Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-26
ONE of the picturesque types

to surrender in the fight for the
old days and the old ways
against the Entertainments of
civilization. There was much
confusion in the minds Of most
people not familiar with the
cow country as to just what
constituted a rustler, for after
a time it became a custom IN
the west to refer to any outlaw
as a rustler. If a murder were
committed in any lonely spot
newspapers would attribute the
crime to r~ustlers. The same
mysterious beings were blamed
for train robberies and stage
coach holdups. If a lynching
bee were held, the men whose
necks were stretched, regard
less of who they were or what
they had done, would be report
ed as rustlers. And so any and
all bad characters of the west
came to be called rustlers.
It is true that in the later
years of the cattle industry all
rustlers were criminals, but it
is equally true that all crimi-
nails were not rustlers. And it
is also a fact, although never
admitted by the later genera
ton of cowmen, that in the ear
ly days Of the cattle range there
was such a thing as a good
rustler. Indeed in those days
no rustler was a criminal. He
was simply a Woodworking
cowpuncher who drew a little
extra pay for doing extra work.
He got his name in the early
maverick days before strict
laws were drawn to govern the
cattle ranges.
In those days there were
many unbranded cattle running
on the ranges, and these be-
came the property of any man
who rounded them up and put
his brand on them. A cattle
man, therefore, had a standing
offer to his cowboys of from 81
to SIS for each maverick found
and branded with the boss's
brand. Later on the cattle as
sociations for a time paid SIS a
head for any mavericks found
and turned over to the associa-
ton. The cowboys were accus-
toned to "get out and rustic"
for calves, and there was no
bad meaning attached to the
word rustic"
How Some Herds Started
Some cowpunchers in those
early times, having saved a lit
tie money, would buy a few
COWS and start rustling for
themselves. This was some
times done while in the pay of
a former employer and some
times after they had quit their
jobs and started on their own
hook. The cowboy had his
brand registered and gradually
built a herd. Some good-sized
outfits were started in this way
by perfectly legitimate means.
a steer that sold for $50
could be raised on the range
for So under favorable condi-
tons, this offered a quick way
to fortune that many ambitious
cowpunchers took advantage of.
It is easy to see what the
consequence of such a condition
would be. From all directions
all sorts of men began to push
into the business. Hundreds Of
new brands appeared on the
ranges and a new element
competition for feeding range
developed in the industry. It
soon became a game of dog-eat-
dog, and the big dog began to
eat the little one. The big out
fits met and combined against
the little ones, agreeing that no
more maverick commissions
should be paid, and that any
calves rustled by cowpunchers
should be for the employer, and
not for the cowboy. Further
more, it was made a range law
that no cowboy employed by an
outfit should be allowed to own
a brand of his own.
Action Of this sort, intended
to put an end to rustling for
the profit of the individual
cowpuncher, had the effect Of
increasing it enormously. 1t in
troduced a new written law to
an old unwritten law,
and the consequences were dis
astrous, for at once a long