The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1908-07-30
THE REAL COWBOY.
No Longer an animated Battery
But a Broncho Buster Still.

But a Rroncho Buster Still.
1t is quite true that the cowboy OF
to-day is not a 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 six shooters slung at his hips and
repeating rifle held in the crook
OF his arm.
Barbed wire fences. steam rail-
roads. police courts and penitentia-
ries have rendered such apurte-
nances super6ous. And immediate
ly after pay day he does not swoop
down upon the nearest town, shoot
out the lights and take part In a
gun fight or two.
For the $50 or $40 a month which
ne receives a strict attention to the
outies OF his job is expected, and In
these days OF strenuous competition
Job is a precious thing The life
OF the modern cowboy Is as full OF
hard and monotonous work as that
OIL an Eastern farmland. and there
is very little difference in the intel
lectual and social standing OF the
two.
Though thousands of cattle are
grazed in the plains of the South
west, very few are shipped direct
from the range to the market. The
places of Individual cattle kings
have been taken by great stock
companies which own numerous
tracts OF range land In various
parts of the West.
few years ago a dry season in
southern Arizona meant the loss OF
many cattle and very frequently the
financial ruin OF their owners. The
old timers will tell stories of having
walked for incredible distances on
the carcasses OF dead steers.
But all that Is past-they do
| things differently now. Let dry
year come upon the Southwestern
ranges and the cattle are hustled
on board a train and transported to
the cattle companies range in Colo
| RADIO or Montana or Dakota, 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 rounding up then few hours
drive to the nearest shipping point
on the railroad. Then perhaps Il
day in town for the cowboys and
I back again to the home ranch and
the regular grind.
Though the cowboy Is not COL
lcge graduate. he is by no means ali
ignoramus. Usually he is Amcrl-
can born and fairly we'll read, TAX
ing the same active interest In cur
rent topics and politics tnat other
American citizens do. AS a general
rule he has been raised in the sec
ton in which he is employed and is
OF youthful appearance. He diff
fers very little from the average
American working youth, Western
dialect stories to the contrary, not
| withstand!ng.
In 0l cowboy bunkhouses there Is
n pile of current magazines. the con-
tents of which are devoured with
evidity And one is not irirc'
quently treated to the amusing
spectacle of a youthful cowboy be-
coming so euamored of the kind OF
puncher3 pictured in modern fic
ton that he purchases a pair of ut
terry useless six shooters, commences
! TO walk with a swagger and to imi
tate the dialect of Red Saunders.
But II craftsmanship Is no longer
I. qualification Of the cowpunchel
l.orsemanship Is. The modern cat
tleman is as proud of his ability te
, rdc anything on four legs as wa
, ever the broncho buster of bygon'
: | days, and this is the first fact i'm
, pressed upon a tenderfoot.