The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1908-11-06
THE REAL COWBOY.
No Longer an Animated Battery,
but Broncho Buster StiII.

but Broncho Buster StiIi.
1t is quite true that the cowboy OF
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 brace of six-shooters
slung at his hips and repeating rifle
held IN the crook of his arm.
Barbed wire fences, steam railroads,
police courts and penitentiaries have
rendered such appurtenances superhu-
GUS. And Immediately after pay day he
does net sweep 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 he
receives a strict attention to the duties
of lis 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 indivld-
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 dry season In
southern Arizona meant the death OF
many cattle and very frequently the
financial ruin of their owners. The olo
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
differently now. Let dry year come
upon the southwestern ranges and the
cattle are hustled on board train and
transported to the cattle companies
ranges in Colorado or Montana or Ia
kota, where the season is good ana the
feed abundant.
No long drives Of hundreds OF miles
fn search of new range as In the oie
days. Simply day or two OF rouho
ing up then a few hours drive 10 TIT
nearest shipping point on the railroad
Then perhaps day in town for TIT
cowboys and back again to the hom'
ranch and the regular grind.
Though the cowboy Is not colleg'
graduate he is by no means an 1gno
ramus. Usually he is American Dori
and fairly well read, taking the sam
active interest in current topics ant
politics that other American citizens &c
AS a general rule he has been ralse'
, In the section in which he is employs
t and is of youthful appearance Ii
differs very little from the averag
American working youth, western dis
: lect stories to the contrary notwitf
standing.
In all. cowboy bunkhouses there. Is
!. pile of current magazines, the content
& of which are devoured with aV1dlt.
/ And one is not infrequently treated
;, the amusing spectacle of a youthfl
/ cowboy becoming SO enamored OF I'll
J kind of punchers pictured in moder
= fiction that he purchases pair of u
e terly useless six-shooters, commence
# TO walk with swagger and to initial
u the dialect Of Red Saunders.
But If craftsmanship is no longer
. qualification of the cowpuncher, hors
e manship is. The modern cattleman
i as proud of his ability to ride anythiI
l. on four legs as was ever broncho bust'
:, Of bygone days, and this Is the first fa
impressed upon tenderfoot.
=.