Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1892-06-25
WHAT Miyln,G



~ snw something In paper the
other day" said an old Texan yesicf.
day." about cowboys and incid untaliy
about mavericks"
IL may not come Rmlss Just here TO
explain What maverick" II and how
the term originated. For better uu-
derstandlng OF what Ia In follow II l.
necessary % state, for the Information
OF those who never Visited the Lone
star state, that they brand all horses
aud cattle out there. And by the way,
] saw n Texas pony ON the streets
here In Louisville few days ago bear.
ing genuine reNas brand.
Wen u go back 10 the subject, II II
necessary to brand cattle anu horses Ia
that state IN orier 10 establish the
ownership. Every owner OF n brand
has It regularly recorded In the County
CLERKS office, ami II becOmgs vested
chattlo interest lust A. any other pro.
perty and may be anu frequently Ia
sold aud transferred by bill Of sale. 1t
has happened many times Ia the
history oi Texas that long anu costly
litigAtions have been carried on 20 de-
tormine the riyhtul owner Of u brand.
Cattle aud horses run ut large In
Texas aui It Is absolutely necessary TO
brand them IA order to secure to the
owners tho rights Of property. And
when q brand once gets on an animal,
even wrOngfully, II takes mighty
strong testimony TO convince n court
that the owner OF the brand ha.
"mnverickcd" the animal. The pres.
encc OF the brand IA nlwAya taken by
thu court ~ prinln iacir evidence OF
OwnoHhip, nni the whole burden OF
proof falls upon the other party.
saw an amusing test Of this very
point In court Of law In Texas onCC.
A family had n yearling heller which
had been reared about the house Ms q
pet, being confined all her life In the
COW pen. One day she broke out and
had not got 100 yards from thv house
WHOM cowboy came along and
"punuhod" his brand ON her. The
fightful owner went 10 law ~ recover
| his animal anu every member Of his
/ family swdTs poiut blank 10 the ident-
/ ity OF the animal, yet the prairie
| pirate got It 10y virtue Of his brand.
/ Ofclursa the pirates attorney got the
owner OF the animal badly mixed up
on tho points Of Identification, tut
| there was hardly maa VINO heard tho
| case but what was satisfied In hiJ own
mind that Justice misCsrTied that day.
some years ago man named Nave
rick located near Austin, Tex, and
went into the stock business. He had
considerable money aud established n
/ large ranch, mostly Of cattle, lie was
what might he termed progressive
man, but his idea. OF progress were moi
| u. -. a. atafH EuF Ia.
stance, hs concluded that branding
cattle was useless, In fact bsrbarous,
| and ne determined that the read hot
| iron should never again he pressed
against the side Of au animal belong
lug TO him. He kept his word, but h,
| didn't keep his cattle. This was d
regula lcnic for the cowboys OF tina,
| loCnlitS, sho OF all things could never
be accused ~ being NJ sll rcrupulou.
on questions n honor, especially wher
there was steer involved In the case,
Well, the cowboys picked up Nave
rlck's cattle wherever they could I'M
them anu it was not long before every
| huOf Of them was gone amt he wa,
reduced 10 almost poverty, Ever since
that every unbranded head OF oAttl,
over six months OF ago has been cslleJ
maverick, and 10 regarded by TIT
cowboy VA the property OF him whS
hf.t fiuds II aud stioks his brani on 1t.
There IL a great deluslou existing N
the minds OF Northern and Eastern
people in regard 10 the cowboy ant hi
profession. A kind VI romance appear
10 attach itAolf to him that has fas
ciuation for n groat many people
especially boys.
Now, there never was greater mis-
take. A more ordinary specimen o
humanity than the average cowboy
could hardly be found Ia auy country
lie IL commonplace In appearance, h
mind, In impulses aud, in fact, IL
everything that goes u make up
man. Ills occupation II the drudger!
OF all creation, Notwithstanding n yer!
foolish notion that exists thar II Ia
romantic and easy life.
What romance Is there Ia riding nj
day, from early IN the morning I'll
late at night, over an endless mons
tTOus prairie, rounding up catlle2 Ere
uuently tho cowboys nave TO ride nj
night long ON distant drives, or whe
thurc Ia stampede In thu hord an
some get away. These aTo bis never
changing du,les Ia all kinds VI weather
/ aud N any One can hgure out whef
the romance comes ia will give hiI
credit l0t being smart man or fool.
Then the "csw punchers" live har
, In other ways, sud do not stretch IN
truth when emphasize this by sayin
that he lives "toush." His usual di,
Ia hRlf.bToiled bacon nnd dry breR
washed down 10y tsuk water, on while
T u six'lnch green scum stands all sun
a mer. These arc plain, solid facts thl
+. every Que who knows the daily rDun
/ OF duty VI the cowboy win unhesila
4 lngly verify. OF course, much moi
e cnul be said In detail about the hart
h shipsoi the cowboys life, but this
q sufficient 10 warn all "iancy.slruck
o yOung Americans 10 look ahead II
Ito before they 20 West ~ 10 COW boy