St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-09-26
TLKAs WITH A COWBOY.
He Says Indians Cannot Ride, and
{ Tells Some Very Good Stories.

Julian Ralph in Harper's Weekly.
{ "Folks East think the Indians are
1such inc riders. We cowboys may be
iconceited, but we don't think an Indian
can ride for sour milk. 1t is true they
are9n horseback all the time, but their
horses are little. ~played-out old racks
nat you could mostly put In your
pocket. An Indian can ride a horse
that I've rode down and quit, but | al
ways say the horse goes to git out of
misery: You see an Indian ride once.
you. often have? Well, then, there's
no need O. my tellin' you that he keeps
his heels humping into the horses ribs
the whole time he's riding him. or that
ne has a quirt, with which he keeps a
whipping and lashing the horse the
whole time.
Indians can't ride. Do you know
what they do when they get a horse
that's got some spirit? They put a stake
In the ground, and tether the horse to
IL with a long halter. Then all the
squaws n children and old men in the
camp get around with whips and sticks
n stones, and they holler and chase
n beat the horse around and around
that stake until he's well-nigh dead.
When they've broke his heart and got
him nearly dead SO nj buck will get on
him and ride him, whipping him and
digging him with his heels. The horse
will 20 to get out OF misery. That
shows what the Indians know about
horses.
"Cavalrymen are fairly good riders
on a road. They can move along a road
II It's In good condition. quite fairly.
But, great Scott! what we call riding is
10 take your horse across country where
ever a horse aQn n-6nu nnIlino nv
bluffs, and just as it happens. A good
cowboy rider is unconscious that he is
riding. A man who is conscious that he
is on horseback amt a good rider. You
want to get on your horse, and let your
legs hop around loose from the knees
down; and you must let your body sit
loose. except where it joins the horse
and is part of him.
"A cowboy is drunk twenty minutes
after he strikes a town. We used to
shoot up, the towns, but now they dis
arm us. Was l ever in a fuss? Well,
little ones, once in a while. When a
man raises a gun on me, Pm going to
DO whatever he wants just as quick as |
can. Pve heard men in the towns say
they wasn't afraid of a gun. Well, 1
am; and so would they be If they had
ridden from Texas to Montana as often
as L have. Pve, also heard them say
they'd like to see the Indian they'd be
afraid OF. Well. Pve seen a good many
Pve been afraid of. no matter what
bluff L made to show that | wasn't
scared. AS l say, l like to oblige a man
that drops a gun on me, because the
man is apt to be drunk, and when he is
drunk he is apt to be a little mite nerv-
Gus.
But there was a time lately when a
man nutIRd q mr. IN mo nnA didntf
like to do what he wanted. You see, [
don't drink liquor, and I'd refuse $500
sooner than corral a spoonful of it. |
was in a bar room and a man came in
and asked me to drink. He was a
stranger or he'd "a known better than
ask me, and he was steaming drunk,
too. | thanked him, and told him [
didn't care to drink. l was unarmed.
but he was fixed and he whips out his
guh-a 45-caliber siX-shooter-and he
says: Pour out a glass of rum and
3chqck it in yourself, or lll make
windows in your skull. He had
that a man doesn't feel first
rate looking along a gun barrel when
he knows the weapons cooked and the
man is drunk, and has only got to press
hard enough to move two ounces when
the thingIl go off. A man doesn't get
absent-minded under the circumstances:
he tends to whatever business is asked
of him. [ replied that certainly |
would drink, and that l didn't know he
was SO pressing. l grabbed the bottle,
poured out the poison. and was Just
raising the glass. with a Here's look
ing at you, pard,' when a friend of mine
the land. and he walked up and stuffed
the muzzle of his siX-shooter right in
the drunken mans ear, and he says,
Drop itp Up to that time it had been
a tableau and not a word spoken. but
when my friend said, Drop it!' the
Teller let his gun fall as you would have
done with a mOuthtul of scalding hot
coffee.
Rum, cards and women are the cpl
taphs IN the cowboys graveyard. Some
punches all three, and some cuts one
out of the herd and rides after it till he
drops; but, however they take 'em,
these are the things that rounds up
most OF 'em. It's curious, but, if they
quit horseback and go into business,
those are the three businesses they
choose from, or the two, l should say,
for cards and liQ &C together.
How do | dress when Pm with an
outfit? Well. mostly In rags. Truth is,
l don't care how l dress SO long as T've
got a good hat and boots and saddle.
I've got shoes on now because I've quit
my horse, and am hoofing it. You can't
walk in a cowboys shoes, they fit too
much. You see, we wear high-heeled
boots. and get EN- as small as we can.
When a cowboy goes into a shoe store.
if two men can get a pair of new boots
OH him without a good deal of trouble,
he won't buy 'em: he'll say he doesn't
want a whole hide to slosh% aroundin. he
just wants Shoes to fit his feet. Cow
boys are very particular about the look
of their feet, and have a right to he, be-
cause they pay SIS for a pair of boots.
A good broad-brimmed hat'll cost up to
trimmings is worth $40, but the boys
like to get their saddles all stamped up
with patterns, and will pay $50 for II