Waterbury Democrat., 1901-10-07
NO "GUNs" ON THE RANGE.

Those who have received their no- tiOn of the life of the plainsmen from the illustrations of eastern weekly and monthly magazines have necessarily as- sociated these three words together cowboy, bowie knife and six-shooter. Men who have been on the ranches of the west for twenty-five years have q different idea of the life in the cattle cOrntry than those who get their pic lures of western life from eastern pub licationS. The bowie knife is now practically extinct and it was fifteen years ago that the systematic disap- pearance of the six-shooter began.
 Major W. A. Towers of Colorado, one or the most widely known ranch men and one of the pioneers of the range, is the man who was the most active of all in the campaign against the six-shooter. Major Towers began his career on the range thirty years ago. His knowledge of the cattle country is like that which a man has Of the streets of town ill which ne has always lived and Major Towers has graZed his cattle from the Panhan- dle tc Montana. He is now at the head of a ranch of 50,000 acres in southern Colorado.
 Last year Major Towers went 10 Mexico and bought the largest bunch O. steers of the same age ever sold by one Stockman to another. He pur- chased from General Terasus of Mex icO. who has the largest range in the world 16O00 yearling steers. The ex- port duty which he was obliged to pay to take these cattle out of Mexico amounted to S32, ,O0O.
 '.The cowboys used to go heavily armed" said Major Towers at the Me dfa " sshnaot1Ca in +h< <o11 q Of the free government range there was always danger of Indians. It was q psatcical idea of the cowboy to carry all the artillery that he could, because there was always danger of meeting bands of Indian thieves. But the dan- ger from Indians has passed now and Las been for many years. There was no nlSre reason why a cowboy should carry six-shooter than that he should have steam engine along with him. Tie guns always made trouble. It was too easy for a man to pull his re- yolveI and shoot. In little quarrels perhaps over cards or something else as trivial, there would too often he s0tS and q man or two would be dead. l When men lost their temper they used their weapons. and then a few hours afterward they would be sorry. The | big siX-shooterS were always causing accidents remember how one of the best men had was killed with one.
 Ut was on a roundup The men were all in camp waiting for grub.
 when one of them took off his gun and threw it into a box, which was near the wagon. The hammer struck on the edge of the box and the re- 5-o'v-o'. vert off The bullet passed -i--'-' ''s-c--~-'> =1ln cowbov's breast. kill ing him. Such things as that showed
 s.A--s0erer was not only use lsSs but a menace. but everybody car rie,l one and there had to be some gen. eral agitation to stop it. I went be- fore the Cattle association in western Kansas. Colorado. Montana and Texas and had resolutions passed condemning sIx-Shooters. The idea was approved b. nearly all of thescattfemen. They saw just as I did that six-shooters were no longer necessary. It was un- derSt0od that each man should do all he could to drive the six-shooters from his own ranch. The cowboys began 1eav ing their weapons behind. Now fhe cowboys rarely carry them. d0I'r think man on my place has one. cisleSs it is lake 1 believe he still carries a six-shoofer. But he is one of | the old-timers. It would be like cut ting off his leg to take his gun away from him.
 "Yes." concluded Major Towers. s'tlle only cowboys with bowie knives and six-shooters are the ones you read about in the story papers. -Kansas star.