Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1915-10-21

! nned TO small herds, and twenty
seven years later not one was to b'
found in the United States, excep
those in captivity.
! 1t is also a matter of historic fac
that vast herds of these migrating
animals moved north in summer anC
south in winter, with an instinct thai
| taught every species of wild game u
seek a garden spot in season. These
| herds were so extensive as to halt
early army expeditions for days, tc
permit of their passage and remove
/ their cloud from the horizon.
| To give q more concise description
Of the passing of the buffalo few
stanzas are taken fro ma poem writ
! ten by Mr. Foley in the New York
/ Times on the musings of an old
! trontiersman, entitled:
"Sunset the Prairie"
u remember in the sixties, when as far as
I could see,
! 1t had never lord or ruler but the buffalo
and me.
Ere the blight of man was on it, and the
endless acres lay
Just as God Almighty left them. on the
restfu seventh day;
| When no sound rose from the yastness
| but murmured hum and din,
! Like the eschoed void of silence in an
unheard prairie hymn:
| And ] lay at night and rested in my bed
] of blankets cured,
| Much alone as if ] was the only man in
all the world.
| But the prairies passed. or passing, with
the passing of the years.
| TIL there is no West worth knowing
aud there are no pioneers:
They have. riddled it with railroads,
throbbing on, and on, and on,
They have rldded it of dangers, till the
zest of it Is gone.
And I've, saddled up my pony, for I'm
dun and lonesome here,
To go westward, westward, westward
till we find a new frontier;
To get back to Gods own wildness and
the skies we used to know
But there is no West-it's conquered
aud ! don't know where TO GO"
"Wild West" Is True to Life.
Incidental to my "reminiscences of
Buffalo Bill'' and "Pawnee Bill' and
the positions | have occupied in pro-
noting their interests and developing
the features of the great West for
professional production. ] must en-
phasize the fact that the Wild West
has never been considered a circus in
any sense of the word, although it
has, unquestionably. been one of the
most pronounced educational amuse-
ment enterprises the world has ever
seen. 1t carries with it the remains
of pioneer days, as well as the strenu-
GUS romance and literature of border
land.
1t is true that rowing bands of wild
Indians no longer attack the prairie
schooner" or caravans of the early
plainsmen, and the outlaws who
formerly held mp the Deadwood coach
have adopted a more scientific method
by blowing UP the express car on the
limited mail or making raids ON bank
ing institutions.
Still, there is something invigorat-
ing in the life of the ranch and the
prairie. The cowboy no longer con-
siders ii necessary to shoot up a town
in order to qualify for the best So
ciety and tenderfoot Is perfectly
safe i'm wearing q silk hat if he
chooses to do so. But ranchland is
still distinctive country and it's in
habitants have peculiarities that are
picturesquelyN Ntheir own. II has a
code of ethics peculiar to itself. 1t
makes its own fashion, has its own
code of morals and lives in the open.
The essential features of the cowboy
and cowgirl fashions are the wide
trimmed. high-crowned soft hats,
high -heeled, short-vamped boots and
l1notted handkerchiefs, which, worn
loosely around the neck, serve for
something more than an ornament, as
many suppose. II is a protection for
the lower part of the face from wind
and rain, sand and snoWstorms, as
the chin may be dropped into it with
out using the hands, and when shift
ed to the back protects the neck from
the blistering sun.
The same may be said of the wild
West girl, the sister of the cowboy.
Being a woman, she has the natural
desire of her sex to look nice, and
this is eVinced In her clothing and
everyday life. When she forsaSes the
ranch and becomes performer in
travelling exhibition there is very
little increase in the cost of her
wardrobe, A few extra ornaments,
the deerskin or calfskin dress, the
beaded trimmings, the high protect
ing boots with spurs and the broad
brimmed cowboy hat, are no evidence
of vanity or put on for SHOW pur-
poses" That is the way real cow
girl dresses on the ranch and for fes-
tive occasions, as 1t is safe, sane and
comfortable. 1t is still adapted to the
conditions under which she lives, and
enables her to mount horse astride
and gallop off to the ranges to round
up a neru OF cattle or Duncn OF
bronchos, as we'll as her more sturdy
husband or brother.
Nernacular of the Plains.
The Wild West made so popular by
Buffalo Bill has familiarized the
public with many characteristics of
the frontier which would never have
been known or realized except for
these practical lessons in ranch life
and vernacular so peculiar to itself.
For instance, the omnipresent small
boy uses the abbreviated word
chaps" for chaperojos the woody leg
gings worn by the COW punchers; but
it is not generally known that these
! leggings are for the protection of the
/ legs of the cowboy in chasing his
charges through the chaparral and
underbrush. as we'll as to serve as a
comfortable covering in rain and
SNOW There are many other terms
in the yernacular of the ranch, most
of them abbreviations of Spanish
words or phrases and sometimes a
corruption of good plain English