Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-02-22
THE COWBOY OF TO-DAY
NEW METHODS IN HIS WORK NOW
IN FORCE.
Ingenious Mode of Brandfng-Ho"
cr. Arc Observation-Disclosures
Features Have All Vanished.

prssoott Nr,z, Correspondence Chicago Record.
Ono of the things that strikes person |
who NOWADAYS goes upon southwest rahse |
for the first time in some years Is the gen
eral practice of dehorning. The long-horheu
Texas steer has almost passed away
Twenty years ago the cattlemah Pliue
was the length of the widely extending
horns on his cattle. The longest horned IN
the herd were punched out as the select. Iiie
stockmen in the Indian territory came ior-
ward at about 1880 with nerds OF SHUT
horned cattle. Their juicy, tehuer peeh
caught the buyers fancy in the eastern
markets, and from that time the popularity
of long horns departed. Long horns became
| a drug in the cattle market. Dehornlng
soon became popular and the practice mas
| become well-nigh universal IN Texas ana
| the territories. =,
| strument into the equipment or cai,le
| range 1t is a steel apparatus, with hanules
| about three feet long. and altogether "eisn-
| ing fifteen pounds. 1t IS known as tne t
| horner" 1t has two sharp knives, one sta-
| tionary and one movable, and resembles
| tree pruning fork. When the nanaies are
apart the knives are open and VIII men en-,
circle the largest cattle horns. w men the
| handles are pinched together ina KNIVES
close in. and in twinkling the horns are
| cut away clear and smooth. Inc large ca
| tle companies have their own oenorhIIs
outfits but there are gangs, each of five
men, that go about the southwest uoIhs
| nothing but dehorning cattle at SO much d
head. One of the gang is sne toi cr,tter's
| hind leg and, by the sudden backing OF ms
pony, throws the animal down. ihere are
two "bulldoggers. They hoio .he e. 81 r,sn
| Cling believing animal down, by one man
| holding on to the tail like grim death, WINE
another man plants big knee across .ne
beasts neck. The man who mampuiar.,e s
| the dehorner is the fourth in the gang. Inc
fifth man stands close at hand with a pan
of pine tar and a brush. The moment the
horns have been cut away ana the pioou pe-
Gins to squirt the tar is daubed over the
wound The beast staggers to its feet ana
| runs madly away. Once in while, lrac
tious, nervous COW will die from the loss OF
blood and the shock The time spent s IN ne uea
horning is not over two minutes from the
| moment the "bulldoggers get the crlttet III
hand until they loose it. A gang, or outiit
as they are more properly known own o.! on an e
range of five men will dehorn $50 cattle a
day Carload lots of cattle horns are snip
ped from Arizona and New Mexico: But
ton, glue comb and phosphate factories are
, the main buyers of cattle horns. Inc snip
pers pay the cattemen from : to ~ Genus
! a pound for the stuff f. o. b.
Nowadays also the branding on we'll
regulated cattle ranch Is done systei 1s,t u
picturesque scenes that formerly character
5 lied roping and branding have been sup
planted by practical contrlVanceS LOT say
Ing time and doing a neat )ob Inc oid-
fashioned way was more artistic out 1t is
too expensive for this day of sharp compe-
tition and economy of time. The old time
yanueros and cowboys used to spend days
| and weeks every year in ranging over hlll
| and vale and through canyons in searcn OF
| cattle The cows, steers and calves were
l leisurely punched, and on a certain day
| were finally driven in herd into the open
| There the master lariat throWer roped the
4 | cattle one after another, and dexterousi ~
y held them while the branders Would apply
' | the hot irons. 1t took weeks to brand ar
n ordinary sized herd. The apprentice cow
s boy looked on with admiration Inc cow
:. boys modern ranch must Keep Close
y | track Of their cattle. The cows are mo-
. | given so wide a range as in former years
L when land was free and cattemen were
e fewer. None are allowed to go Wanderins
/ miles and miles away, where the maverick
may be branded and claimed by com
peting catteman or company. NoWaday!
: outfits of dozen or two dozen men On tn
y larger ranges, and of a less number OIL
a smaller ranges keep moving over the rang
p half of the year. Then outfits go with ex
, ira horses, covered wagons, cook tents ant
- a branding pen and moving corral. Iher
IS is boss or captain. His word is law in tn
d outfit. Every day punches of cattle ar
d driven in from the range and shut in tn
-e movable corral. There is seldom any ropn
"a and lariat throwing as of old. That ma
e injure a calf or COW and take away nan IL
l. value.
- The writer saw recently one Of these bust
IN Company's range in Navajo county. Their
- was none of the wild yelling and whoopin
,e of the cowboys of a decade ago as tn
IN punches of cattle were driven; Indeed, nc
"a one Of the cowboys wore the regulatio
=, buckskin suit and carried a brace of pistol
;, at his waist as of yore. Hardly a perso
n in the whole outfit spoke. 1t was all hare
"A headed business proposition for every maj
1, The boss rode slowly about. seeing that n
~ time was lost and no animal was misuse
"a so as to damage its worth as beef. tn
~, "a cows and calves were separated by the COW
~, ~ boys on horses and were driven into differ
Ie ent corrals. From each corral a mario
ie passageway Of boards led to still nal
rover arrangement that at distance r.
~ sembled an old horse power This was tt
"A | branding box. Several men were in tn
ne corral with long, blunt poles and by puncl
nc ing and beating they drove the cows ar
- calves in single file through the passag
10 70. | way. AT the further end the animals, OF
- by one, were forced into the branding bo
~ A stood without and at one sit
~ | with a large wooden lever In his hand
t,e | He watched the cattle as they emerged in
20 20 | the box When each animal was well
~ he suddenly pushed the lever down, II
~ movable side of the box closed in upon II
oh beast and it was held fast and tight wit
., % | out injury. In trice the brander snatcht
" up one Of the branding irons from the fl
es and ran and pressed the heated end again
-. | the papitating side of the animal. Smol
, ,3s arose and there was smell of burnil
.aI hair. The beast gave convulsive outer
~ but the man at the lever pressed ha
% down and the animal could not move. II
ao brand was removed A huge "a. c." w
charred in the hair and flesh. The lev
was raised and the box was widened. r.
nc / poor brute darted out into another corrs
IL as If fearful the burned flesh would tou
IN something
m The boss Of the outfit said that by wor
NJ, ~, ing two branding boxes 500 cattle could
m branded in day. There have been Ov
N. 400 branded in a day by the use OF but o
nv box. Twice a year-in spring and fal
ed the animals are corralled on up-to-da
he ranges. In the fall beef cattle sep
his rated and calves that have been miss
nd in the spring are branded. In the spring
tes the calves are branded while they wi
or the cows. There is thus less chance of lo
m ing mavericks to other cattlemen
Cowboys are these days hired quite
,ed much for memory and business sense
he their ability to endure long days of rou
,of driving, to drive bunch of cattle rapid
TX and safely and to check stampedes of hu
m dreds of snorting, cavorting steers.
In this day Of specialists there has be
evoluted class of cowboy specialists NJ
the cowboys who know hundreds Of bran
ed hieroglyphics cattle's furry sid
have the best pay. The Aztec Cattle Col
I'M pany has fourteen of what known
18th first-class cowboys They draw SO mon
r., more than the others. Some of them