The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1905-03-10
HIS BRAND
ON COUNTRY
SETH BULLOCK SAYS PREsl-
DENTS MARK is PLAIN.
He PEDDLES SOME HOT AIR
Dakotan and His Cowboys Attract
Considerable Observation-Disclosures
Roosevelt, Jr. Interested.

Washington, March 8.-Seth Bull
lock, first sheriff of Deadwood, S. D.,
chief of the Black Hills forest rangers,
commander of the cowboy brigade in
the inaugural procession last Satur-
day says:
Looking at it from the top of cay
use, this inauguration appears mighty
significant to me. President Roose-
welt has already put his mark on this
country. At the end of another four
years the Roosevelt brand will be SO
clear it won't wear off for many
moons.
''The crowds in Washington show
the Roosevelt spirit. The people are
mostly bright and energetic typical Of
the president. It's just like it is on the
range, if the owner of a ranch is an
active, honest, hard-working man, you
can tell his cowboys as far as you can
see the outfit by the vigorous way they
work If the owner is dissolute, dis
honest or lazy, the cowboys are likely
to be the same way.
'Now, long before most of us in Da-
kota knew Roosevelt we used to hear
about him. Cowboys riding down to
our country from $50 miles away used
to say: That fellow Roosevelt up
there on the Little Missouri is dead
square. He don't maverick anybody
else's calves. He don't ask a man to
ride any horse he don't ride, and he
don't make any man stand a watch on
the roundup that he amt ready to
stand himself
"This is the kind of reputation
Roosevelt had in the cattle country,
where the things man does and not
what he talks about makes his reputa-
tion. He's no fair weather sailor, and
our boys out west knew it. That's the
reason 60 boys came down here with
me. Nearly ali of them have ridden
the range, and good many of them
used to know Theodore, and they are
all strong for him. They have paid
their own expenses and will have to
sell their ponies to get back, all be-
cause they wanted to see one Of their
own people, or, rather, man who had
lived with them and is as much or
more a westerner than easterner, inau-
gurated as president.
Feature of the Parade.
No organization in the inaugural pa
rade attracted more attention than the
cowboys. On Saturday morning they
dressed up in cowboy costume, consist.
ing of broad.brimmed hats, blue flannel
shirt, chaps, highheeled boots with
Mexican spurs and blue handkerchiefs
knotted around the throat Small boys,
seeing them, Immediately through OF
their dime novel hero, Daredevil Dick
the Demon Destroyer of DeadWood,
Dakota" and conjured up visions OF
how each and every one of the so or
more quiet-voiced, mild-mannered men
before them had led scores of desper-
ate charges against Indians or other
foes and roped wild steers in a devil
may-care free-and-easy way. 1t was a
thrilling spectacle-for the boys-and
an interesting one for all Washington,
which never before had seen genuine
Wild-west crowd outside of circus or
a "wild-West' show.
With small boys galore as personal
guard of honor, the cowboys left the
hotel to join the parade near the capt.
tol 1t was then that the cow puncherS
made their ponies show their tricks.
The evolutions were performed on the
way down Pennsylvania avenue be-
tween the capitol and treasury build
ings. Marching up Fifteenth street,
which is comparatively narrow, the
ponies were held in check, but when
the column swung into the avenue
again and the president in the resiew'
ing stand came into view, the evolu'
tions and cutting up began again.
Nobody was more pleased than Mr.
Roosevelt. He smiled his characteris'
tic smile, waved his hat and called the
attention of those near him to the
boys from the plains in his character
isticly hearty fashion, Just by way OF