The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-10-02
THE ROPTNG AT PASCO'S
x x BY Roy stannard Y X

die cantie aud his big wheel spurs
tinkling TO every ambling step of the
pinto. All the signs proclaimed that
Turk was from Texas. His saddle
was double cinch. his rope was of
hemp as thick as your thumb and only
half as long as the Arizona rawhide
RATA, and there were Colorado conchos
on his Bride and a silver spade bit
that cost more than the pinto himself.
He had ridden far. for his eyebrows
We're powdered with fine white dust
and his flanTHl-clad canteen rubbed
light against his saddle flank. Turk
McGloTy was VrhistliDg La Paloma."
and calculating what he would do with
the prize--whidh he already regarded
as won. Turk had big innocent blue
eyes that looked straight out at you
from the desert wrinkles of his brown
face. a little white moustache, the first
fruits of HEanhood, and d-humored,
firm lips. There was something so ir-
resistibly new about him that Carver,
the head judge Of the roping, instinct
lively called him ''the Kid"
You shall see Pasco's: Brown 'dobe
huts in the midst of a wide gray plain,
tufted in the foreground like uphol-
stery with knobs of sagebrush; a rail-
road cleaning across it like chalk
line: dim blue mountains, ragged
along the top, set up in The distance.
out from the town. on the right,
dusty road led TO "a huge corral used
for q race course, with steer pen
I'm one corner. Cow pSinchers were sad
ding. Tightening cincheS, mounting
and riding up and down in bustling
confusion: crowd was gathering to
the grand stand at one side; tall
fellow in q white sOmbreTo was bawl-
ing for bets on the contest, and over
all glared the white Arizona sunshine.
Pasco's was hard at its favorite sport.
Steer roping is tie fine art OF the cat
tie ranges; it is also the chief business
of the cowboy. No other great sport
is 80 closely linked with the daily work
Of the soil no other work has in it so
many Of the elements of wild sport.
Turk McGlory. riding into the corral,
felt all the eyes of PaSco's heavy upon
him. IL gave him a sense of heat and
too little air. He felt somehow that
they knew, especially the women
knew, that this was TO be his first
public ropingJ He wished that they
Also knew of his Wild riding and tying
with the Lazy A outfit. and then he
was glad they didn't Out on the plains
be had felt the strength OF every mus
Gle in his lanky six feet, and he was
certain of winning; but now he felt
reedlessIy large. loose. obstructive,
and for one panfcky second he was
riding away, prizes TO the wind Then
he clapped his teeth shut and dis
mounted.
"By -" he said. I'll stay"
Here at the pen. where a dozen wild
steers were CTowding and painting,
We're knotted the cowboys and their
admirers. Carver and hiS Judges and
the small men who were betting. With
a throb OF the heart. Turk recognized
Bud Oliver TO him the greatest man
a. Il, -,
Texas and Los Angeles was his equal
for roping and tying. Turk McGlory
would rather have been Bud Oliver
than governor OF Texas. Turk was
the champion, receiving his friends
like a king. giving them san off-Eand
word or a clap on the bsSck-a hope
lessly inimitable perfection Of good
fellowship. And then there was Bust
er Graham. the champion Of Arizona.
and Haiversen a square man with
Jaw like a bulldogs: Doc Mason. who
had roped with Buffalo Bill. and a
number OF others whose names were
great in the roping field. Turks heart
went down and down vixen he thought
OF competing with men like these. and
then Il suddenly ieaped up with the
realization that he was in such COM
pany. a part OF II, and he resolved that
he would never leave the field until
every man in it recognized him as a
roper. too.
Little groups Of people were drifting
by 20 the grand stand. Here and
there. from the corner of his eye. as
ne bent to adjust the saddle cinches.
Turk McGlory caught the CLINT of a
white skirt or of a flowing ribbon.
Sometimes the girls stopped to discuss
the contestants; he heard them talking
OF Bud Oliver and Mason and Buster
Graham. Suddenly, az he frightened
latigo strap. a saucy, smiling face
looked up at him. Her sister was evil
IDENTIFY trying TO pull her away, but
she said. kalf tessingly:
Tin wearing your colors, Mr.. Texas.
You must win
He saw nothing but deep black eyes.
and he felt the blood in his face. He
couldn't have spoken If he had known
that II was to save his life. and he
knew that he was smiling foolishly
She looked back over her shoulder.
raising mischievous finger.
Remember" she said.
Turk took two steps after her and
then went back to his saddle. She
was In blue and white: ne wore blue
and white silk handkerchief knOtted
loosely, cowboy fashion, about his
throat. Whatever else he saw he also
saw her until she was in her place in
the grand stand.
Some one shouted, a flagman rode
out from the pen on a sleek city horse,
the admirers and the bettQrs slowly
worked away. leaving the cowboys and
the judges around the pen. The con-
test was about TO begin. Turk OBJ
served that every contestant except
Bud Oliver and himself was an Ari-
IONA or New Mexico man-single cinch-
Is. white sombreros, rowel spurs and
al htrrf uplr
crowned hst. tOgsers sagging SO low
as to make him appear extraordinarily
long WASTED and big-shOuldered; high
heeled Mexican boots and a vest, IN
bustoned. but no coat. He stepped with
a peculiar roll, seen only in these dwell
ers on horses, TO whom walking is an
uncouth exercise TO be avoided.
An attendant was dropping one OF
the bars Of the pen twenty-five feet
in front. where alog marked the start
ing place. Denny Hughes, the first of
the contestants was sitting on his
horse bride rein down, coning his
rope and fitting the rings TO the proper
places between his fingers. In front
OF him. a hundred feet from the pen
gate. the fagman sat stiff and still with
nag in air. The steer was to have a
hundred feet start. and the cowboy
was not TO give chase until the flag
dropped AS befitted a natural sport.
the rules were few and simple. 1t
was to get the steer, throw him, and
tie him so that he could not get up,
and the puncher who made the best
time was the winner. It is the every
day Of the COW man on the range; it
IS the way all cattle are caught, either
for branding or killing.
Three bars were down. A splendid
big steer stepped out with raised head
and horns high. paused a moment and