Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-02-17

as the barbed wire fence each year
pushes them back, the more do we
want to see them and know of them.
Years ago the Indian had a halo
a yard wide around him-to my eyes
and l passed days and days in and
around the Rose Bud reservation,
seeing the Souix from a distance
from the enchanted and romantic
viewpoint. But one day l caught a
bunch of them smayed from their dig
nifty. They sat around an iron stew
pot. The pot had a three-day old
calf. The carcass was half dressed
and half cooked. A big Indian would
go down into that mess with a point
ed stick, bring the little parboiled
carcass out of the dirty water, and
then the bucks and squaWs would
fight for it, each cutting and pulling
off a piece of the slippery commod-
ity until the carcass would work
loose from the qrong and fall back
into the stew.
And my Indian romance went on a
vacation, and it never Comeback
And in measure is the cowboy a
creature of romance, made to order
| by imagination, assisted by mushy
stories and hero footlight stunts.
In introducing this series of ar
ticles from the southwest, l want to
take photo of the real wild west
| twaddie" for you, for the articles
will have much to do with him, and
you don't want any goods under false
pretenses.
A few weeks ago l attended a
wild west show in New York town,
an aggregation billed as the real
classy article from where cowboys
grow.
The boss hero had his hair cut the
latest N. Y. fad; his neck and face
| clearly shaved; he stood as straight
as General Barnes reviewing his
troups; he had a big white Stetson
with never a fly speck on it; blue
| flannel shirt open low at the throat;
four-in-hand tie tucked under his
belt; some patent leather stuff for
boots; beautiful white brIckskin pants
a tan belt full of six shooters and
cartridges, and some gloves with
| fringe around the wrist. This fell
losE had a voice trained for high,
| low Jack and the game, and the way
he did hero doingsl would make any
18-year- old hopeful want to leave his
happy home and hot foot it to the
Bar L. ranch.
| In Western Kansas and Nebraska,
in Colorado and Wyoming l have
seen the cowboy at home and have
known him at his best andworst. In
this country of southwest Texas l
have lived with them and camped
with them for nearly two years, and
| want to spoil a little of your ro-
nance and show you the cowboy as
he is, or as he looks, rather.
Off a horse he is about as far a.
way from romance as a hog is from
a humming bird. From constant bend
| ing over a saddle he leans forward
when he walks; and from constant
sitting in a saddle he walks stiffened
in the hips, and his carriage is like
a rheumatic old farmer.
Thin-the cowboy is always a bun
die of bones, no doubt from the ter
rible sun heat. His hat-once a cost,
ly frame of Stetson felt-is dirty
and out Of shape, and pulled low dow
over the eyes to protect from the
sun. The length of his hair and beard
depends ON how long he has been
of about three weeks, and filled with
sand and alkali dust his face is any
thing but stage picture. His lips
are invariably covered by great white
busters, caused by constantly wetting
with the tongue and the SUMS heat.
His pants are the Sc corduroys and his
necktie a red bandanna. His boots
and his gloves are ever the real
goods, the latter costing from SO
to $50 pair-Rodeman's hand made.
And such is the real cowboy when
on duty. Take his boots and hat
off and put him on Anew York farm
and you would take him for Verdant
Green, the last boy of the Green
family.
Is he green?
Well, just come down here and
start something, and see.
This lazy-looking, 1azy-talking. in
dolent, easy going puncher can change
to steel in just about three Texas
seconds, and then there is '.sure
something doing"
This western part of Texas-the
extreme western part, out between
the Pecos and Rio Grande-is no
doubt as genuine a real wild west
corner as there is in the United
states today, and the cowboys who
nave been born here have grown I'D
In the saddle, are the real product.
without bit of tinsel or stage make
UP. Far out beyond the railroads.
way back from the towns, they live
weeks at time, scarcely meeting
human being. Sometimes singIy
ana sometimes in pairs they ride
the range; cooking, eating and sleep,
lngln the open-healthy, dirty, hap
Ply, good-natured sons of nature.
Wnere he gets his wild name is
III MS COW town riots, and l want
20 say 10 the readers of this article
II you would follow a waddie in his
work Tor about six weeks you would
rob bank Just to break the awful
monotony of the life-you would cut
loose on something desperate to
break up the terrible sameness and
silence
You know when a 12-year-old kid
has sat for three straight hours at |
a desk in school, sat there with the
brake hard down on impulses until /
1t seems he must yell, that when
the bell finally releases him, why he /
will spit in a comrades face for |
sheer delight of action
And so with these fellows of the sa
die. With pockets full of silver they
come into the COW towns, fill up on |
booze, and the news dispatches tell
US the casualties
This letter is but an introduction
to the stories to follow. After a five
years absence from this country /
have only had time to shake a few |
cowboy hands and get my bearings
Just time enough TO hike out to a
COW camp and have the boys load |
I'M q Tin nIoto af