The Wyandotte herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1879-1943, 1938-11-18
ROMANTIC COWBOY
FAST DISAPPEARING
Joins Indian as Creeter Of
Vacation Tourists.


NORTH RIM, GRAND CANYON.
ARiZ.-Word has come from this
western outpost on the north rim q
the Grand canyon that the romantic
cowboy Of yesterday Is fast becoun-
ing no more, that he is turning -
increasing numbers from punching
cows to soothing dudes. The leather
chapped cowpuncher, it seems. has
joined the Indian in forming . wei-
coming committee for the tourist.
Word of this sudden crashing g
q great American institution comes
from q man who ought to kneX.
Texas AL Phillips, Texas-born and
Texas-bred and q former cowbey
now turned dude wrangler. FL
al rode the range at fourteen.
and drew q mans wages for Il.
He can ride bucking broncho and
rope q steer with the best Of 'em.
but it isn't the life for Al. Give
him dudes any time in preference
to cows, says this lanky, saturnine
Texan.
AIS principal chore is to guide
parties of dudes on muleback trips
down the famous Kaibab trail from
the north rim Of the canyon to
the bottom. It's a simple job COM
pared to handling cows, he said.
"More and more cowboys are
turning to dude wrangling." the
keen-eyed Texan declared as he
rolled cigarette in approved west
ern fashion. There are q lot a
reasons, but the most important ones
are better pay, better quarters and
a chance to meet people.
Life q Tough One.
"a cowboys life is a tough ons.
His meals are never regular. He
sleeps out in all kinds Of weather,
lot of it bad. He's riding alenst
most of the time, too. 1t gets pref,
ty lonesome out there on the range
all alone Nothing but sun and
grass by day and stars by night
Sometimes you'd give a lot just to,
see single human being.
"It's hard work, too, the hardest
kind, to ride so or rs miles day in
the saddle. And there's some dam
ger, too. Roping steers, for IN,
stance, can be mighty dangerous
Most cowboys, however, don't wor-'
~ about the danger. It's part OF
their lives, one of their few enjoy
ments even though il is dangerous"
The man from the Panhandle Lit
his cigarette slowly and epined that
dudes, on the whole, weren't so
bad. A lot of them make a fuss,
about things that seem natural to q
man raised in the West, but you've
just got to be calm and easy-geing.
he said.
you've got to take things easy,
with them and try to keep them en-
tertained. They like to have you
talk to them a lot but that seems
TO be strictly entertainment because
they don't believe half Of what you
tell 'em anyway.
''When you're wrangling dudes
you meet lot of strange people.
And you get some mighty strange
questions, too. One lady said, What
was that thunder / heard over the
canyon this morning. / had to
say, Lady, that's what it was,
thunder, same as you have back
| East"
Marry Lady Dudes.
Al has known several cowboys
who turned dude wranglers and
then married one of their lady
dudes. Several of them have their
own ranches now, thanks to their
| propitious marriages. For them tho
call of stock was stronger than THAI
of the dudes. ~s5
Although he, personally, likes his
present job, al pointed out that as
long as there are cows there will DO
cowboys. The cowboy. he says. isn't
simply going to vanish.
But there aren't going to be 80
many q few years from now. MOrS
and more dudes are coming West
and it will take more and more q
us dude wranglers to take care q
them. For instance, more dudes
are coming each year to places like
this, and to Zion canyon and Bryce
canyon in southern Utah. It'll take
even more cowboys to take care of
them" -.
| He tipped the ash of his Cigarette
and pointed to some of his charges
going down the trail. 81 like 'em, \
he said. They're much easier ia
handle than them wild steers. Be
sides, I really like EN-"