The Washington herald., 1913-06-22

!. and come to the fire, where he picked
out tin cup. tin plate. and knife and
fork. helped himself to coffee and 10
| whatever food there was, and ate 10
standing or squattins as best suited
him.
Dawn was probably breaking by this
| time. and the trampling OF unshod hoofs
showed that the night wrangler was
bringing In the pony herd. Two Of the
men would then run ropes from the wa
gon at right angles to one another and
| into this as corral. the horses would be
driven.
Each man might rope one OF his own
horses. or more often point IL out to the
I most skillful roper of the outfit, who
would rope II for him-for II the man
was an unskillful roped and roped the
wrong horse or roped the horse In tina
| wrong place there was a chance Of the
whole herd stampeding. Each man then
saddled and bridled his horse This was
usually followed by some resolute buck
ing on the part Of two or three Of th,
horses. especially in the early days OF
each roundup. The bucking was always
a source Of amusement to all the men
whose horses did not buck, and these
fortunate ones would gather round CIV
ing ironical advice. and especially adjur-
ing the rider not to go to leather"-that
Is. not to steady himself in the saddle
by catching hold of the saddle-horn.
The Long Circle.
As soon as the men had mounted, the
whole outfit started on the long circle.
the morning circle. Usually the ranch
foreman who bossed a given wagon was
put in charge OF the men of one group
by the roundup foreman; he might keep
his men together until they had gone
some ten or fifteen miles from camp,
and then drop them in couples at diff
ferent points Each couple made its
way toward the wagon. gathering all
the cattle IL could find The mornings
ride might last six or eight hours. and
1t will still longer before some Of the
men got in. SingIy and in two and
threes they appeared from every quar-
ter of the horizon, the dust rising from
the hoofs OF the steers and bulls, the
cows and calves, they had collected.
Two or three of the men were left to
take care OF the herd while the others
changed horses. ate a hasty dinner, and
then came out TO the afternoon work
This consisted OF each man in success
sion being sent into the herd, usually
with companion. to cut out the cows
of his brand or brands which were fol-
lowed by unbranded calves. and also 10
cut out any mavericks or unbranded
yearlings. We worked each animal gent
ly out TO the edge OF the herd. and then
with a sudden dash took II on at a
run. 1t was always desperately anxious
to break back and rejoin the herd There
was much breakneck galloping and
twisting and turning before its desire
was thwarted and II was driven to join
the rest of the cut; that is. the other
animals which had been cut out. and
which were being held by one or twh
other men.
Cattle hate being alone, and il was no
easy matter to hold the first one or two
that were cut out; but soon they got a
little herd OF heir own, and then they
were contented. When the cutting out
had all been done. the calves were
branded. and all misadventures of the
calf wrestlers," the men who seized.
threw, and held each calf when roped
by the mounted roper, were hailed with
yelling laughter. Then the animals which
for one reason or another il was desired
to drive along with the roundup were
put into one herd and left in charge OF
a couple of night guards. and the rest
of US would loaf back to the wagon for
supper and bed.