Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-06-30

there Is a vast amount of difference; one
herds the cattle. the other owns the hero'
1t is quite often the case that one grows
into the other and SO 1t was with this
CONGRESSMAN He made his pile" by
"cow punching" and lucky branding OF
mavericks And each spring the old
fever strikes him: he likes the rough rid
ing. the range living and the carefree
life; there Is health in II. too.
The cattle ranges Of the west are not
as big as they used to be, but they are yet
extensive enough to astonish tenderfoot
with their vastness. People vino have
never seen above two hundred head OF
cattle In a bunch cannot comprehend the
size of herd of 1900 and when it leaps
up two ciphers they are indeed at sea. SO
1t is with areas. When one has been ac-
customed to ffty-acre side hill farm
that has to be walled up to keep 1t from
sliding in to the river or the little gully
called valley" one of Uncle Sans gen
erous 1G0-acre farms seems a kingdom, es-
pecially If it lies as level a floor and as
smooth and free of stumps and stones as
the Administer carpet in the blue room of
the White House Yet there are wheat
fields I'm the west on lands as level as that
which would survey two or three thousand
acres In extent, and alongside of them
are rye, oats. corn and hay fields as large,
and many that are larger, all belonging
to enc man. The meadows and pastures"
of eastern farmer would not make a
&C rral for the average western farmer.
and when II comes to stock the Yankee"
simply isn't in 1t at all.
The Largest Range I'm the World.
The Northern Range" as II is called by
western stocbmen is now the most extern
sive in the United States, and though its
area has been somewhat curtailed IT is
still the largest in the world. This area
comprises the whole of Wyoming and Idaho.
Southern Montana. Northern Utah and
Colorado and part of Nebraska and Dako-
ia. This is territory nearly twice as large
as either France or Germany. wyoming it.
self is larger than New York and Pennsyl-
Vania, and larger than all the New Englan
states combined, with Indiana thrown In
for good measure. 1t Is. III fact. almost i'm
possible To give any adequate idea Of the
extent of this vast grazing territory, over
which roamed the buffalo herds and the
elk and the roebuck-the wolves and herds
OF riderless horses, when Evangelne like
a wrath. passed over them In her search
for Gabriel. think no finer picture OF the
region has ever been drawn than that made
by Longfellow Of this country. where
80 the mountains
Lift through perpetual SHOWS their lofty
and luminous SUBMITS.
Down from their jagged deep ravines, where
the gorge like gateway,
Opens u passage rude to the wheels Of the
emigrant's wagon,
Westward the Oregon flows and the Walle-
way and Owyhee.
Eastward, with devious course, among the
Wind-river mountains,
Through the Sweet-water valley precipitate
leaps the Nebraska:
And to the south. from Fountaine-qui-bout
nd hn Sh ktar-
Frettcd with sands and rocks and swept
by the wind Of the desert
Numberless torrents. with ceaseless sound.
descend to the ocean,
Spreading between these streams are the
wondrous. beautiful prairies
Billowy bays OF grass ever rolling in shadow
and sunshine"
This is the stockman's paradise. the
country of the COW puncher. the coyote and
the cattle, which have been picturesque
features in the landscape Of literature for
the last thirty years.
Life ON the range is not a perpetual picnic
by any means, but it has its fascina TONS
exactly as any other Kind of wild life has.
and the Congressman who has ridden in
many a round up was still under the SPELL
when he lonSed to leave the FUCKERS" in
Congress for a bout with another kind Of
an animal on the range. and one whom he
felt that lac could conquer.
What is a roundup" and why In June.
These are questions not to be answered in
a few words The processes of a general
roundup involve a tremendous expenditure
of labor, time and money. 1t is held in
June and again in the fall, and the purpose
in view is the branding of the young calves,
and the getting together of the "strRys."
which may have wandered OF into I'M
L.. -isa no sc ix,.l
out on the same plan as a rabbit or wolf
hunt-or drive-only On larger scale. and
IS engaged in by air the stocRmen whose
cattle range on the roundup route. each
paying pro rata his share of the expenses,
shown b. the animals branded by them
in the previous roundup.
Imagine, IL you can, a wolf drive which
takes in a scope OF two or three hundred
thousand square miles, in which there are
several million animals to hunt out. to say
nothing of the young, which are to be
sought individually and sealed" with a
brand" and YOU can then get some idea
of the magnitude of the undertaking. You
must remember that the country over which
you are to beat is covered by mountain
ranges, with infrequent passes, with nog-
back foot hills. deep gorges and canons.
with long stretches OF alkan desert as
bleak and bare OF vegeta ZION the back
of your hand, with wide level plateaus,
ragged with sage brush and chapparal.
along beds of dry rivers, often wanting
precious fluid, again almost swept away by
the sudden rise OF the treacherous noun
tain streams. in fact, you can set your
imagination TO work in any direction you
like, so long as it carries you away from
civilization and comfort, and your fancy,
given good play, cannot lead you astray
in depicting the wild rough life led BY the
cow-puncher on the great northern range.
Preparing for the Work.
The Wyoming Cattle Growers Associa-
ton has had absolute control Of the
roundup, or ''rodeoing," the Mexicans
call It, on this great range for years. and
they prepare for 1t by holding a convention
in April usually. which is largely attended
by the stockmen of the west. 1t has q
president and full complement of officers,
and committees whose duty II is to
familiariZe themselves with the whole vast
territory over which the immense herds of
cattle wander, and to toe able to exactly
describe every divide, mountain, hill and
valley all the streams, forests and plateaus
ON the whole range. From this report the
committee on the general management Of
the roundup makes up its report. and the
thing is fully discussed by the convention.
The report provides for the operations, dur
ing several months. of from forty to fifty
round -up pa rties which are each specifically
told when and where to start, the exact
territory they are to cover, and the number
of men to comprise the party. Ali the
minor details are met with perfect plans
before the start is made. The various par
ties have a foreman and trail boss, and