The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1927-09-16
PUP the Texas Trail $s 8: : Ny ;i$ E.: S$ s !:
Grm@sS mmfs hmp@onof the Copmus He KnaoM Of Whom Came Over Old Troll j

were lightning to draw a gun, and the
could do fancy turns with O rope and
others that could ride any horse that
could be saddled or bridled; but the best
and most reliable men were those who
did all these things reasonably well.
ION the range or h trail their work
was steady, hard, and hazardous and with
a good deal of responsibility. They were
out from three to six months at a time,
so when they did get to town it is not
to be wondered at if they did do a little
celebrating in their own way. Few Of
them drank to excess, some of them gam
bled, they all liked a good show and a
dance and they always patronized the
best restaurant or eating place in town
and ice cream and fresh oysters were
never omitted from their menu.
when on night herd it was necessary
to sing to the cattle to keep them quiet.
The sound Of the boys voices made. the
cattle know that their protectors were
there guarding them and this gave them
a sense Of security. There we're W songs
that seemed to be favorites. The tunes
were similar n all their tunes were
monotonous and pitched to a certain key.
I suppose they learned just the tune that
was most soothing to the cattle. I know
that their songs always made me drowsy
and feel at peace with the world.
THE first place they struck for in a
town was the livery stable where they
saw to it that their horses were properly
| cared for, and the barber shop was their
next objective. The noisy fellow in ex-
aggerated costume that rode up and
down the streets whooping and shooting
in the air was never a cowpuncher from
any outfit. He was usually some would
be- bad man from the east decked out in
paraphernalia from Montgomery Wards
of Chicago.
the country settled up and the
/ rnz1nn hrTCfnnGe hnnnwnn q Thfrn of fha
past most of the old reliable cowboys
engaged in other business. Their natural
love of animals and an out of doors life
led many of them to settle on ranches,
m they are today among most sue
cessful ranchers and cattle growers.
Description of Texas Trail
The story Of the Montana cattle
ranges would not be complete without a
brief description of the Texas trail, as
more han one-half of the Montana range
Cattle were driven over that trail and
almost every cowboy that worked on the
ranges made m or more drives up the
trail.
THE trail started at The Rio Grande,
crossing the Colorado river at San An
gelo, then across the Llano Estacado, or
Staked Plains, to the Red river about
where Amarillo now is. From there it
ran due north to the Canadian river and
on to Dodge City where it crossed the
Arkansas river and then on to Ogalalla,
crossing the North Platte at Camp Clark.
From Ogalalla it followed the Sidney and
Black Hills stage road north to Cotton
wood creek, then to Hat creek and across
to Belle Fourche, then over to Little
Powder river and down that stream to
its Mouth where it crosses Tongue river
to the Yellowstone, crossing that stream
just above Fort Keogh. From here it ran
up Sunday creek across the Little Dry
following up the Big Dry to the divide
then down Lodge Pole creek to the Mus
selshell river which was the end of the
l trail. Texas cattle were sometimes driver
clear up into Canada but never in any
considerable numbers. Ogalalla was {
, great trading center in the range days
! Many herds were driven up from Texas
I sold, and turned over to northern buyer;
at that place.
7 There were usually from 1000 to 5000
cattle in a trail herd, and the outfit con.
sisted Of a trail boss, eight cOWpuncherS
! a cook, a horse wrangler, about IS Gov
horses, and a four-horse chuck Wagon
I that carried provisions and the men,
! blankets. The food provided was corr
: meal, sorghum molasses, beans, salt
l sugar and coffee.
The cattle were as wild as buffalo AM
! difficult to handle for the first week o
10 days, until they had gained conf,
Z dence in the cowpunchers and accus
toned themselves to the daily routine
Z BY that time some OLD range steer haC
OSOdDAASAlSO AAAASSA 4CoOCA VI IAS ASA'
{ and everything settled down to a regula
! system.
a Strenuous Daily Routine
The daily program was breakfast a
daylight and allow the herd to Craze
while. The horse herd n mess Wagon
d pulled out and hen the herd started
h with two cowpUnchers in the lead o
point The man on the left point wa
e next in command to the trail boss tw
/, on the swing. two on the flank, and tw
d drag drivers whose business it was t
y look after h calves that playe dout, tn
5e footsOre and the laggards. In this orde
i they grazed along until noon. The mes
wagon would camp; one-half the cre7
would go in, eat dinner, change horse
10 and go back to the herd as quickly g