Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-08-17

paint on the hair wars of. and anything
tied on would brush off or get stole"
How often do you hold these round
ups?"
Twice a year. In the spring and fall
In the spring We round up to brand the
| calves while they're with the cows. and in
the fall to separate beef cattle and also to
brand any calves missed In the spring
| roundup"
81 suppose these are a.: volunteer riders
like an oid-fashioned huskin' bee''
He smiled. Yes That's it exactly
Each man is expected to do his share.
| Each man drives the cattle in his range
no matter whose they are. and then We
| cut out the cattle that belong On the range
where the roundup is and take the others
| into their own range"
How long does the spring roundup
last?''
We've been out since the first week of
June. Well be out till August I, prob
ably. The fall roundup isn't quite SO
long"
The branding was soon over and then
the camp began to move The next round
| up lay over a formidable ridge, and as
| rode behind the troupe with the boss.
saw characteristic scene. Toiling up the
terrible grade. one horse on the cooks
wagon gave out, and four of the cowboys
hitehed their lariats to the pole and jerkei
the wagon up the gulch like bat out O.
hell" as one man graphically put it. In
THIS way do these men dominate all condl-
| tons.
| AS We rose the snow-covered mountains
| came into view again, and far to the north
west Pixies Peak rose like a pink moon
| with silver bands. All about were tumbled
| granite ridges and glorious grassy swells
| Just at sunset we wound down into
| WIDE deiic!ously green valley where no
| mark Of man was set. save in the trail.
! In the center of the ias!n a drove of cattle
| was feeding. Beyond, swift riders We're
| pushing before them the herd of saddle
| horses. Below. cut of a deep defle a
| platoon of other riders was moving to
n f,11
pressive.
| The horsemen drew Up under a row of
| cotton wood trees and waited our ap-
| proach. The wagon stopped amid shouts
The cook tumbled cut. The horsemen flung
| saddles from tired ponies. Others, with
| ready lariats gauoped away for logs of dry
wood. Hammers were heard driving hut
| STAKES. The tents rose, the stove clattered
| into place and in ten minutes water was
| en- the fire fer coffee.
The horse-wrangler and his detail round
ed in the horses and disappeared with
| wnoop and whistle over the hill upon a
| mesa. 1t had in it the movement, the ac-
| uvity and orderliness of a cavalry camp
| Eating was no delicate business with
these centaurs. 1t had the certainty and
savagery of farm threshing crew. There
| were no tables and no frills like cups or
| butter knives. Some ate standing others
sat on rolls of bedding. Every man helped
| himself.
They were rough iron sided fellows
| mainly Missourians-and were mostly less
| than thirty years of age. They wore rough
| business overalls and colored shirts-Quite
| generally gray. with dirt and sweat Their
| boots We're short and very high heeled and
| their wide hats and ''slckers" were the
| only uniform articles of dress. Reyolyers
bearskfn leggings and cartridge belts have
| been discarded, as they were considered an
affec tation.
| As night fell the men built great bon
| fire, and, surrounding it, sang and boosted
and told stiff yarns and exploded in OBJ
| SCenity n in
| packed into the tent like sardines and be-
came quiet in sleep-they were quiet at no
| other time in the day.
AS We were eating breakfast the next
morning, everybody feeling damp and stiff
in the joints, there came the dull throbbing
1 of hoofs, and down the valley the horse
w N came, shouting. Horses Before
| him the troop was rushing like wild herd.
| Others took up the cry Horses! Get your
| BRIDES
| The wrangler rounded the drove toward
| the tents, whence issued the riders, lariat
in hand. The horses are all broncho grades,
| small, alert, hat-limbed, wild-eyed and
| tricky. They have to be caught with the
rope each day. The men surround them,
| herding them into a compact squad. The
riders advanced into the herd one by one,
| with coiled ropes ready and noosed and
| pulled out their best horses, for the ride
] was to be hard.
One man tried three times for a wicked
| looking bucks5in broncho. The men jeered
| him, but he noosed him at last and drew
| him out with wild eyes rolling The sad
| dies went on meanwhile, the horses WING
ing at the cinch At last all were secured,
| the riders swung into the saddle and
| dashed away with that singular. swift,
| gliding. sidewise gallop SO characteristic of
| these men and their ponies.
They were off now for some seven hours
| of the hardest riding in binding fog and
| thick falling rain. We plunged into a
wide, ragged. walled canon for five-mi!e
| ride and then came out upon a small val
| ley. Here the boss drew up and the riders
| grouped themselves about him. He lifted
| his hand and pointed to the west and called
| off four nanes-the riders dashed away into
| the steep gulch and were out of sight in a
moment. Four went to the east, six to the
1 south and two remained with the wrangler
| to keep the herd of relay horses.
No one who has not actually ridden in
| the drive on this range can understand its
| full rigor. All about were hills built of
granite, clothed in places with light
| soil and with grass, in others the dubious
| lodges lay clear to the air and were wet
4 with rain. Up and down the hills the half
wild cattle feed like goats. and on a wet
| morning they are all on the hills or upper
parks. To find them and to drive them
| means hard riding on any day. but to find
| and drive them on such morning was
well-nigh appalling, and yet these reck-
less young dare-devils vanished in the
| rain singing and shouting. Compared with
| such work as this, herding and driving
on the open country is child's play.
For a couple of hours the punching place
| was silent, the rain dropped from the rim
of my hat and ran down my slicker. The
creek roared sleepily but sullenly below.
I rode up hill to see if could see any
of the riders, but the great curling masses
of wool-like fog hid everything from me.
1 came suddenly upon a half dozen cattle
in the mist and rain-they rushed away
snufing like elk, the stones rafting be.
hind them.
| 1 returned to the valley and waited. In
short time I heard trample and halloo
and the clatter of hoofs, and over a shingly
| slcrting cattle. Behind them, riding like
| mad, were a couple of herders. They came
down the bank with a rush, the horses
ccasting on their launches, the shingly
stones grinding and Gathering behind them
! while the riders sat calm and easeful in the
| tumult
One by one the other hands came in Out
| of the gray, wild obscurity, and herd
| of several hundred of excited cattle circled
and fought and beloved in a compact
| mass. At the west the herd began to move
4 M ri fI,a