The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1908-12-09
;.''''''''''-;
r--1My Fight\--;
+: With PaintIegs F.:
BY JACKSON @o
4 MuNDAY. 4
Sereseeoeeooe@s

family were people of consequence in
Kentucky, but they had lost every
thing In 1887 by the failure of the
State banks and the ensuing panic.
And that Is how | happened, when a
lad OF nineteen, to go with Waugh to
his ranch at Zapatco Springs and be-
gin life as llne-rider.
knew nothing of ranching except
from report and was, in the parlance
OF the time, q green hand from the
States" When allghted at Waugh's,
my only possession likely to be useful
In my new calling was O lariat of
braided hogskln, which l had pur-
chased at store on the distant
Brazos.
! did not make friends quickly
with the men, | did not gather a
penny's worth of information in a
week OF time. l found 1t CALLING as
well as mystlfylng to have my ques-
tions curtly answered in borrowed
and foreign vernacular: 81, ma, POGO
tempo or quien sabe.
Waugh's departure quickly fol-
lowed our arrival-he had two large
ranches, on which were both horses
and cattle-and no one seemed au-
thorized to furnish me with horse,
saddle or information. And so l
lounged idly or practiced with my
lariat upon an accommodating hound
pup which followed me about.
So matters ran for week or more,
much to my disgust, and then came
a change, sharp, decisive and well
come. There was gathering of men
and horses and a hurry of prepara-
tion one morning. An indifferent
cow-pony, an old saddle with worn
einches, and bride to match were
given to me, and | was ordered to
~throw on leather" with the rest.
There was to be a horse rodeo or
roundup at the big stone corrals on
clam Creek flats, and we jog-trotted
thirty miles between breakfast and
high noon. l rode with Curly Jack,
an Alabama boy, who was obliging
enough to talk, and l learned much
about the new business of ranching.
At Clam Creek we met another
outfit" of men, our cook wagon"
came up, and we planned our cam
paign for the following day.
i found myself with Curly Jack
again, and we two swung off to the
left of the scattering army to ride
out" the arroyos, or gullies, of hog
back or ridge which lay between
Clam Creek and Zapatco Springs. We
were to drive all the horses we should
find to the stone corrals, some ten
miles above our starting-point.
Curly Jack and l had ridden over
perhaps half the route assigned to us.
and had small bunch OF horses 60
ing in our front, when a band of fifty
or more, led by white pony with
black stockings, burst from an arroyo
and sped away in our front.
"That's Paintlegs and his band, ="
said Jack. 81 low he'll jump the
manada in about an hour"
Then my companion explained that
Paintlegs was a fleet seven-year-old
mustang, which had escaped the
branding-iron, and that neither hand
nor rope had ever been laid upon
him. Paintlegs was feet as jack
rabbit, elusive as heel-hy and as
Nugly" as tigercat-.
No rodeo could tangle PaiLtlegs in
its coils, and he had learned 10 leave
his band to hang about the stone cor
rails, always keeping at a safe dis
tance, until his herd, or some portion
of 1t, was again turned out to him.
By nightfall most of the horses
within radius of fifteen miles or so
had been gathered and penned at
the big, round stone corrals, where
colts were to be branded and fresh
horses subdued by professional mus
tang-breakers.
With the work Of branding and
breaking in my time of trial had
come. Like most Kentucky boys, /
was fond of horses, and was account
ed good horseman, where the term
means something. But l must con-
fess that after watching the work of
the mustang-breakers, when my turn
came to ride a "broken" pony l
mounted the blindfolded and trem-
bling brute with a large respect for
its fighting ability.
The pony, a rangy buckskin, had
been ridden once by breaker, and
was turned over to me for my use.
OF course l was pitched" off time
and again, and finally the breaker
had to take my pony in hand again.
1t was my first experience of the
tricks of the genuine "bucker." ]
retired to my blankets the butt of
the camp, sore of body and of heart.
On the next morning, after the
herders had penned the stock, a
gentle" horse was given me to ride.
The animal was pronounced mot a
pitcher, but plum runner from way
back"
And he ran with me, an exhilarat-
ing dash straight up Clam Greek
slope toward the mesa. l let him
go-that kind of riding suited my
style exactly. When near the mesa
level, however, the treacherous rascal