Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1901-10-24

horse, assists with the cutting out of
the beef stock and branding of calves,
The afternoons work is a repition of
the f%orenoon's, and at night each
rider must stand two hours might
guard" over the beeves that are car
ried along with the wagon from day
to day until a shipping point is
reached. There is always danger of a
stampede of the beef herd, and thus
the necessity of night riders, who cir
Gle the herd continually, occasionally
singing to them, and keeping them
quiet during the long hours of dark
ness.
When Roosevelt engaged in the cat
tie business, he determined to learn
from actual experience, and hence he
engaged himself as one Of his own
cowboys, and for part of a a
worked with his own wagon, in the
same manner as any of his men.
II want to work with the wagon as a
1luC1, LIZ 0CL1O W A1o ouIdI, .. N1.
Ferris, land 1 want no favors shown
me. For the time being I am the same
as any one of the men, and I want to
do the same work as any of them"
With this admonition, he accompanied
a roundup outfit in 1885. He had his
own String of horses, to use the
v~ernacular of the range, and they were
as ugly and ill-tempered as the ma
jority of mustangs. Roosevelt was
not a "broncho breaker" in the ac-
copied sense of the work, and he took
no reckless chances in mounting out
lawed" steeds. But he rode with his
men, covered the same ground, and
did the same work. "He learned more
and faster by observation than any
man I ever saw said his foreman. 5.
NJ. Ferris, in speaking of the year
Roosevelt served as a cowboy. "IIe
learned to rope his W horse, and to
hang on when the horse underworld
to throw him. He watched the men
throw and brand calves, and before
long he was able to handle a calf with
any of them. He never complained
of his bargain, was always willing and
ready, and wa among the last to go
to bed and the first to get UP in tAe
morning He got n or two nasty
falls while working with us, on n
occasion being thrown from a horse
and breaking a small bone in his
shoulder. He was plucky, though,
and it did not prevent his taking his
trick with the rest of us. At night he
stood night guard over the herd in his
turn, and when the seasons. work was
over he had earned the friendship Of
every man on the roundup. as agcod,
square-Hoed, companionable fellow. He
could stand as much hardship as the
oldest cowboy on the outfit, aud he
never complained"
A history Of Roosevelt as a ranch
man would be in the main a denial of
the many wild and fantastic tales Of
his career in the west that have been
written and published wholesale. I'm
informed writers have pictured him as
impulsive and impetuous, daredevil
ish and reckless. In his case, car
less commentators upon his ranching
career have mistaken earnestness for
impetuousity. when Roosevelt does
anything he does it with all his might"
is the comment of the me- with whom
he associated in the west and the men
who knew him as he was, and not as
poorly posted newspaper writers have
pictured him. The cowboys who rode
the range with him and the hunters
who hunted with him do not recall
any instances in which recklessness
or lack of caution was apparent. They
recall him as a man with an ample
store of patience, prudence and good
hard sense. The fact that Roosevelt
was a successful hunter of big game,
where prudence, patience and caution
are essentials, is evidence of his
possession Of these qualities. From
his Elkhorn ranch he was successful