of things will take theil
places.
One who has never witnessed a STAN
pede of herd Of Texas cattle can form
but a very incorrect idea of the wilC
scene. Cowboys who have spent thei
lives on the plains have the creates
dread Of them knowing, as they do. th'
consequences that attend them. STAN
pedes may be occasioned from variou
causes, but In most cases they resul
from the sudden bursting upon the herr
of wind or hail storm. From tn,
prairies, which are usually in dry ash,
condition, a great cloud OF dust arises
which alarms the herd, and, despit.
the endeaYors Of the cowboys to hold
In subsection, it is up and away. Cat
tie that a moment before were peace
fully grazing seem 10 become imbue,
with spirit Of madness, their only de
sire being TO got away to some place a
rapidly as possible. Those at the sid
of the herd nearest the cowboys whel
the storm comes may be held wher
they are for time till the body OF tn
great herd comes crowding, rushing
on, tranpling everything before it
At such times cowboys are sometime
caught in the herd, and II their horse
are thrown or they become dismounte,
they are tramped TO death. II hOrs
and rider retain their feet and saddl
the only thing TO do Is TO ride with tn
wild herd until 1t Is brought to hal
from sheer exhaustion or some uuusua
feature Of the landscape, such as
river or a canon.