The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1908-11-12
THE REAL COWBOY.
No Longer Animated battery,
but Broncho Buster Still.

but "a Broncho Buster still.
1t is quite true that the cowboy o.
to-day is not college man, nor one
at all familiar with the manners and
customs Of polite society, says Out
West. Neither does he go about his
daily task with a brace Of sixshooters
slung at his hips and repeating rifle
held In the crook of his arm.
Barbed wire fences, steam railroads,
police courts and penitentiarles have
rendered such appurterances superdu-
Gus. And Immediately after pay day he
does not sweep down upon the nearest
town, shoot out the lights and take
part In a gun fight or two.
For the $50 or $40 month which he
receives a strict attention to the duties
of his Job is expected, and in these days
Of strenuous competition Job is pre-
cIous thing. The life OF the modern
cowboy is as full Of hard and monoton-
GUS work as that OF an eastern farm
hand, and there is very little difference
In the intellectual and social standing
OF the two.
Though thousands OF cattle are graz
ed on the plains of the Southwest, very
few are shipped direct from the range
to the market The places of indiyid-
ual cattle kings have been taken by
great stock companies which own nu-
merous tracts of range land in various
parts of the West.
A few years ago a dry season In
southern Arizona meant the death or
many cattle and very frequently the
financial ruin of their owners. The old
timers still tell stories of having walk
ed for incredible distances on the car
casses of dead steers.
But all that Is past-they do things |
now. Let dry year come
upon the southwestern ranges and the |
cattle are hustled ON board train and
to the cattle companies
ranges in Colorado or Montana or Da-
kota. where the season is good and the
feed abundant.
No long drives of hundreds of miles
IN search of new range as IN the old
days Simply a day or two Of round
Ing up, then few hours drive to the
nearest shipping point ON the railroad.
Then perhaps Il day in town Tor the
cowboys and back again to the nome
ranch and the regular grind.
Though the cowboy is not college
graduate he is by no means an lgno-
-amus. Usually he is American born
md fairly well read, taking the same
,ctive interest in current topics and
,olltics that other American citizens do.
As general rule he has been raised
n the section In which he is employed
md is of youthful appearance. lie
lifeers very little from the average
American working youth, western dia-
ect stories to the contrary notwith-
standing.
In all cowboy bunkhouses there Is
,lle of current magazines, the contents
If which are deyoured with ayidity.
And one is not infrequently treated to
he amusing spectacle of youthful
cowboy becoming so enamored OF the
lind Of punchers pictured in modern
iction that he purchases pair Of ut
erly useless siX-shooters, commences
o walk with swagger and to initiate !
he dialect of Red Saunders.
But If craftsmanship is no longer a
Qualification of the cowpuncher, horse
lanshlp is. The modern cattleman is
$ proud of his ability to ride anything
n four legs as was ever broncho buster
( bygone days, and this is the first fact
impressed upon tenderfoot. !,