The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1915-07-02
Wild CATTLE
OF ARIZONA
Steers Wander Away And
Are Lost For Years.
Hh
Hardy Cowboys Have Skill Put
To Test In Round
& Up.

Thousands Of cattle feed on the
brush-covered mountains of southern
t,rizona. This brush or browse range
is highly valued by the stockmsn, as
the leaves and twigs OF most OF the
shrubs are fair feed, and less rain Is
required to make feed of this x nd
than @: grass or weeds. Plenty Of
browse is good insurance against
drouth.
But even these browse ranges have
their drawbacks. In higher. rough
or mountains the brush. usually oak.
grows In large dense clumps as high
as a horses back. Cattle are hard to
find under these conditions. They
soon learn to brush up when they see
a cowboy rather than try to escape
by running, so that In country Of
this character anything like a clean
roundup is almost impossible. Steers
are often missed for two years. BY
this time they are large and strong
and having never been handled since
they were branded are wild as deer.
Whenever they get glimpse of
man they hide in the deepest nearby
thicket Ordinarily range cattle will
not run until a man is rather close
and then only for short distance.
stopping out Of curiosity to see what
the cowboy is doing, but wild COW
starts at once and stops only when
she reaches the. middle of a dense
ciump of chaparral, often lying down
In order TO be better hidden. Cattle
of this disposition, since they are
sbeing constantly recruited by desert
ers from the gentle stock, are almost
as bad as a pest and menace to the
cattle industry in southern Arizona
as wolves. and strenuous efforts are
&eing made to rid the ranges of
them.
Snaky Steers.
Two methods are used in catching
these "snaky steers: Leading them
out" and trap corrals. II the first
method is used a few days or weeks
of the regular spring "rodeo" are
spent in working these cattle, or
occasionally special roundup is
made for this purpose. The scheme
is for the men to ride into the chap
arral and rope as many of the wild
tn
steers is a good days work for five
or six men.
1t is In this work that a cow
puncher shows whether or not he is
worthy of the name. In the rocky,
brushy hilly country thru which he
must ride 1t takes a good man to
stay at the tail of wild steer until
2 he can run him into an opening
clear enough from brush so that he
can "tie onto it," Some pessimistic
traveller has said that in Arizona
4. very insect has a sting and every
bush a thorn. In the chaparral this
is almost the truth. Catclaw, cruel
fixion thorn. mesquite and stiff oak
twigs are all prepared to claw at
.pan as he rides thru them Even
1enderfoot can understand why chap
arejos are worn here. Heavy chaps.
denim jumper. flop brimmed hat tied
under the chin. and six-week-old
beard made up the cowboys uniform
In the brush. His saddle is equipped
with tapaderos on the stirrups. and
II Il is a single-cinch "center fire" or
three-quarter rig. as many of them
are. with breast strap and preaching.
Often leather cuffs are put around
the horses felocks to protect their
legs from the rocks.
Hunt begins.
The hunt begins. A steer breaks
out from a thicket. is chased and
finally. II tho boys are lucky. is lass
ed" thrown. and hog-tied. The tips
of his horns are sawed of to prevent
goring and the steer is then tied to
a tree by a rope around the horns.
Bailing wire is sometimes fastened
TO the tips of the horns and twisted.
This draws the tips together and
helps to make the head sore and
tender. The animal is left here for
two or three days without feed or wa
ter. BY that time, weakened and
with atender head. It will usually
lead easily. II II Is still ION the