The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-05-22
Campfire storics-No. 5.

Because 1 was brought up in the
primitive frontier environment of the
Dakota territory, with Sioux Indian
boys for playmates. 1 learned first of
all to ride bareback. To this day l
can ride bareback almost as well as
in the saddle. Did you ever notice
why an Indian and his pony appear
to be as one? 1t was as natural for a
plains Indian to ride as it was to walk.
The old-fashioned saddle 1 will de-
scribe later, but want to tell you now
that it was sure built for roping-not
comfort. Believe me, boys, you sure
had to be a real herman to ride n bad
horse in one of the old fashioned mar
row fork saddles.
Old-timers depended upon balance.
They used double-reins and they rode
in the stirrups. If they lost their stir
rups in a contest. it didn't matter.
Scratching a bronze with your spurs
was sure different then. You couldn't
scratch in front of the cinch-never
up on the shoulders. 1 remember old
outfits where a puncher would be
fired on the spot If he hit his spurs
or his quirt in front of the cinch.
Front of the cinch belongs to us, and
the back is yours" was the rule.
The present day bucking horse con-
test can't be beaten because the rules
are right, and they protect the bronze
from getting an unfair deal. They
didn't have all these rules in the old
days. The puncher just naturally rode
his bronze the best way he could.
The bucking bronc riding contest
was the first of all the roundup
events and it still remains FIRST.
This is because bronze busting is the
most exciting and thrilling of all west
ern sports. There isn't much danger
in fair competition with a rope, or a
six-shooter, or racing, but there al
ways has been danger in trying to ride
q bucking horse-and there always
will be, boys.
Nevertheless. all real westerners
greatly admire the man who can twirl
a fancy rope like my old friend, VIII
Rogers-or who can win a race, bull
dog a steer. rope a running steer. shoot
bullseyes with Il siX-shooter, ride
bronze bareback, or perform fancy
tricks in the saddle. Therefore, as
the Round-Ups grew more popular all
the other events were added.
At the Cheyenne Frontier Days
Celebration. or the Pendleton Round
Up. or the Calgary Stampede. or any
of the big shows each year, there are
such big money purses and attractive
prizes offered that the cowboys come
from all over the west to compete.
Most of the present day champions
just travel from Roundup to Round
Up each season, making very good
living in prizes won. Money prizes
for the various events run from ten
dollars to fifteen hundred dollars for
each event. Some change from the
old days of the west, when the cow
boys competed for a few dollars,
pair of chaps, or maybe a saddle, in
some special event.
A clear description of, Roundup
would not be complete without visual
iziag for you boys the other events of
this great western sporting show.
some are descended from tradition
DANGEROUS feats which were part of a
real cowpuncher's daily life on the
range; others are fairly new and owe
their origin to the inventiveness of
men who sure liked to take a chance.
Question Box-No. ..
Boys, l have explained in former
Question Box the sport and rules of
a cowboys bucking horse riding con-
test.
Many of the requests also concern
steer bulldogging. outside of the
American west there are very few
people who know what steer bulldog
cling means. How does a cowboy
"bulldog" a steer, and what does the
term mean?
You've got to be regular herman
to bulldog steer which probably
weighs in the neighborhood of 1900
pounds of wild bone and muscle.
The cowboy contestant is mounted
on a horse beside the chute, or pen,
In which the steers are kept. When
the steer is let out and gets fifty feet
ahead of where the contestant is
mounted, the flag drops and the bat
tie is on.
Imagine leaping out of your saddle
from a racing horses back onto the
horns of a plunging wild steer, The
cowboy is required to catch and throw
the steer with his BARE HANDS
and hold the animal by its lip with
his teeth. The steer must be stopped
before being thrown. Then. the cow
boy can wrestle it down to the ground
until the steer is flat on its side. Then
the flag is dropped and the time
taken.
Imagine, any man who does not
catch his steer in one minutes time
Is tagged and ruled out, and any con-
testant who knocks his steer down,
before bringing him to a full stop. is
DISQUALIFIED. Positively no biting or
cruelty of any kind is tolerated, how
ever.
1t takes some herman to win this
event And boys the worlds record
is under TWENTY SECONDS.
Famous in the annals of steer bull
American negro named Pickett. who
once broke up the national sport of
/ Mexico-bull fighting. This negro was
a tremendously powerful man. He
could bulldog a steer by throwing it
after gripping the animals lip with
his teeth, and. then, throwing both his
hands high in the air at the same
time.
Finally, this negro. Pickett. came to
Mexico City with a Wild West show.
4 He was we'll advertised. All Mexico
City was out to see one of their wicked
Spanish fighting bulls kill a black
'gringo." After a terrible struggle in
which his horse was killed. the negro