The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-01-31
ROPING And STEER TYING.
VERY EXCITING COWBOY CON-
TESTS.

Records Made ut Cheyenne and SAN An~
fOnIO-Great RfvaIry--The American
sport Moro Dangerous Than Bull.
Fight lag.
Texas and Oklahoma cowboys met in
a rOping and steer-tying contest at San
Antonio, Tex, recently, says Denver
dispatch to the Chicago Record Herald.
The Oklahoma ''punchers'' emerged
winners by a narrow margin owing to
the remarkable work of Clay McGoni-
gal, who won the first prize of one thou
sand dollars. L. E. Blackaller, of Tex
as, was only shade behind McGonigal,
the second prize of five hundred dollars
going to him and causing the people of
Texas to feel that they had not been
entirely disgraced. A short time before
this contest one was held at Cheyenne,
Wy, at which w. E. Fitch carried off
all the honors. An effort will be made
to get these three cowboys together in a
contest for supremacy, and there is no
doubt that the man who wins will be
entitled to all honors as the champion
cowboy of the world.
| These roping contests, such as have
been held at San Antonio and Chey-
enne, are growing in popular favor in
the west, and. they afford excitement
for thousands of spectators, besides set
Ting little sectional questions as to the
! superiority of certain cowboys over GER
, tain, other knights Of the lariat. The
western cowboy is always ready to en-
| ter contest, whether it be riding buck
ing bronchos or roping and "hog-tying'
! fractions steers. He never takes into
consideration the fact that he risks his
| life in either form of amusement. 1t is
chance to show off his graces>of the
| all huge lark for him, giving him a
saddle and his skill with the rope. The
rules of roping contest are simple
enough. The prize winner is the man
who can rope the worst steer and tie
the kicking, struggling beast into a
|
| of which sounds simple enough, and
which looks simple enough when it is
done by a skilled hand. But let the
"tenderfoot" mount the little broncho
and try to throw heavy, numbering
steer, and then tie his victim so that
not hoof can wriggle, and some idea
of the difficulty Of the game will begin
to dawn on him.
This years contest at San Antonio
was less of a personal affair than that
at Cheyenne. There was a deep and
bitter rivalry between the cowboys of
Oklahoma and the cowboys of Texas ia
be settled. Colonel lack Mulhall
whose pretty daughters are famed
throughout the west as daring riders OF
| outlaw horses, brought about the trial
of skill, and the best ''punchers" of Ok
! lahoma and of Texas came together in
the arena in a three days contest.
Some idea Of the closeness Of the con-
| test may be CLEANED from the official
| records of the second day. On this day
| the Oklahoma boys roped nine steers in
| nine minutes and fifty-four seconds,
and the Texas cowboys roped a similar
y
seconds, difference of only five Sec
| onds in the aggregate. The contests
| were nearly as close on the other days
and it was only by a particularly brill
liant piece Of roping and tying on the
part of Clay McGonigal that the Okla
! homa boys won first place. And this
! victory is regarded as doubtful by loyal
Texans, inasmuch as McGonigal is a
New Mexico cowboy, and does not
spend all his time in Oklahoma.
At Cheyenne the contest occupied
only a part of one day, and the men did
not work in teams. There were cow
boys from several states in the contest
but each man went strictly on his own
merits. He was given but one chance
| at a steer, and If he did not make
good" either in roping or tying, he was
declared disqualified. w. E. Fitch, who
won first prize, his time for roping and
| tying being fifty-five seconds, is one OF
the best known and most daring cow
| boys in the west. Fitch's fame as q
roper extends to nearly every cattle
| state, and he is so dreaded in a contest
| that he usually enters under an alias
| his was Il ut dI Cney SIilS, anu Ills II"
| walls did not know that Fitch had en-
tered the contest until he rode whoop-
ing into the ring. swinging his lariat
and urging his COW pony to breakneok
| speed. Fitch's time at Cheyenne was
not considered remarkable for him, as
| he has been known to rope and tie q
steer in his own corral in something
under forty seconds. McGonigal, al
San Antonio, made some remarkable
| individual scores, one steer being rOped
and tied in fifty-two seconds; and
Blackaller at the same contest, die
even better in one instance, reaching
the phenomenal figures Of forty-twc
and two-fifth seconds. Such record al
a contest, however, is considered as
much an evidence of luck as of skill
the steer being slow and easy to catch
and also easy to tie. The weight and
speed and viciousness of the steer go 8
great way toward determining the COW.
boys record in every instance.
One of these steer roping contests Is
enough to quicken the blood of any
man. The element of danger is much
greater than at bull-fght, as the
cowboys practically tai their lives ir
their hands when they inter- the arena