Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-06-05
Picturesque Cowgirls
Gradually Disappearing

| things soon became nothing but men,
cries following her arrival.
! The first women became cowgirls for
! this reason. To maintain their influence
| over the reckless men with whom they
| mad chosen to share their lives.
They adopted the high pommeled sad
| die, learned to ride astride, to brand a
| calf, in short to be good fellows and
| comrades. They became as adept in
| the use of the lasso and siX-shooter as
! their husbands and brothers, and could
round up a herd with dizziness equal to
that of the more properly designated cow
| boy.
Time and progress has changed all of
the old life The barbed wire fences have
advanced and the great state wide
ranches have retreated The cowboy is
still in the west and so is the cowgirl, but
they are not the old kind. A new sort has
taken their place.
The occupation Of the once independent
lords of the prairie has dwindled down to
mere herding of cattle. The great ranches
have become huge stock farms, profitable
but uneXciting.
The present day woman rider of the
west is now as much hOrSeWOman for
enjoyment as for work She keeps up
her riding for the fun she gets out of it,
nothing more. She is still able to throw
the lariat. but the accomplishment is not
essential. The husband does the work
She keeps house"
All the cattle country of today Is con-
tanned in twelve states-Colorado, Mon
tana. Idaho, Dakota, Utah. Nevada,
Washington, Oregon, California. Nebras-
ka, Oklahoma and northern Texas.
Northwest Colorado supplies in the short
rich grass which grows among it's sage
brush the most nutritious natural hay in
the world, and every season herds of
cattle are sent there to fatten from all
sections of the country
Life q cattle ranch now with the
educational advantages fewer. is much
the same as that on Dig eastern farm
The advent of woman there has vastly
improved old standards of living. Chill
dren: because of the limited educational
faciiitles. are of course. at a great dis
advantage. and seldom see the inside of
schooiroom before they are ten or
twelve years old. They, however. learn
to be expert horsemeh and horsewomen,
TO be daring and quick of action, char
acteristics which they never afterward
lose
The cowgirl of today is as much inter-
ested in Partisan fashions and social af-
fairs as any woman in the east and
when one of these women travels east
ward she is generally accompanied bv
several trunks. packed brimful of up-to-
the-minute gowns and lingerie.
oltehtlmes the wives and sisters Of the
ranches take part in the breaking of
wild horses. which takes place every
spring. Not because they are expected
to, but because they enjoy the lark
Nearly every young woman born on a
western cattle ranch is able to do fin
lshed work as bronco buster if she
cares to. but she is becoming less and
less fond of the job every year Now
the bronco buster is specialist who
travels from one ranch to another and
breaks in the green animals as they are
needed.
Perhaps the most marked change in
the life of the present cowboys of the
west is to be seen at the great roundups
of cattle that begin at about this sea-
son of the year. 1t is here that the in
fluence of the new kind Of cowgirl is most
to be noticed.
Where the old cowgirl was wont to
jump into the work with masculine en- |
ergy and absolute lack of femininity and |
brand and corrall with the men, the new |
type devote themselves to making com. |
Portable what would otherwise be an ex. !
tremely uncomfortable period
The roundup continues all the sum-
mer. The young calves are branded with !
the mark Of their respective owners, and