Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1927-03-18

| Russell rode the range of Judith Basin
TEDDY Blue" was a close companion Of
Russell both during the cattle era and II
the years that followed the coming Of thu
hester and the homesteader.
In referring to the late artist, Mr.. Alb
bolt said 1T is true that Charlie was mo-
a cowboy In the commonly accepted in
depreciation Of that term; bat he was
herder. And, let me tell you that 1t mean
something to be a herder. Only the very
| best and most trusted men were selected
for that job. What is more. Charlie was
, never known to lose a herd"
In his art. Charlie Russell was excep.
~tionally t~horough-he practiced a creed o.
worth doing at all, was worth doing we'll.
In his work on the range during the
eighties, he lived out that same creed. Al
a result, when someone was needed for thu
over the beef herd. which was the money
of the cattle business, and Charlie Russell
was available, he was assigned to the task
Danger Ever Present
To better appreciate what being q herd
err entailed, is to know something of the
possibilities and dangers that confronted
this man as he rode his best COW pony
noiselessly at the edge of a herd Of hun.
dreds of nervous, and easily excited, wilt
| steers, which must be maintained In hrst
class condition to weather the long trip Il
market which would In a few days follow
AZ dHf DlOuutnt, httNt a ~
moments ago lying peacefully In a shell
tered draw, may at some foreign noise, {
storm, be transformed into a milling, bel
lowing, laundering mass, which, when tn
terror and the din have subsidized, and they
have run their pace out, will leave a trai
of blood and bones and death-and, per
haps, the loss Of human life.
A stampede" can only be described ant
appreciated by the man who has seen ant
been a part of one. And, perhaps no NOR
| 0rnnhta dissemination nf Tho Fntflp-fne1
moods, symptoms of such an outbreak, ant
the disaster itself, has been written thar
that which is preserved In Mr.. RusselIi
"Longrope's Last Guard" which is one o
the More Rawhides" stories. The arts
wrote as follows:
LONGROPE'S LAST GUARD
"whoever told you that cattle stamped
without cause was talkin' like a short
horn" says Rawhide. you can bet all yol
got that whenever cattle run, there's a rea
son for 1t. A whole lot Of times cattle run
and nobody knows why but the cows, an
they won't tell.
ssThere's plenty Of humans call it instinc
when an animal does something they don
savvy. l don't know what 1t Is myself, blu
I've seen the time when I'd like to a hal
some. I've knowed of bosses bein' trailed
thousand miles, an turned loose, tina
pulled back for their home range, no
goin' the trail they come, but takin' cut
offs across mountain ranges that woul'
puzzle a bighorn, an II you'd ask one 0
these wise boys how he done 1t, he'd bacl
out of it easy by sayin' it's instinct. You'll
find cowponies that knows more about tn
business than the men that rides EN-.
Always a Cause for a Stampede
"There's plenty OF causes for a stampede
sometimes It's a green hand or a careles
cowpuncher scratchin' a match to light,
cigarette. Maybe it's something on tn
wind, or a tired night-hoss spraddles an,
| ubokac bimapIf an the n0nnfn' or the SAD
die leather causes him to jump the be-
: ground. Scare a herd on the start, an
you're liable to have hell with them all tn
way. I've seen punches well trail-brok
that you couldn't fog off the bed-groun'
with a slicker an six-shooter; others again
that had had a scare, you'd have to ride
hundred yards away from to spit. Som
mems too careful with their herd an 6
tiptoein' around like a mother with a sic
kid. I've had some experience, an. clair
this won't do. Break 'em so they'll stan
noise: get 'em used to seem a man afoo1
an you'll have less trouble.
There's some herds that you dassen
quit your boss short Of Ave hundred yard
OF. OF course it's natural enough for
cow-brute that never see boss an man apaI
to scare some when they see 'em separate
They think the top Of this animals buste
off: an when they see the piece go movir
around they're plenty surprised but as
lsaid before, there's many reasons for stan
pedes unknown to man. I've seen herd
start In broad daylight with no cause any
body knows Of. The smell of blood wi
start 'em goin'; this generally comes of !
the mornin' when they're quittin' the bee
ground. Now, in every herd .youl nm
steers that's regular cid FOUNDERS. The
won't go to bed like decent folks, but plr
in the night p%erusin' around, disturbin tn
peace. II there's any bulls In the bunci
watched an old bull walkin' around throug
| the herd an talkin' fight, hangin' up b
bluff, with a bunch Of these FOUNDERS at n
heels. They're sure Duckin' him up--boosI
in an ribbin' up trouble, an II there's
fight pulled off you should hear thes
trouble builders takin' Sides. every one
EN- with his tongue out an his tall kinke'
buckin' an bellerin', like his moneys a
up. These night ramblers that won't go
bed Mt decent hours, after raisin' hell a
night, are ready to bed down an al
sleepin' like DRINKS when decent cattle al
walkin' off the background.
Signs Of Danger
"Now, you know, when a cow-brute Gui'
his bed he bows his neck, gaps an
stretches all the same as a m after
nights rest. Maybe he accidentally tromI
on one of these FOUNDERS tail that's layi
along the ground. This hurts plenty. an
Mr.. Night Rambler amt slow about waki
up; he raises like he's oversight. an
afeared he'll miss the coach, leaving II
tossel OF his tail under the other fellow
hoof. He goes off w%ringin' his stub a
scatterin' blood on his rump an quarter
Now the minute them other cattle. win
the blood, the ball opens. Every hoof
at his heels barkin' an bellerin. The
that's close enough are hornin' him In Il
flank like they'd stuck to finish him Of
They're all plumb hog-wild, an II you wa
any beef left In your herd, you'd better CT
out the one that's causin' the excitemen
cause an hour Of this win take off mo
taller than they'll put on In a month.
Cattle like open country to sleep II
| sure hate to hold a herd near any brak'
or deep 'royos, cause no matter how gent
a herd is, let a coyote or any other amin
loom up of a sudden close to EN- an the
don't stop to take a second look. but a
gone like q fash In the pan. Old bul
comm up without talkin' sometimes jun
a herd this way, an 1t pays a cowpunch
to sing when he's comm up out OF q no.
close to the bed ground.
Why Cowboys Sing
"Some folks1l tell you that cowboys siI
their cows to sleep, but that's a mistak
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