Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-12-16
Something About the Good Old
Times ON the Plains of
Texas.
How the Cowboys Used to Sing
Their Herds to
Sleep.
Tricks OF the Rustlers to Secure
Cattle When on the
Plains.

LESS since the introduction and multi
plication Of railroads i'll Texas The
railroads have not dispensed with the
uses OF the trail, only reduced and limit
| ed them. Trail work now is mostly
confined To the bringing of cattle from
| the southern breeding ranches about
| Corpus Christi and the coast country,
| San Antonio and south and southwest
| OF Fort Worth, UP on to these North
| Texas and Panhandle ranches; the
moving OF herds from one ranch to
another on account Of water or grass
| or the driving OF them anywhere from
| twenty to two hundred miles TO some
railroad shipping point, about the only
| long trail work that is now done being
the driving north every spring by the
| big cattle companies here OF tWo-year
olds to fatten III the pastures-or rather
on the free range-of Wyoming, Mon
tana and Dakota. Such trips as these
! latter are, except for changed condi-
| tons eycryWhere-a difference in the
cattle driven, the men that drive them,
the character OF the people and country
| through which the drive is made, the
absence of Indians and buffalo, COM
parative scarcity Of cattle thieves and
| professional deSperad0es = something
, like the work of the olden time.
I The three longest, best known and
most used trails i'll those days were the
''Oid Dodge TRAIL the chisholm" and
the Goodnight
The feeders of the Dodge trail con
centrated about San Antonio, coming
IN from the region of Corpus Christi
and the fine breeding counties of the
coast, and from those down along the
Mexican frontier. From the vicinity of
San Antonio the trail made sort of
| detour to go around II fenced farming
country of German settlers, going to
KerTville on the Guadalupe, over eau
dalupe mountains to Motifs ranch; past
Fort Mason to Fort Griffin; thence to
Dodge City. Kan, then Fort Dodgcl,
about three months drive. This was
the end of the Dodge trail proper.
From here it branches out in various
directions leading on to Ogalalla and
to the Indian agencies and military
posts and reservations in the Missouri,
Fort Fetterlnan. Crow agency and the
| Yellowstone country.
| The Chisholm trail gathered itself to-
| gether for a start near Fort Worth, or
west Of it, went up northeast into In
dian territory. crossing the Red river
at Red river station; through to Wich-
ita, Kan, then to Newton, Abilene and
! Ogalall1, from which point il branches
out 10 supply the same country as the
Dodge trail.
The Goodnight trail WIS called for
| the mAa who opened ii and drove
cattle over it for years. Charles Good
night. 1t started in the country south
east OF Fort Worth and led southwest
ward 10 the Becos, which it crossed at
lIorSehead crossing, followed the river
up through New Mexico and went over
! into Colorado. ending near Peublo,
The herds regularly driven through
on these trails usually numbered front
1900 to 5000 head. With them went
! Il mess wagon. or, speaking in cowboy
| vernacular. chuck wagon, a cook
who was also driver, horse rJstler
| from eight to ten riders and the boss.
who was also rider when occasion
demanded. Each mans mount consist
ed OF six or eight hCrses. and these
the horse rllstler her1ed, drove and at
tended to generally. The rate of travel
was about ten or twelve miles a day
This speed could he made without in
| jury to the cattle. But contract
herd being driven through for a GER
| tain consideration for some party per-
sonally unknown. was often put through
nearly twice as fast.
! The cattle are Thrown off the trail
| to Craze q portion of each day, then
! thrown off again 1T night to bed down,
which they usually do unless there is
some disturbing cause, Us hunger, thirst,
| overweariness, an approaching storm
or something to frighten them. The
riders are divided into four night
! watches or guards, of two or three
! each, according to their number. guard
ing two and cne-half hours.
Some cowboys and cattlemen laugh
ingly assured me that they only sing
to keep themselves awake; others say
Just to let the cattle know they are
approaching. so as to fTighten and
stampede them, but the greater num-
Der hold-as | myself have read and
been led to believe-that the sound Of
the human voice, singing, talking or
ealing out chearfully. quiets and reas-
sures the animals However it may be,
they all sing and talk or whistle TO
them. and among my most vivid and
picture-like recol1ections is one of n
certain night when an aching head and
a heavy heart held me awake, and,
slipping from the house in the little
hours, I went aim1eSsly across the level
plain toward where big herd was
camped When within 800 or 400
yards of the bunch. could see, under
the white Texas moonlight. the dark
mass of cattle and occasionally a silhou-
cite. between me and the sky, of one
Of the guards on his pony. and in the
intense stiffness and loneliness of the
plains night, the singing of the one
boyish voice holding his untaught. I'M
conscious way through "a Fountain
Filled With Blood and the whistling
of his companion on little harmoni-
cum. Sweet Home" as they came
round past me in turn, were as lovely
and touching sounds as I ever heard.
But we are off the tail-as it was in
the seventies; let us return to 1t.