Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1908-03-18
"PIoNEER DNYa
Tho Cowboys Part
in the History or Montana.
For The Neowee Courier.

For The Keowee Courier.
49, ss ss .
{Harlowton, Mont, March 1s.---
There is another figure standing
against inc background OF Montana's
blue and sunny skies. 1t is the cow
boy---'Jhe COW puncher.'
45 In his way he is as much part Of
Montana's history as those pictur-
esq9e figures who preceded him
tnS trapper the hunter, trader, In
&an, soldier. Like them, he is be-
ing pushed to the rear in the rush
of the world, and the, changing con-
dltions of Montana's development.
The shining mountains change not:
the flowing rivers sing through the
rocky canyons or low swiftly
through the valley: tho clear sun
things unchangeable; but where are
the buffalo, the big horn, the beaver?
Where are the men of fur, the war
bonnetted Red Man, the solitary mis-
sionary, the frontier soldier, with
sabre and spurs? Cone Thoy will
never stride across the land again.
The prospeGtor still haunts the
sun-and. clord shadowed hills, the
cowboy still pursues his outdoor, JOY
Gus life. Two typical sets Of men OF
Montana, the one still seeks the pot
of sold at the cnd OF his hopes rain
bow: the othe, copes the steers,
brands the calves, rides hard all day
for the cattle OH thousand hills.
and sleeps with his saddle or his
boots for pillow under the twink
Ling stars, with the sounds Of the
wide night for lullaby.
pnt tho uiro fopca 10 IN onu.ho,,,e,
Waterloo. The endless mileage OF
the wire strands will stop the CEN
taurs of the plains as surely as 1t
will corral the cattle. His day is al
most past. The necessity OF break
ing up the endless ranges, as mere
and more the settlers come into
Montana, Is sending the cow prncher
into the shadowy past as surely as
the railroad and other conditions did
the trappers, Indians and buffalo.
And so, because that which is hap
pening to-day makes history for to-
morrow, the cowboys life takes its
place in the gallery of Montana's
pictures. Even while the buffalo and
Indian, the trader and the trapper
were mingling on the great high
plains of Montana, there were those
who saw the great possibilities for
that had been the home of the buff
falo for countless years. II buffalo
could live the year round, increase
and grow fat, why not beef cattle9
No sooner thought than done. lat
tie were brought in. Lo! in the
twinkling of an eve, almost, Montana
leaped into prominence as q cattle
State. Wealth? 1t was to be had
for the gathering-gold was being
earnered in It's natural form III the
mountains and gulches. Gold just
as surely filled the pockets Of the
men who scld the increasing number
OF cattle on the limitless plains; the
profits wefe enormous; the winter
was no bar tc the cattle Industry;
the hardy COWS and steers ranged the
year round. We'll were the men who
owned tho cattle named Cattle
Kings" But in the spring and fall
these cattle must be gathered; the
new calves must be branded in the
spring; the cattle ready for market
must be "cut out" in the fall Then
arrived the day Of the cowboy. nr...
AS horsemen the cowboys are the
peers ofeany men in the world. With
their lasso, or larriat, they perform
I'd almost indescribable feats. Since
the days of Cortez, who is se!d to
have introduced 1t, the Rope HAY
been the bane Of the horned cattle
of the plains. A cowboy would be
as helpless as an unarmed soldier in
battle without the rawhide or hemp
coil which always hangs flon. the
horn Of his saddle. From the pink
tinted dawn until the golden haze of
dusk, in tho bloom Of spring and the
sunflower days of autumn; during
the motionless heat of midsummer,
and while the icy blasts Of winter
howl, the puncher'S work goes on.
He all but lives in the saddle; he
earns good wages; he may have his
faults, but cowardice and stupidity
are not o. them.
The true significance Of pioneer
Day can only be felt when the whole
romance Of the long historic strug-
giles in each period Of the develop
ment of Montana Is shown. where
each type of man has had his share
in the upbuilding Of the nation;
where all who come after shall have
still wide opportunities in the pur-
suit Of health, wealth and happiness.
'Puncher."