The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1907-09-06
THE ROUNDUP HAS BEGUN
FASCINATING SEASON ON AMONG
THE COWBOYS.
RANGE HUNDREDS OF MILES
A Steer May be Turned Loose at the
Ranch House for an Hour and Not
be Found Again for Eight Long
Years-What Beef Roundup" is.

NcdTS-WHdt pcCI TO-
The annual beef roundup" on the
western range, out northwest of Nor
folk, in the cattle country of western
Nebraska and southern South Dakota,
will soon begin and ranchmen and cow
boys in that region have been getting
in readiness for the work. Following
the roundup hundreds Of trains of
sleek cattle will be rushed off the prai-
ries and through Norfolk into South
Omaha and Chicago livestock markets
to do their share toward supplying the
beef demand of the worlds dinner
table.
Just now in the western hills, ranch
men are making hay with all their en-
ergy and as soon as this work is fin
ished the beef roundup" will begin.
Cattle Wander Far.
There are two round-ups each year.
one in the spring and one in the fall
All the year around cattle on the west
ern range are permitted to run at large
over the unfenced prairies, seeking a
living off the grass that grows wild
Oftentimes these animals, wandering
from the ranch house which Is their
home, will get as far as 100 miles or
more away from their headquarters.
They are not in any way kept track of
during the year and no attempt Is made
to herd them, since that Is too expen-
sive and results in poor progress on
the part of the cattle in putting meat
on their ribs. A herded COW gathers
much less beef than one which is al
lowed to roam the hills and valleys
unguarded and unmolested.
Loose an Hour, Gone Eight Years.
Now and again ranchmen will turn
a herd Of cattle loose for an hour or
so, near the ranch house, not to find
them again for seven or eight years.
The range country is rolling and the
big round hills sweep on and on for
miles and miles, like so many tall
waves in the oceans depths, thus af-
fording ideal protection to the cattle
unwittingly hiding from the cowpunch-
ers :. And so vast and endless are those
prairies that the "critter" very fire.
quently gets away from sight of the
cowpunchers for long period of years
though, that animal will be picked up
in a roundup. There is no chance Of
permanently being lost, with all the
round-ups that occur, year after year.
Pick Out the Beeves.
The fall round-ups which will soon
begin is to pick up and sift out the
beeves. Animals which have not put
on enough flesh to make them good for
the market sales, will be turned loose
again to Craze for another twelve
month. Those found fat enough will
be driven to the nearest railroad sta
ton, loaded into cattle cars and run
through on passenger-train speed to
the Chicago markets. Jack Whipple,
one of the old time pioneer ranchmen
on the Rosebud reservation, whose
ranch house nestles just beneath hill
west of the Cut Meat Issue station,
will this fall ship about 1000 head to
market. At $4,000 per head, his ship
ments will net him 100000. Jack
Whipple's cattle are known by the
brand 60 S. O." on the right side, and
as. o. S." on the left. And the 1000
head which will be shipped are but a
fraction of those that will he turned
back to keep on eating grass off the
verdant hills.
Much Land for WhippIe.
Jack Whipple, by the way, has more
ways than one Of economizing In the
ranching business. Just at present he
has sixteen teams at work, each team
half day at time, making hay. A
mountain of hay cut off the low streaks
surrounding the hills, stands out in the
barnyard to tell the story of accom-
plishment. OF the eight men running
the hay mowers and rakes, three are
employees. Four Of them are sons Of
Jack Whipple and his squaw-wife.
The other is Jack, himself. The Whip
pie ranch gains not alone the work
of these four half-breed Indian boys,
but six quarter sections of fine land
as we'll. There's one for Mrs. Jack
Whipple by virtue of her untainted red
blood. There's another for Jack Whip
pie, her white husband. And there
are four more for the four sons. to
say nothing of the quarter sections
which will be allotted to each ensuing
child or grandchild.
The Branding Process.
The new born cattle of the year are
gathered in as soon as the snow is off
the ground, that their rancher's own
ership trademark may be stamped
upon them. Nature has decreed that
the calf will remain at its mothers
side and an nnwritten law of the
plainsmen therefore puts the same
brand upon a calf as is found upon the
old COW that it follows. An unbranded
maverick, rowing the prairies, is the
property of the man who finds and
marks it with his sizzling iron, so that
1t behooves each ranchman to collect
as nearly all of his own calves for each
springs branding process as the de-