The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1895-10-04
THE COWBOYS COSTUME.

:.
llar Life and Duties.
The cow puncher's legs must be
defended from the thorny miles Of the
Rio Grande, the thousand mongrel
scrubs that lace their brlstles together
stint over the Countrywide mesquite.
the shin oak, the cats claw, the Span
ish dagger, wide spreading, from six
inches to ten feet high, every vegeta-
bic vicious with an embroidery Of
teeth and nails; continent of peevish
thicket called chaperral, us we indis-
criminately call dog with too many
sorts of grandfathers q cur. Into this
saw mill dives q wild steer, through
paths and passages known to himself,
and after him the pursuing man must
also dive ut Il rate that would tear his
flesh to ribbons If the blades aud
points could get hold Of him.
But he cases his leg against tile hos
tile chaparral from thigh to ankle in
chaps-lcathern brooches. next door
to armor; his daily bread is scarcely
more needful to him. Soon his bar
barrie pleasure In finery sews tough
leather fringe along the sides and the
leather flap Of the pocket becomes
stamped with heavy rose. Sagging
in a slant upon his hips leans his
leather belt of cartridges, buckled with
jaunty arrogance, and though he uses
his pistol with murderOus skill, 1t Is
pretty, with ivory or mother-of-pearl
for a handle. His arm must be loose
to swing his lOOped rope free and drop
its moose over the neck of the animal
/, that bounds in front of his rushing
pony. Therefore he rides in Il loose
flannel shirt that will not cramp him
as he whirls the coils; but the hand
kerchief knotted at his throat, though
1t Is there to prevent sunburn, will in
time Of prosperity be chosen for its
color and soft texture, a scarf to draw
the eye of a woman.
His heavy splendid saddle is. in its
shape and luxury of straps and leather
night and day travel. and the freight
ing along with you of board and lodg
Ing, that any nomad has so far de-
vised. With its tlappings and stamped
leather, its horn and high cantle. we
are well acquainted. 1t must stand
the strain of 500 pounds of live beef
tearing at it for freedom; 1t must he
the anchor that shall not drag during
the furious RACES Of such typhuol.
For the cattle of the wilderness have
often run WIND for three, four and
five years, through rocks and forests,
never seeing the face Of man from the
day when as little calves they were
BRAIDED. And some were never brand
ed at all. They have grown up in
company with the deer, and, like the
deer, they fly at the approach of the
horseman. Then, if lie has ridden out
to gather these wallis from their re-
mote untenanted pastures and bring
them In to be counted and driven to
sale, he must abandon himself to the
headlong pur INT.
The open easy plain, with its HARM
less footing, lies behind, the steep val
ley narrOws UP to an entering wedge
among the rocks, and into these unto
ward regions rush the beevcs. The
shale and detritus of shelving land
slides, the slippery knobs in the beds
of brooks, the uncertain edges of the
jumping-off place, all lie In the road
Of the days necessity, and where the
steer goes there goes tile COW puncher,
wv oaAahSah6s uOuDhlts Ultuu
his shrewd pony. The moose uncoiling
flies swinging through the air and
closes round the throat, or perhaps
only the hind leg. of the quarry. In
the shock of stopping short or of lean
ing to circle the riders stlrrups must
be long, and his seat forked, plant
poise on the horses back; no grip Of
the knee will answer In these contor-
tons; his leg must have its straight
length, a lever of muscle and sinew,
to yield or close vise-like OIL the pony's
ribs; and when the steer feels that he
Is taken and the rope tightens from
the saddle horn. then must the gearing
be solid, else, like the fisherman floun-
dering with snapped rod and. tangled
line, the COW puncher will have mis-
fortunes to repair and nothing to re.
pair them with.-Hasper's Magazine.