Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-05-23
LIFE OF A COWBOY.
FULL OF HARDsHIPs AND RISKS, WITH
A FEW PLEASURES.

A Cowboy Must Know His Trade ~ Thor
oughly ~ . Carpenter Knows His-Ihe
Danger From Billiards. When Riding
the Lines ON the Sandy Plains.
Probably every man who has had
ranch in the west has received multitude
Of applications from people who wish to
get on that ranch. Most fasteners seem
not to know that q cowboys business re-
quires special training, and that hardy,
vigorous young fellow without any train
ing can no more start in offband as cow
boy than he could start in offhand as
carpenter. Moreover, a man who ism
good cowboy Is worse than nuisance, be-
cause the average cowboy needs ten horses
for his work, and IL he doesn't DO the work
tho ten horses are wasted. A man to be
proficient in the business must be not only
q good horseman, but must be able to rope
we'll to read brands, to understand cattle
and must have good knowledge OF plains
craft Ordinarily the work does not imply
long continued physical excrtion, like the
work of woodchopper, but 1t Is often very
monotonous and 1t Is also often fraught
with hardship and danger.
Nevertheless, in the spring, summer and
early fall the life Is "a very exciting and
pleasant one for those who have mastered
the work. There Is an attraction in the
wild, lonely country, and the entire free
dom Of an existence spent mostly on horse
back After one gets used to it the rough
little shack seems comfortable enough, ana
for much Of the year the ranch wagon Is
the COW punchcr' 8 home. To many a hardy,
vigorous fellow the roundup Is ordinarily
rather picnic.
The men are fed well, and though they
do not have much sleep yet the easiest of
all forms Of labor is sitting in tho saddle,
and the long rides in the morning to gath
or in the cattle and the furious galloping
and chasing round the herd when cutting
ont the beef steers and cows and calves in
the afternoon possess a great eharm for
men fond of vigorous exercise and OF life
in the open OF course even in summer
there are unpleasant experiences. A SIAM
spe(e at night in thunderstorm is usually
too exciting to DO agreeable, and fighting
fire Is very wearing work, while there is
always q liability to misadventure. A
man may have now and then to make
dry camp He may get injured by an I'M
usually vicious horse, or DO damaged In
the rush Of stampeded herd, or be drown
ed in the auicksands Of some treacherous
plains river Still, take it as II whole, in
good weather the life is pleasant enough.
But In tho iron winter the work Is very
hard and very dangerous. The last round
ups, which take place in November on the
northern plains are not agreeable. The
nights arc very long, and the freezing mis-
cry Of standing guard round cattle herd
does not tend to make them seem shorter.
In hne weather nobody wants tent, but
it is not pleasant after "a hours cold
rain to toss the damp blankets on the sod
ground and creep into them. OF course,
the tarpaulin has kept out most of the wet,
but it does not keep out all, and then some
nights there is u heavy snowfall, and when
you throw back tho tarpaulin in the morn
ing tho snow gets down the back of your
neck and much dexterity is needed while
drawing on your boots and trousers not to
let the snow get into the blankets. The
ground is like iron after tho heavy frosts,
and though tho horses, being worn down
and thin, are much less lively and vicious
than in spring, yet If they do "act mean"
they arc more liable to slip and hurt them
selves, and more apt to hurt their rider If
they throw him.
Early in December the last of the sea-
sons work ends. Most of the cowboys arc
discharged, and they may then go into
town, or build little shack and hunt for a
livelihood, or stay around the ranches, do
ing any odd job that turns up for their
board. A few, however, are kept on to
ride lines and keep track of the cattle in
tI.,, OF n f,f
vigorous constitution and thoroughly ablo
to graphic with every exigency of plains
life. for they are certain to have some pref
ty rough experiences before spring if the
winter is at all severe.
In riding lines each man has n definite
beat. OF course in good weather tho task
is q perfectly easy one. The rider lets his
pony Jog along until he comes to the end
Of his beat. If any cattle have crossed the
hne, no sees their tracks, and following
rounds them up and drives them back into
the country where it is desired they shall
range during the winter. If no cattle
come near tho line, he simply goes to the
end of his beat and comes back again, but
IL blizzard catches him he may find it an
almost impossible task to avoid getting
lost. All landmarks arc shrouded from
Slgnt, ana Wnlte tnC DllZZaTu Is III lis
height it Is out of the question to make
head against it. OF course If the day Is
very bad one the rider won't go out ut all,
but often he has to take his chances, and
the snow may begin to fall and the wind
to blow just when he Is ut the farthest
point of his beat. Then back he comes
over the long stretches of sand colored,
lifeless prairie sward as fast as his pony
can 90. The snow comes first in puffs and
little drifts-not the soft flakes of an east
ern snowstorm, but fine ice dust, which
feels almost like sand when blown against
tho face. Heavier and heavier grow the
gusts, thicker and thicker the snowclouds,
and finally the storm means and shriells
and drives the icy flakes in almost level
lines. The rider is then lucky if he can
find his camp. Unless he knows exactly
where he Is, and unless the landmarks are
very conspicuous, it is out of the question
for him to do so. The only resource is to
drift before the storm exactly rs the cattle
do, until he finally strikes some sheltered
place, under the leo of big rock or in a
hollow where there is a bunch of thick
timber Hero he will dismount, tie his
horse (Which shelters itself all that it can,
and then stands with dropping head, tail
toward the wind), and himself cover down
under the horse blankets in the most shell
torns3 erot ha can find There is no small