Daily Kennebec journal., 1902-05-02
WESTERN RANGE HORSES
Give An Ausustan and Others Right
Smart Ride.

We who handle domestic horses,
here in the East, cannot possibly
realize what it is to take a bunch OF
range raised horses that have had no
handling other than being branded
and bring them to market to SELL
In 1885 we enjoyed such an expert
ence friend of ours bought on the
Laramie Plain, Wyoming, 16I well
graded range horses. They were near
ly all bays, brown and chesnuts in
color, three or four grays and few
blacks. Il
There were taken off the cars at Nc
Pherson Center, Kan. We drove them |
about 100 miles to Kingman county, !
Kans. through a well settled farming |
section, fenced party with Usage |
orange hedges and the balance with
barbed wire. The horses knew moth
ing about barbed wire. but promptly
and painfully made its acquaintance
After getting them pointed out of
town. we drove them in this style:
The owner rode a large bay single
footer, (the best l ever saw and led
the bunch A 60-foot rawhide rope
was a part of his outfit and with 10
or 12 feet of this weapon he held the
leader down to good, steady gallop
for 10 or II miles. Wallace Link from
wyoming, rode on the left side of the
bunch, a tenderfoot on the right, and
yours truly handled the tail enders
The boss had to return to town and
thinking the horses quieted sufficient
", signalled our dude cowboy, Chat
the name we gave the tenderfoot to
take his place.
All went well for some time, then
& shower struck us. The dude did not
want his paper collar wet, 50 pulled
to one side to put on his 'slicker,
(oil coat. Away went the leaders,
wild as deer, nothing in front to check
them, miles and miles of barbed wire
all along the line. One yell from the
Wyoming boy and he was after them.
The dude came out of his trance, cut
ting the bunch in two, giving Wallace
a stern chase after 60 odd of the best
of them.
This mixup happened about $50 A.
NJ We rounded up our lot and graz
ed them from p. NJ. until dark, when
along came the boy from Wyoming
with every horse. But with what cuts
and scratches they carried two were
ruined, and others bore the marks for
years.
The way that dude got 'ironed out
from the boss and Wallace Link was
sight He did not hold that job
down long, oh, no.
Night herding was the next thing.
The horses nearly all lay down, but
were uneasy, remembering the jolt
ing of the freight train; the cuts am
noyed and panied them, and no doubt
they thought of the plains of Wyoming.
Once q cayote sent them all or to-
gether in the stiffness of the night,
and it seemed as though the ground
would shake in pieces. But they We're
tired, we were on the lookout Tor
trouble and soon had them in control.
Early the next day we We're to cross
the Arkansas river by bridge, both
sides to the approach of which were
fenced With the ever-present barbed
wire. A place perhaps 100 feet across
was intended to be used as a corral
to hold stock, cut them out in small
lots of Is or 30 and run across the
bridge. We were going about six
miles an hour, horses strung out for
half mile, simply out of the question
to follow the bridge rules, viz. Posi-
lively not more than 90 head of horses
or cattle allowed on this bridge; 500
fne for dsregarding same"
To make matters worse, an old fel-
low came in on another road and drove
on ahead of us. The wagon contained
the drivers wife and an extra man,
(Swedes) and a pitchfork, the team
being n pair of large, lazy mules.
Our boss was one of those men that
have reduced profanity to a fine art;
when fully aroused he was positively
eloquent. He swore at those Swedes
as soon as he saw them and never
missed a stroke until they We're off the
bridge.
A word about this structure 1t was
built on piles. say Is feet from the
water. one thickness of good two-inch
planking. and nearly half mile long.
side rails of the weakest imaginable,
from six inches to six feet of water in
the river, the bed of which was shift
ing quicksands.
Nv the time the leaders We're half
way across, they We're climbing into
the rear end Of the Swedes wagon,
the driver was using a heavy black
snake like hired man and the other
fellow. used the pitchfork on the near
mule.
When the leaders went off the bridge,
the rear end was just off, and for once
I was glad that the boss had seen fit
to place me in the rear.
No Joking or exaggeration, that
structure swayed back and forth like
a tree in a storm and why it did not
go down l never could understand
That bunch of stock would average
900 pounds, 167 of them, to say moth
ing of the farmer and his mules.
But they went across in safety.
When l got across the Swedes were
resting their team near the fence.
Talk about people being pale with
freight, those folks were absolutely
gray in the face and 50 wet with per-
spiration that we thought that they
must have been at work. They would
do differently, again. doubtless.
We ran that lot of horses 20 miles
to the county line in very short order
and the town had to pay for the bridge
itself. LEE.
Eleven men besides Trainer Walter
Christy and Mgr. De Coto started East.
Thursday, from Berkeley, Cal, to rep
resent the University of California in