The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-08-03
ENDERF0(
ON A ROUND up

Theodore Roosevelt, and some which
the late Marquis de Mores had owned
i Cow ponies that had come up the trail
4 from Texas; Sioux, Cheyenne and
4 Grow ponies, with their peculiar pic
4 ture brands, and the large, sturdieI
i Dakota and Montana horses made up
i the bunch.
at was my fortune to be assigned
to the day herd at different times-in
other words, to play the part of horse
/ wrang1er, whose duty it is to watch
the hard while grazing or to drive it
along behind the mess wagon when
moving An intelligent, isagacious lot
they were. For ways that are dark
and tricks that are vain they rivaled
the heather Chinee have no doubt
some of them are still indulging in
horse laughs over the way they out
witted that tenderfoot fellow. No
body can ever make me believe that
two of those Williams, Nugget and
Dude, didn't conspire to make break
! for opposite sides of the herd at the
same time, SO that one of them would
be SIRE to get a mile or two away
before could catch him, my horse
all but run down and he fresh and
ready for merry chase. And one
/ bobtailed homeseeker did get away
| from me after l had run him in the
mud until my horse was "all in He
had good start, and, of course, took
the good footing. thus putting me out
! f,al hr5
quirt and spur as l might, I could not
head him. and had to take the insult
which he waved at me with his tail
as he disappeared over hill. III
never forget the fare-you-well-Brot
er-Watkins-ah' flourish he gave that
narrative of his. But we rounded him
up several days later on, and I had
1.-The pleasure OF day-herding him just
once more He didn't get away that
time.
"The day opens with Iusty call
from the cook to turn out and fly
at it Traps are thrown back, frowzy
heads rise up, eyes blink and voices
execrate the cold In very few mo-
ments the galvanized dishes begin to
clatter, and the seeming abundance
of food disappears as if by magic.
Just as breakfast is finished the sad
die bunch is brought in by whoever,
has been on the last night watch
each night watch is two hours long
and is driven into the rope corral
that has been set up near the wagon.
Then the boss and an assistant or
two rope the horses that are to be
I'm h.a ~ rid Or
calling out which of his string he
wants. Brides and saddles adjusted,
everybody turns to and helps with the
loading of the mess wagon. When
everything is made fast, the wagon
starts along the trail between the
buttes or across the prairie, the day
herders get the herds in motion be-
hind it and the circlers swing out on
both Sides
Sat noon essentially the same pro
cess is gone through. Dinner is ready
when the circlers come in with
whatsoever horses they have found.
After dinner, when fresh horses have
been caught, the horses which belong
to some one else, and consequently
are not wanted, are cut out and those
gathered in the morning are thrown
in with those rounded up before.
Again the mess wagon leads the way.
the herds fall in behind and the cir
clerS gallop off for another twenty
five or thirty mile ride.
But night is the time of all times
in a roundup gcamp. The circlers
come struggling in, about dark, with
horses and without. Twelve or four
teen hours in the saddle, under a |
sun, or in cold, wind |
driven, singing rain have sufficed to |
tire even hardened riders, to say
nothing of a tenderfoot. To throw
saddle and bride on the ground,
start your horse toward the herd and
then take a deep drink OF long desir-
ed water are the things first in order.
If supper is ready the satisfying of a
ravenous appetite by means of boun-
teous helpings of bacon or ham,
boiled potatoes, beans, corn, tomatoes,
hot biscuits and coffee occu-
pies the next half hour. Soon the
altar of our Lady of Nicotine is heap
ed high with incense, offerings from
the grateful subjects who recline at